The First Word

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The First Word
By Phil Russo, CAE
NAFA Executive Director

Thank You For A Successful Year

During this season of giving, I would like to take a moment to thank you for your support of NAFA throughout the past year.

It has been a challenging year for many, and NAFA was no exception.  However, we seized the many opportunities the economy presented and turned them in to success stories that changed the way we do business. For instance, NAFA accomplished these major goals in the past few months alone:

• The Corporate Fleet Advisory Council was formed to give this large and important membership segment the voice it so needed on the national level.
• Two new quarterly e-publications were developed, Corporate Fleet Perspectives and Public Fleet Perspectives, that focus specifically on those particular segments.
• The Center for Professional Fleet Certification was established to act as the partnering, branding, and marketing arm for NAFA's individual certification programs and to develop organizational certification programs.
• Affiliates' roles in NAFA expanded exponentially as they developed strategic initiatives that went beyond planning a social event at the annual conference.  Chief among their accomplishments was securing NAFA's support for allowing Affiliates to serve as Chapter Secretary and Chapter Treasurer in cases where no fleet managers could fill those positions.
• The Student Advisory Task Force was formed to develop, recommend, and implement college student programs that would foster membership, education, and networking on campuses throughout the U.S. and Canada.
• Our entry into the world of social networking was a huge win, with more than 1,000 people signed on to our LinkedIn site in the first 30 days.  Our YouTube channel now hosts videos from I&E, and we'll soon be on Facebook and tweeting on Twitter.
• Helping you contain your travel costs, we delivered nearly a dozen webinars, so you could stay in your office and learn via your computer while having lunch.
• To effectively manage legislative efforts in California, NAFA formed the California Air Resources Board (CARB) Advisory Council to establish NAFA as a credible source for reliable input and information.

As you can see, NAFA is working hard to provide "Fleet Solutions for Fleet Professionals," as our slogan says.  It is our goal to help you and your company solve business problems, deal with difficult issues, lower your cost of doing business, and keep ahead of the curve on important issues.  We appreciate your membership as we carry out that mission.

Please know, too, that NAFA is very proud to represent you and your company as the industry's largest and only all-inclusive fleet association.  Thank you for giving us that distinction and that privilege.

I hope you and your family have a safe and happy holiday season.

And remember, you can always contact your NAFA staff team at info@nafa.org or 609-720-0882.

Sincerely,



Phil