Abstract
Members & Delegates Greetings. I have requested this opportunity to provide an update to you, the members and controlling body of the American Federation of Aviculture, Inc. (AFA), regarding the many positive changes that are occurring in our organization. My last formal address to you was made at the House of Delegates meeting at the Houston Convention in August 2001. At that time the organization was faced with declining membership and income in conjunction with increasing costs. Budget analysis reflected that these basic sources of our income were sufficient to cover either the cost of our publication (the AFA Watchbird) or the administrative costs, but not both. Charitable donations have enabled us to maintain and support our basic operations, but this income was also declining. The end-of-the-year Financial Statement for 2000 reflected a net loss of $42,000, due mainly to reductions in revenue versus increases in costs.
Early in 2001, the Board of Directors had taken immediate steps to reduce costs to levels within anticipated income, to define and seek new sources of income and to develop a strategic plan to be able to maintain and increase membership benefits once we moved beyond the immediate crisis period. One step that had to be taken was to reduce the number of Watchbird issues in 2001 from a total of six (6) to a total of four (4). Similarly, adjustments had to be made with "Fast Ads" as the cost to provide this service was nearly 3 times higher than the income being generated. At the House of Delegates meeting, you, the governing body of AFA, took significant additional action by raising the cost of individual and family
memberships by $10, and by increasing the discretionary powers of the Board to adjust the fee component of the total membership cost as necessary to better manage AFA. Also, as you know from last year's convention, our corporate sponsor, Sun Seed, did not flinch but maintained its steadfast support of AFA through the crisis period. I publicly thank Sun Seed for their support and urge you to do the same.
The Bottom Line
Collectively, these actions, while painful, were effective. The end-of-the-year Financial Statement for 2001 reflects that net revenue (total income-total expenses) was on the order of $52,000-note that this is a positive number. Further, the strategic planning that was prompted by the financial crisis of 2000 has resulted in some exciting changes in AFA. These changes are leading to a streamlined and more effective organization providing increased membership benefits, prompt and pleasant membership services, and greater educational opportunities.
Some individuals need special recognition for their contributions during the crisis period. These include 1) the entire Watchbird staff (Sheldon Dingle, Mary Jean Hessler, and Associate Editors Roger Bringas and Carolyn Swicegood) who labored without any or greatly reduced compensation throughout most of 2001; and 2) CFO Jim Hawley and Co-Chair of the Finance Committee, Donna Mallory-Field who not only made ends meet, but also physically packed, moved, and unpacked the office at its new location in early 2002. I should mention many, many others, but will stop here. I must, however, commend the Officers and Board of the AFA. They all focused on problem-solving and working together at a time when the tendency was to do just the opposite. The crisis was a character building experience for the organization. Nevertheless, I think we have had enough "character building" for the moment-we will strive to avoid
similar situations in the future.
Now, let me talk about just a few of the changes that have occurred, and some of our plans for 2002. I will start with the changes in the Watchbird followed by a description of the new office location and administration, and the move. Lastly, I want to talk a little about Convention 2002 in Tampa, Florida.
The Watchbird
First, the last issue of 2001 was delayed significantly and did not "come out" until mid- to late January. Significantly none of the delay was financial in nature, but rather was attributable to what can be described as "Murphy's Law: Everything that can go wrong will go wrong." For the first time in our history, we made the transition from a manual to a digital layout and publishing process. This transition was not seamless-especially in terms of color products. These delays led to other slips in schedules, then the holidays, etc. and so on. I apologize that you were not kept better informed. I wish to emphasize however, that the problems encountered have been addressed, and solutions have been developed. The first of the four issues for 2002 will come out on schedule in the first quarter of 2002. This first issue is, in fact, complete with the exception of this message.
While we have elected to stay with four issues of the Watchbird in 2002, each issue in 2002 will consist of 80 pages or more (about 320 total pages per year). This compares to 60 pages or more that would be contained in six issues, or a total of about 360 pages per year. The quarterly schedule greatly reduces publication and mailing costs, enabling us to maintain about the same volume of content and color as before. Further, the reduced number of volumes will result in more time for improving the content rather than spending this time on the mechanics of production. I think you will find the new Watchbird to be a superior product, maintaining the appearance standards of the historical journal, while improving the content.