Notes from Port Presidents’ Workshop - 2003
NOTES FROM PORT PRESIDENTS’ WORKSHOP
International Propeller Club of the United
States
Paris Convention, November 7, 2003
During the 1999 Propeller Club Convention
Houston, the host club, convened a series of workshops dealing with club-wide
issues. One of the workshops focused on local clubs and their leadership. The
majority of the attendees at this session were club presidents and secretaries
and most of the discussion revolved around club administration. At the
conclusion of the workshop many of the participants expressed how much they had
learned from their peers and suggested we have a similar session at the next
convention (2000 in Tampa). Thus began a continuing feature of the
international convention. In Paris the fifth consecutive Presidents’ Workshop
was held on Friday afternoon, November 7, 2003. The following notes reflect the
ideas and issues that came out of this latest workshop.
Approximately twenty-five to thirty club
presidents, secretaries and members attended this year’s one and one-half hour
session. The meeting began by compiling a list of questions and issues the
group wanted to address. This list was prioritized and each topic was
discussed in turn until time ran out. Topics discussed this year, in order, are
as follows.
Club Diversity. Some clubs find themselves
dominated by certain professions or segments of the industry. While this can be
a natural outgrowth of the nature of the port in question, all clubs expressed
interest in reaching out to different industry segments. Gender and racial
diversity as well as nationality diversity were also deemed important. One club
suggested they have achieved greater diversity by appointing board positions
with people from targeted audiences. Another club suggested that the selection
of speakers and programs designed to reach a broad audience has worked. One
club makes a point of encouraging local Coast Guard personnel to participate,
which attracts those the Coast Guard deal with daily. Fund raising projects can
reach people interested in the cause selected. One club has had success by
joining the local chamber of commerce. The publicity and contacts from this
association have broadened its membership. One suggestion was to go to upper
management of companies working in the port for names of people within their
organization that would make good members. Another suggestion was to create
programs specifically designed to attract young people. In all cases the
clubs making these very helpful suggestions first planned whom they wanted to
attract then developed an approach to make them feel welcome.
Insurance. In 2003 the insurance carrier
used by the International Propeller Club declined to renew the liability
coverage it had been offering to the local clubs. Several clubs had questions
concerning what other clubs were doing about insurance. A consensus of those
present was that the rules have changed and business as usual no longer applies.
One important point made is that insurance is a local issue and each club should
seek competent advice locally. One size does not fit all. Of great concern to
clubs holding fund-raising events is the liability associated serving alcohol.
One club has made it a practice to have its vendors name it as an additional
insured on the vendors’ policies. Another suggestion was for members and
directors to look at their personal and company policies to determine if
liability coverage already exists or can be added at an acceptable cost. One
large club gets liability insurance through the Federation of International
Trade Associations, an organization specifically set up to assist trade
organizations. The national office will be tasked to check into this source and
report back to the clubs.
Programs. The quest for
membership, as well as active membership participation, is dependent on good
programs. A lot of discussion went into what clubs are doing to provide
programs of interest to people in their local maritime community. One of the
larger clubs has had great success by creating an education packet on its local
port that it gives to decision makers in the community. This same club holds
candidate forums for members of the port community so that candidates can be
questioned on their understanding and commitment to port issues. All agreed
that the success of any event with a speaker is dependent on the quality of the
speaker invited. On club has had success inviting speakers from outside the
industry but of interest to its members. Regularly scheduled meetings,
publicized well in advance, seem to be important to all of those clubs present.
Diversity of topics, formats and invitees are also important. Some clubs have
had success by partnering with other port related organizations to sponsor and
event or speaker. A larger audience can attract better, more prominent
speakers.
Cultivating the media is
extremely important to the successful publicizing of any event. Every large
port will have a local newspaper writer assigned to follow port issues. Find
out who that person is and include he or she in your communications concerning
events. Cultivate this contact so they will be sensitive to the club’s
existence. Eventually you will find this person seeking out input from the club
on local port issues. Ports in smaller cities may have even an easier time
getting publicity as any news is good news to smaller newspapers.
Administrative Help. Several clubs are at a
size where they are considering whether or not they should employ administrative
help. The majority of clubs represented at this workshop have at least part
time, paid administrative help. Only one has a full time paid administrator.
No one model prevails. Some have contracted with a person or business to
provide administrative services such as meeting organization, database
management, billing and accounts payable. The amount those clubs present pay
runs from as low as $100.00 per month to as much as $9,000.00 per year. If a
club is currently studying the issue of hiring administrative help it can
contact the national office for the name of a club of similar size and resources
to contact for guidance.
Website Development. The club officers
present asked that the national office explore developing a website template
that each club could then use to create its own website. Sharing the costs
among clubs wanting this service may provide significant savings for the clubs
as well as offer a standardized format. Having one source for website support
for all clubs may provide economies of scale reducing costs for all clubs. The
presidents brought the issue to the final business meeting where a motion was
passed asking the Executive Committee to look into the issue and report back to
the clubs.
Other topics brought up during the workshop
included Scholarships and tax-exempt status. Time expired before
scholarships could be discussed. Tax-exempt status was discussed
briefly with no definitive answers. There were about as many interpretations of
the tax codes as there were presidents in attendance. Given the complexity of
the tax code and its various applications to associations about the only advice
we could give clubs was to seek good legal advice locally.
Bob Fry, Session Moderator
