Through the Noise

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#259 National Wooden Pallet & Container Association - Patrick Atagi Apr 06, 2017

Show notes

During Blake's absence, we've invited a guest host, Mickey Panayiotakis, of Infamia as we welcome our guest Patrick Atagi from the National Wooden Pallet & Container Association. Wooden pallets are one of those unique items that many people do not think about often but without which, the hauling of freight of all varieties would not be possible. There's nearly two billion pallets in the United States at any given time but they are in a constant state of use, degradation, rebuilding, and recycling to keep the wood in circulation and used again and again until it's not possible to remake into pallets. It has had a sustainable business model since the beginning and besides being good for the environment, pallet construction and recycling is labor intensive which creates and maintains jobs. Learn more about this often unconsidered but essential item and the association that advocates for it's members on Through the Noise.

Atagi is a long time Washingtonian and a senior association executive with experience on Capitol Hill and as a presidential political appointee under George W. Bush. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame, has an MBA from the University of Maryland, and a member of the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE). The National Wooden Pallet & Container Association (NWPCA) is the largest organization of wood packaging professionals in the world, with more than 670 company members in 28 countries who manufacture, repair and distribute pallets and wood packaging in unit-load solutions, or who supply products and services to the industry.

#258 National Association of Workforce Boards - Ronald Painter Apr 03, 2017

Show notes

Today we bring you an unusual show -- Ernesto hosts Through the Noise alone while Blake is away. Our guest is Ronald Painter, CEO of the National Association of Workforce Boards. Representing nearly 550 Workforce Development Boards and their more than 12,000 members, the NAWB strives to ensure that the workforce has the training and resources available to become effective employees in the rapidly changing work environment. Besides appropriate training, there's a tremendous number of other factors that must be considered, such as transportation, healthcare, childcare, and pensions that are shifting.

Ron has been the President/CEO for the National Association of Workforce Boards, whose offices are in Washington DC, since 2009. Prior to his coming to DC, the region was home, and his career from local elected official to a local workforce board director. NAWB is the national voice for the nation's over 500 local business-led workforce development boards, whose work is to help; identify the skills needed, and develop and maintain the nation's workforce.

#257 Mortgage Bankers Associations - Rebecca Vandall & Dawn Williams Mar 30, 2017

Show notes

Rebecca Vandall and Dawn Williams of the Mortgage Bankers Association join Blake and Ernesto in the studio to talk about their work representing all members of the real estate finance industry. Ms. Vandall is the Director of Program Development and Dawn Williams is the Vice Present of that department and they are part of a team that pulls off an impressive 20 major meetings per year as well as 5 major conventions with expo halls. Find out how they successfully coordinate so many conferences with so many participants so often and grab some time (and money) saving tips for your next event.

Rebecca and Dawn share responsibility for program development for the Mortgage Bankers Association. Rebecca has spent over the last 20 years making a living selling conference registrations in some form or fashion. She rocks the suburbs with her husband Jeff, and sons, Will and Benny.

Dawn has over 25 years in marketing and event management, including 14 years as a freelance marketing consultant. Dawn and her husband Andy have three teenagers and are preparing to be empty-nesters. Rebecca and Dawn share the passion "let's try something new," and a work ethic to "get it done.

Mortgage Bankers Association is a leading financial services trade association hosting 18 conferences annually-including 5 with tradeshows, 400+ educational sessions and 2100+ speakers.

#256 Irrigation Assocation - Deborah Hamlin Mar 27, 2017

Show notes

Water is crucial to every form of life -- water is life, according to many -- and has been in the news quite a bit recently, so we've invited someone on the show to talk about water irrigation for both agriculture and landscaping. Deborah M. Hamlin is the CEO of the Irrigation Association which represents 1700 companies involved in every aspect of irrigation from manufacturers of parts to installation experts. The organization uses a variety of methods to do outreach and to counter common misconceptions about irrigation. They've recently launched a podcast called "Bring Water to Life" and are active in social media, interacting with their members and the general public. Since water is an issue that impacts each of us, this episode can certainly shed some light on the different approaches to water conservation and conflict present in the eastern and western U.S.

Deborah Hamlin has been the CEO of the Irrigation Association for the past 10 years. She has worked in association management for her entire 30-year career, helping organizations to realize their missions. The Irrigation Association is a trade organization representing manufacturing companies on down to installers of irrigation systems in both the agricultural and landscape (residential/commercial) markets.

#255 Drohan Management Group - Elissa Myers Mar 23, 2017

Show notes

Elissa Myers takes a break from solving the problems of many nonprofits in order to join us today on Through the Noise to talk about revenue generation -- something we all need to hear. Though her email signature identifies her as a "Marketing Wizard," her official title is "Director of Revenue Generation" with the Drohan Management Group. We'll address the prevalent -- and damaging -- misconception among nonprofits that making money is not important. It's simply impossible for anyone to make any progress towards achieving their mission if they don't have the financial resources to hire staff, attract and retain members, supporters, and sponsors. Ms. Myers works with a number of different organizations through her work with the association management firm Drohan Management Group and she draws on a number of these to illustrate her points and provide useful examples. Get some useful tips from this episode and convert them into cash for your programs!

