Food Protection Trends - June 2011 - (Page 334)

from the executive director y how time flies! It seems changes that were made to improve IAFP were made just yesterday, when in reality, it has been a few years or even 10-years ago in one case. There are a couple of changes that were on my mind when I began thinking about a topic for this month. One was our Membership dues restructure and the other was our Sustaining Membership program. In January of 2007, IAFP implemented a dues restructure in order to make our Membership affordable around the world. It was a bold step that affected our Member dues revenue stream, but on the other hand, we could see it was the right thing to do. Prior to the change, our base Membership dues were $110 and included the “hard-copy” subscription to Food Protection Trends (FPT). The change in dues structure split off FPT from our base Membership and allowed for new Members to join IAFP for only $50. This new structure allowed Members to “pick and choose” on an a la carte basis, what services or journals are right for them. It took a little while for things to catch on, then once they did, look out! For the year 2006, the last under the old dues system, we averaged 2,983 Members. After the first year of the dues change, we averaged 3,111 Members; an increase of 128 or 4.3%. That increase came after nine years of steadily averaging between 2,900 and 3,000 Members. The following years produced averages of 3,272; 3,355; and 3,510 (2008, 2009 and 2010 respectively). So far this year, we have been above 3,600 Members each of the first five months! In just four year’s time, we increased our Membership by 527 Members (on an average basis). That “COMMENTARY” M By DAVID W. THARP, CAE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR “There are a couple of changes that were on my mind when I began thinking about a topic for this month” is almost a 20% increase in Membership since implementing the Membership dues restructure! This is a huge accomplishment for an individual Membership organization (IAFP) to be able to boast a 20% Membership increase in the economic conditions we are living through today. Now, couple the Membership growth along side the Sustaining Member growth and some really good things can happen. In 2001 (10 years ago), IAFP first offered a Gold and Silver Sustaining Membership in addition to the regular Sustaining Membership. The Gold and Silver levels offered enhanced benefits for the company or organization, but the real push to establish this program was to raise funding to support the Foundation and the Speaker Travel Program. During the first year, we signed up one Gold and four Silver Sustaining Members. That year, we had 79 total Sustaining Members including the Gold and Silvers. Two years later, we had two Gold and seven Silver with our total number of Sustaining Members dropping to only 67 (in 2003). We turned the corner in 2004 and encountered substantial growth over the next seven years. Our count now includes 24 Gold, 13 Silver and 71 regular Sustaining Members for a total of 108! Now you might ask, what does this all mean to me as an IAFP Member? Two things as I see it – Our Sustaining Members provide direct support to the IAFP Foundation and they fully support the funding for the Speaker Travel program. I will address the Foundation program in a future column but will expand on the Speaker Travel program here. In the current year, more than $55,000 will be made available and spent to assist speakers for IAFP 2011. The program is not intended to fully pay the travel expenses, but was designed to defray those expenses where a need is shown. Through this method, more speakers can be assisted with the funding available. For each Gold Sustaining Member, $2,000 is placed in the program. Silver Sustaining Members provide $1,000 and Regular Sustaining Members 334 FOOD PROTECTION TRENDS | JUNE 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Food Protection Trends - June 2011

Food Protection Trends - June 2011
Contents
Sustaining Members
Reflections of Your President
Commentary from the Executive Director
Current Food Safety Issues of Home-prepared Vegetables and Herbs Stored in Oil
Use of Good Agricultural Practices and Attitudes toward On-Farm Food Safety among Niche-Market Producers in Ontario, Canada: A Mixed-Methods Study
IAFP Gold Sustaining Member Profiles
New Members
What’s Happening in Food Safety
Industry Products
Preliminary Program
Ivan Parkin Lecture
John H. Silliker Lecture
Activities
General Information
Workshops
Registration Rates
Special Contributors and Sponsors
Coming Events
Advertising Index
Journal of Food Protection Table of Contents
Audiovisual Library Order Form
Booklet Order Form
Membership Application
Celebrating 100 Years of IAFP: 1980s

Food Protection Trends - June 2011