IRGA NETWORKING RECEPTION AT ISA ON MARCH 22 - has been CANCELLED !!!

I LEARNED TODAY THAT THE IRGA NETWORKING RECEPTION (THAT WAS GOING TO BE HELD AT THE ISA EXPO IN ORLANDO) HAS BEEN CANCELLED. Lack of response was given as the reason for the cancellation.

IRgA Announces Revised Membership Fees - Now is the time to renew, re-activate or sign up!

Now up on the IRgA’s web-site (at www.irga.com), the new membership dues schedule, reflecting the “new direction” of the IRgA.

A couple of comments before you read what the IRgA posted on its web-site:

1) Although the dues schedule says “renew”, I’m pretty sure that “new” members will benefit from the same rates as “renewing” members will benefit from. So, for those of you who are not already IRgA members, here’s a great chance to sign up for membership at the new low rates. Sign up!

2) There are two different categories for IRgA members – a) reprographics company members and b) vendor members. In a very recent e-mail to Bob Roperti, President of the IRgA, I suggested to Bob that the IRgA should consider a third membership category – “Retired Reprographers” – as that would be a category for me and for many friends who still follow, and care about the industry, but who are now retired (or temporarily inactive.) And, perhaps there should a fourth category – “individual” members? I keep thinking of that old saying, “strength in numbers.”

3) I have done numerous posts on Reprographics 101 about the benefits of being a member in the IRgA. There are a whole host of reprographers who have never been members of the IRgA, and there are quite a few reprographers who cancelled their memberships when times got tough and expenses had to be cut back. The revised membership dues rates are a bargain, so now is your chance to sign up or re-activate! As Nike would put it, “just do it”.

“New Direction For IRgA – Reprographers”

The IRgA will continue to serve as independent, unbiased and neutral resource for sharing information between segments of the industry while also providing a great deal on membership.

Annual Membership Dues for Reprographics Company Members

Company Size	Renew before Nov 30	Renew after Nov 30
1 – 5 employees	$99	$149
+ 5 employees	$349	$399

A New and Enhanced Value Proposition
Following is the list of membership benefits:

• By being an IRgA member, you are maintaining your relationship with other like-minded drivers of the Reprographic Industry. As our industry continues to evolve, maintaining this level of communication, connection and industry infrastructure will be critical towards developing our business models moving forward, given the dramatic opportunities for new growth through the adoption of Technology, Color and Decentralized printing by our traditional Client Base.

• Only IRgA members can attend industry networking events being held at various trade shows and industry meetings.

• Monthly News Digest electronic newsletter will contain announcements about IRgA events and links to industry-specific news releases, member profiles and links to vendor member company Web sites.

• Quarterly Baird Economic Trends Report. Member participation will be needed in order to collect substantial information which can then be used collectively to compare your business against the trends.

• Web site containing the membership directory, association news and links to vendor organizations' Web sites.

• Ongoing discussions through the IRgA's LinkedIn page. Sign up if you're not already one of the 300+ people already LinkedIn to the IRgA.

As an advocate for the reprographics industry, the IRgA’s voice can only be as strong as its collective membership. I look forward to your continued involvement. If you have any questions, please contact the office at 800.833.4742 or by email at irga@irga.com.

A Glimpse into the Future … of the IRgA (pick up your phone and call Bob Roperti)

I think this information bears repeating. In the previous post on this blog, I pointed my blog-visitors to two recent reprographics-industry-related articles, the second of which was about the IRgA.

At the very end of the article that Steve Bova authored, this (the following) section appeared, and even though I gave you a link to read the full article that Steve wrote, inasmuch as I think this section is important to all reprographers, I’ve decided to pull it out and place it below, just to make sure that you see it!

A Glimpse into the Future … of the IRgA

The reconfigured organization will focus on producing an annual or series of events designed to provide a venue for networking and senior-level education. The operations of the association will be restructured as follows:

• • Remaining financial resources will be managed as an endowment that will serve the governance needs of the association. Preservation of principal will be an essential financial goal.

• • Staff will fulfill an administrative role.

• • The existing membership database will be updated annually and used to help promote a successful networking event.

• • Events will be produced on a break-even basis.

• • The new Board will annually evaluate the usefulness of maintaining the senior contact network and the success of the annual networking event(s), relative to the resources of the association.

“What is certain is that the Board of Directors you elected cannot do this alone,” said Roperti. “We need a core of at least 20 to 30 industry leaders to become involved in the IRgA for it to be sustainable.

For anyone who is interested in seeing that the IRgA continues, contact Roperti at 727/442-7125.