Elissa Myers is a 40+ year veteran of association management, having served as a senior executive with the American Society of Association Executives, CEO of the Electronic Retailing Association, and now CEO of the Academy for Eating Disorders, as a part of the Drohan Management Group. She has helped dozens of associations put in place strategic marketing and governance plans. The Academy for Eating Disorders is an international professional society comprised of physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, and researchers who specialize is finding and delivering a cure for eating disorders.

#254 Information Technology & Innovation Foundation - Val Giddings Mar 20, 2017

Show notes

Val Giddings is a Senior Fellow at the Information Technology & Innovation Foundation and joins us today to talk agriculture, GMOs, and sustainability, and facts. ITIF is a think tank that been around for just over a decade with the mission to "formulate, evaluate, and promote policy solutions that accelerate innovation and boost productivity to spur growth, opportunity, and progress. "Alternative Facts" have been dominating our news cycle for months and we address them on today's show as related to foods labeled as organic vs GMOs.

L. Val Giddings is a senior fellow at the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF). Giddings joined ITIF after nearly three decades of experience in science and regulatory policy relating to biotechnology innovations in agriculture and biomedicine. Recognized as one of the world's leading science and technology think tanks, ITIF's mission is to formulate and promote policy solutions that accelerate innovation and boost productivity to spur growth, opportunity, and progress.

#253 Bear Analytics - Joseph Colangelo Mar 16, 2017

Show notes

Today we're speaking with Joseph Colangelo, the Founder of Bear Analytics, a small firm dedicated to providing associations with analytics they can use to transform their events. They focus on actionable analytics -- giving you information you can actually use to improve your organization's tradeshows, conventions, exhibits, and services. Want to find out more about your audience or who is attending your conventions? Curious why people attend for 1-2 years and then drop off? Check them out. With tradeshows comprising between 20-80% of the revenue for most associations, it's essential to know what your attendees are getting out of it -- or not getting -- in order to improve and continue to serve your membership, exhibitors,and industry.

Joe Colangelo is the Co-Founder and CEO of Bear Analytics, a Virginia-based startup focused on using the power of data analytics to grow events. Bear Analytics empowers their clients with insights to grow their audience and understand onsite event engagement via a suite of proprietary data cleaning and behavioral analytics tools.

#252 Consumer Technology Association - Gary Shapiro Mar 13, 2017

Show notes

We're thrilled to welcome Gary Shapiro, CEO of the Consumer Technology Association. He joins us on the heels of one of the world's most popular conventions, the "Gadget Show" which CTA hosts every January in Las Vegas -- the only city equipped to handle their 175,000 attendees, 4000 exhibitors, and 1000 speakers. For the CES, they "build a city in a week" in order to house their growing attendance and the exhibit hall which is so massive, it's not possible to see it all in one week. Mr. Shaprio leads us through some of the newer innovations at the convention as well as his motivations for working in the tech world. If you weren't able to make it to the CES this year, grab some headphones for this quick 25 minute episode and get a glimpse of what happened this year and a taste of what's to come.

#251 National Contract Management - Michael Fischetti Mar 09, 2017

Show notes

Michael Fischetti is the Executive Director of the National Contract Management Association and he joins us on Through the Noise to discuss the ins and outs of contract management, who does it, and why we need it. With 20,000 members, the NCMA is the professional association for professional contract management, including those that work with government agencies. Contracting officers are required for contracts that involve tax-payer funded projects and the NCMA provides continuing education credits, conferences, and opportunities for networking and idea exchange between its members. They also offer professional certification for their members to become a Certified Professional Contract Manager.

Michael P. Fischetti is the executive director of the National Contract Management Association (NCMA) located in Ashburn, Virginia. In that position, he is chief executive officer (CEO) responsible for managing a professional association representing over 20,000 contracting and acquisition professionals, with over 111 chapters worldwide, an annual budget of approximately $10M, and a professional staff of 30. The National Contract Management Association is the world's leading professional resource for those in the field of contract management, providing books, an academic journal, an Annual Review, a monthly magazine, and the largest conferences in the world dedicated to acquisition.

#250 Association Strategies - Pamela Kaul Mar 06, 2017

Show notes

Nonprofit boards and staff are often too busy and, let's face it -- unprepared -- for the task of finding a new executive to head the organization and so they turn to professionals for help and we've brought one on the show for you today. Pamela Kaul is the President of Association Strategies, Inc. and her company manages the executive search from top to bottom to ensure that the org has access to the very best candidates. She mentions that they don't help people find jobs as much as they help organizations find people. Though most people can talk effectively about their organization or company, many have trouble talking about themselves -- even though this is a skill that is crucial to advancing to and maintaining executive level status and perfecting your three minute elevator speech is Ms. Kaul's advice. To find out about executive presence and other elements of the search, don't miss this episode. And if you're free after that, why not give us a review on itunes?

Pamela offers three decades of experience in executive search, transition management and organization development. As the Founder and President of Association Strategies, Inc., she pioneered ASI's unique systems-based approach to executive search and since founding the company in 1986, has successfully applied it to deliver superior talent to many hundreds of leading associations, foundations, NGO's and philanthropic organizations. Association Strategies, Inc., is a premier executive search and transition firm serving the unique needs of associations and nonprofit organizations. With offices in Alexandria, VA and CO, ASI has a talented team of 9, who provide expertise in executive search and transition management, succession planning, Board search, leadership development and CEO research.

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