Minutes of the

Airforwarders Association

Board of Directors

Tuesday, February 7th, 2012

Conference Call

Board Members In Attendance / Not in Attendance / Staff in Attendance
Connell / Hockersmith / Fisher / Fried
Deltuva / Imhof / Lee / Hecteman
Frigger-Latham / Murray / Sanders / McLaughlin
Goldberg / Parshley / Stegemoller
Goodman / Post
Hess

I.  Opening Remarks

President Mike Hess opened the call with a reminder that this meeting is being held under antitrust guidelines. He reminded those Board members with expiring terms to consider whether they will run this fall.

Action: Board Members with expiring terms are asked to please let Brandon know if they plan to run again at the AirCargo meeting. These members are: Connell, Fisher, Hockersmith, Imhof, Lee, Post, Sanders and Stegemoller.

II.  Financials and FundraisingTreasurer Fred Parshley reported on December 2011 financials, which have AFA ending the year on a positive note. Expenses and revenue were favorable to the budget by about $46,000 on the December financial statement.

III.  Membership

Dues Collection/Platinum Membership/Advocacy Fund Update

Brandon reported that as of February 7th, we have collected $334,732 in dues for 2012, compared to $243,367 in 2011; 260 members have paid, compared to 208 in 2011; 28 new members have joined, compared to 42 in 2011; 26 $99 members from 2011 have renewed, compared to 14 in 2011; and we have collected $15,885 in advocacy donations, compared to $12,635 in 2011. We have had 3 Platinum members join, for a total of $15,000. Two additional have been invoiced.

Action: Board members are asked to look over the list of unpaid members and select those that they are willing to reach out to, focusing on the high dues payers as well as the $99 members from 2011.

IV.  AdvocacyACAS Program Update & Upcoming Chicago Meeting

Brandon reported that he will be attending a meeting in Chicago the week of February 13th as the representative of forwarders. At this meeting, they will introduce the strategic plan for the ACAS pilot program.

Past travels

Brandon reported that he recently traveled to Los Angeles and JFK, where he was able to meet with some current members and also recruit a number of new members. He plans to continue these efforts to meet with members in his travels as his schedule allows.

Upcoming Atlanta Cargo Expo February 23rd

Brandon reported that he will travel to ATL later in the month to exhibit at the Atlanta Cargo Expo, where over a hundred forwarders will be in attendance.

Results from meeting with Nick Calio at Airlines for America

Brandon reported that his recent meeting with Nick Calio, the new leader at Airlines for America, was a good way to introduce AfA and to open the possibility of sharing information and collaboration in the future.

Brandon’s recent meeting with Dick Gephart

Brandon reported that his recent meeting the Rep. Dick Gephart was positive and that he was able to educate him on the forwarding industry and opened the possibility of future collaboration.


FITT Act introduction on the Highway Bill

Brandon reported that the legislation in the FITT Act has been attached to the Highway bill and has already past committee. It appears that a mistake was made in the exemption language and we are working to have that corrected on behalf of our members.

DHS Secretary Napolitano speech at Press Club

Brandon reported that he attended DHS Secretary Napolitano’s speech at the National Press Club with Michelle Lancaster.

V. AirCargo 2012

Attendee, Exhibitor and Sponsorship Updates

Bob Imhof reported that there are currently 302 attendees registered, 62 golfers, and 82 booths, which is slightly ahead of where we were at this point in 2011. He also reported that TSA’s John Pistole will be speaking on a panel.

Airports Council International AirCargo 2013 involvement update

Brandon reported that the AirCargo committee agreed to allow 2 attendees from ACI to attend AirCargo this year. After this show, we will decide how to move forward for 2013.

Jim Foster and Domestic & International Carrier Awards Updates

Brandon reported that we currently have four nominations for the Jim Foster Award (Steve Grier, Mike McDaniel, Norman Freeman and Dave Brooks). Voting is continuing for the Domestic & International Carrier awards.

Action: Staff will send out the Jim Foster nominees to be voted on by the membership, rather than selected by the Board.

Should AfA sponsor a golf hole?

The Board agreed that AfA will sponsor a golf hole for $250. Bob Imhof, Chris Connell and Steve Goldberg will work with Brandon on what this will entail.


Should AfA sponsor a competitive salary survey?

The Board agreed that AfA should sponsor a competitive salary survey among its members.

General meeting preparation committee needed

Brandon and Tara will work with Tony Deltuva, Chris Connell, and Dan Stegemoller on preparing for the general membership meeting at AirCargo.

VI. Committees

Education

Jennifer Frigger-Latham reported that the January webinar was a success with about 90 participants. The next webinar will take place on March 1st and will be in conjunction with Descartes, on ACAS, and will be sponsored by British Airways. We are also discussing a possible program with GISTNet.

Carrier

Jennifer Frigger-Latham reported that she has spoken to Steve and they have decided on a direction to move in with this committee to expand the airline participation in AfA.

Regulatory Affairs

Tony Deltuva reported that the committee will hold an on-site meeting at AirCargo to hopefully work on getting members more involved. Rick Moya is currently the co-chair and may become the Chair.

Action: The Regulatory Affairs committee will provide their recommendation on Hank Seaton’s ASECTT proposal to the Board for a decision.

Action: Brandon will check the bylaws to ensure that they do not require a Board member to Chair each committee.

VII. Other Business

Coldwell Banker Real Estate as a potential affinity partner

Brandon reported that he has spoken to Al Edwards about the possibility of having Coldwell Banker relocation services as an affinity partner. The Board agreed that Brandon should pursue the idea.

VIII. Adjournment

President Mike Hess adjourned the meeting at 3:00pm.