NAFA President Bryan Flansburg, CAFM®, Discusses What's Next For NAFA At Annual Business Meeting
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There are many big changes on the horizon for NAFA Fleet Management Association, and these were summarized for the Institute & Expo attendees by NAFA President Bryan Flansburg, CAFM®.The Annual Business Meeting, the first morning session of the 2017 Institute & Expo, touched upon very serious topics worthy of consideration.
Kicking off this presentation, Immediate Past President Ruth Alfson, CAFM® summarized where NAFA was throughout 2016, providing context for the many changes that took place during the year, not the least of which were the sweeping changes in the Association's bylaws.
Alfson's mandate was, in her words, keeping things on track and growing. "We had a great strategic plan, things were going well, and it was my job to make sure our ship kept sailing in the right direction. We had many programs and offerings that didn’t need adding to. Instead, I wanted to focus on making what we had even better."
President Bryan Flansburg, CAFM®, saluted Alfson's dedication to NAFA before speaking about what fleet may look like in the near-future. "Our industry is changing at a break-neck pace. At its inception, fleet management was about the assets, managing the vehicles drivers use," Flansburg said. "Today, with information technology, transportation services, and the impending autonomous vehicle revolution, this is changing. Today, and even more so in the future, it’s not only about asset management, it’s about mobility management and developing non-traditional solutions to non-traditional challenges. That’s going to require NAFA and its membership to change also. I’m pleased to tell you this is already underway."
Another change NAFA undertook in 2016 was the switch to computer-based testing for our CAFM® and CAFS® program. "There are many benefits to this change," Flansburg said. "First, students have more opportunities to take tests, as they can do so when they are ready, rather than when NAFA has exam dates scheduled. Second, when students take their tests at a testing center, they get their results instantly, rather than having to wait fifteen business days, as in the past."
Flansburg reflected upon how the Association got to where it is today as the dominant Association for fleet professionals, right from the start: "As the story goes, sixty years ago – and you’ll have to trust me on this as I wasn’t actually there -- at the Congress Hotel in Chicago, a group of fleet managers was...let’s say ‘discussing’ how the fleet profession needed a unifying presence, an organization where they could speak to each other and to all the stakeholders they did business with. One of NAFA’s founding fathers, Sam Lee, turned to his peers and said, essentially, ‘Rather than just talk about it, maybe we should do it.’"
"To paraphrase Sir Isaac Newton: ‘If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.’ I want to thank those fleet giants for having the vision to start NAFA and allow us to be who we are today."
Kicking off this presentation, Immediate Past President Ruth Alfson, CAFM® summarized where NAFA was throughout 2016, providing context for the many changes that took place during the year, not the least of which were the sweeping changes in the Association's bylaws.
Alfson's mandate was, in her words, keeping things on track and growing. "We had a great strategic plan, things were going well, and it was my job to make sure our ship kept sailing in the right direction. We had many programs and offerings that didn’t need adding to. Instead, I wanted to focus on making what we had even better."
President Bryan Flansburg, CAFM®, saluted Alfson's dedication to NAFA before speaking about what fleet may look like in the near-future. "Our industry is changing at a break-neck pace. At its inception, fleet management was about the assets, managing the vehicles drivers use," Flansburg said. "Today, with information technology, transportation services, and the impending autonomous vehicle revolution, this is changing. Today, and even more so in the future, it’s not only about asset management, it’s about mobility management and developing non-traditional solutions to non-traditional challenges. That’s going to require NAFA and its membership to change also. I’m pleased to tell you this is already underway."
Another change NAFA undertook in 2016 was the switch to computer-based testing for our CAFM® and CAFS® program. "There are many benefits to this change," Flansburg said. "First, students have more opportunities to take tests, as they can do so when they are ready, rather than when NAFA has exam dates scheduled. Second, when students take their tests at a testing center, they get their results instantly, rather than having to wait fifteen business days, as in the past."
Flansburg reflected upon how the Association got to where it is today as the dominant Association for fleet professionals, right from the start: "As the story goes, sixty years ago – and you’ll have to trust me on this as I wasn’t actually there -- at the Congress Hotel in Chicago, a group of fleet managers was...let’s say ‘discussing’ how the fleet profession needed a unifying presence, an organization where they could speak to each other and to all the stakeholders they did business with. One of NAFA’s founding fathers, Sam Lee, turned to his peers and said, essentially, ‘Rather than just talk about it, maybe we should do it.’"
"To paraphrase Sir Isaac Newton: ‘If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.’ I want to thank those fleet giants for having the vision to start NAFA and allow us to be who we are today."
