Grassroots Update

On March 13, 2010, we broadcast the Grassroots Budget Meeting from the beautiful new headquarters building of ASPE. Only 23 Chapters were represented at the Grassroots Budget Meeting. As a result, almost 2/3rds of the Chapters have no idea what was proposed for next year’s budget.

Those Chapters that participated asked me to prepare a special Newsletter explaining what was discussed. Furthermore, the Chapters participating asked that we post the questions and answers that arose during the meeting.

Hence, this entire Newsletter is on the 2010-2011 Budget. The budget is a proposed budget that will be discussed at the April Board of Directors Meeting. At that meeting, the budget will be finalized and approved. Any input from the Chapters must be presented prior to the April Board Meeting, if you want your comments heard.

I will give you the abbreviated version of the Grassroots Budget Meeting. To make it easier to read, each subject matter has been subdivided with a heading identifying the key point.

Committee

The Finance Committee is made up of the following individuals:

Gary Mahoney, Treasurer - Chair

Bill Hughes, Vice President, Technical

Dave Anelli, Region 3 Director

Stan Wolfson, Executive Director

Julius Ballanco, President

The Committee meets in December to develop the Budget. This is followed by conference calls and an initial review by the Board of Directors at the January Board Meeting.

The Budget presented to the Chapter during the Grassroots Budget Meeting is the 8^th revision.

Positive Budget

The proposed budget shows a surplus of $415,446. While this sounds good, it is low for a convention year. Plus, the budget relies on help from the membership.

Currently, the membership is not very interested in the various books and documents published by ASPE. With a membership of 6,600, one would expect a large percentage to purchase books that impact their daily life as a plumbing engineer. This has not occurred.

We hope for a successful convention. We also need the support of sponsors to make the convention and EPE successful. In addition, we need a large attendance at the EPE and Convention.

When you review the details of the budget, you will find where we anticipate income from these revenue streams and where the expenses are.

Membership

The membership numbers have dropped in the past year. This can be attributed to the poor economy. While the numbers are down, they are not down as much as many other organizations.

We need the help of the Chapters. Typically on an average month, there are 60 to 80 membership applications worldwide submitted by the Chapters. This number is way down. So, please keep working hard to bring in new members.

Staff has been doing an excellent job in membership retention. Each member that does not renew their dues gets a call from staff. Many times, the members are unaware that their dues have not been paid.

PS&D

The magazine continues to do well, even in tough economic times. Continue to support the magazine by mentioning to the various manufacturers that you saw their ad in the magazine. Remember to thank them for their support. This has helped the magazine prosper.

You will notice a slight surplus is budgeted for PS&D.

Business Meeting

The Business Meeting is always a drain on Society. There is no revenue to offset the Business Meeting. This year’s Business Meeting will cost the Society in excess of $216,000. The bulk of that cost is for the airfare for the delegates.

When you put it into perspective, the cost for each delegate is $677. That is what it cost to hold the Bi-annual Business Meeting.

Convention

The Convention is often confused with the EPE. The Convention revenue comes from those who pay the full registration fee. For many years, we have given away the Convention. What that means is that the cost of putting on the Convention has not been offset by the cost of registration. This needs to end.

We can no longer subsidize attendance at the Convention. As a result, the registration fee has been increased to reflect the cost of attending the Convention.

We are always looking for ways to attract a larger crowd to the Convention. The Budget is based on 800 paid registrations. Since Philadelphia is within a 5 hour driving distance of a large segment of our membership, we hope there is a large attendance at the Convention.

I am asking that all of the small Chapters send at least 5 members, and all of the large Chapters send 10 members. The top 5 Chapters, in size, should be sending 15 members. Even with these numbers, we need to attract another 300 to 400 paid registrations.

I mentioned in my previous Newsletter that the Board proposes to go completely green for this Convention. I did not explain what I meant. That was saved for the Grassroots Budget Meeting.

We are proposing to provide every paid registrant with a netbook computer that will have all of the handouts for every technical session. Delegates would also have all of the delegate material on their netbook computer.

The netbook computers will not be the top of the line, but they will be great to use in your daily business after the Convention.

Some of the basics on the netbook are: limited memory, wireless, bluetooth capable, around 2 pounds in weight, and no camera.

One of the major benefits to the netbook is that each paid registrant will have all of the seminar handouts. In the past, you could only receive the handouts for the programs you attended.

The Convention base registration fee is currently listed in the budget as $950.

EPE

The EPE is a major money maker for ASPE. But, to keep it a money maker, we need to keep the EPE very successful.

As I have previously stated, we need a large crowd at the EPE. We will be marketing heavily in the Northeast to attract local area professionals. We need the Chapters help in drawing a big crowd. Invite sister organizations such as ASHRAE, ASSE, PHCC, MCAA, SFPE, and ABFA. These are just a few of the organizations that can be invited.

We rely heavily on the support of sponsors. This year we have budgeted $249,000 in sponsorship income. This funding will come from new silver and bronze sponsors. We need the Chapters’ help to promote the sponsorship program. Ask your local sales representative to encourage their manufacturers to become sponsors.

There will not be an automobile given away at this year’s EPE. In place of one large prize, there will be 6 to 8 smaller prizes. To attract a crowd on the floor, there will be a computer winner every 15 minutes. Also, everyone can win a prize by playing ASPE poker. You can win one prize each day, for a total of two prizes.

Publications

There are three new books that are about to be published. One book is on the Hunter Papers. This will be in the form of two volumes containing all of the research data that developed modern day plumbing. You will be able to trace the development of many of the plumbing code requirements. The anticipated cost of this book is $80. We expect to sell 300 of these books, most to non-members. This would include individuals that are in code enforcement and study engineering in college.

There will be a dictionary of plumbing engineering terms. The tentative name of the book is ASPE Jargon of Plumbineering. The book will sell for $30, with anticipated sales of 575 books.

The next book is the Illustrated Plumbing Code Engineering Design Manual. As the title implies, there will be over 500 illustrations showing design conformance to the International Plumbing Code and Uniform Plumbing Code. That book will sell for $109, with anticipated sales of 1500 books.

Executive Director

There is an increase in the budget for the hiring of a new Executive Director. The budget anticipates costs for the search, as well as, moving a household to Chicago.

Education

One of the main income sources for Education are the webinars. The ASPE membership has supported the webinars. We plan on continuing to offer these webinars during the next fiscal year.

Also included are seminars that will be presented across the country. There are eight seminars scheduled for the next budget.

It should be noted that eight seminars are currently scheduled for May and June. The seminars will be on the update of the International and Uniform Plumbing Code and BIM.

Your Comments

If you don’t like something that I have said or written, let the Board know. If you like some items, also let the Board know. As the saying goes, “Don’t complain if you haven’t opened your mouth.”

Get your comments to the budget into one of the Board members. You can forward them to me, as well. If you are sending comments to me, my e-mail address is: PrezASPE@aol.com.