I was recently reading through a marketing report about why people join Professional and Trade Associations. The report started off with an article that included a dictionary definition of what an association is. In simple terms, it is “A Group Of People Organized For a Joint Purpose”.
Certainly, the roots of AMBA were exactly that, as the original membership strived to create the Metal Building System Erector as a certified trade here in Alberta. This makes us unique across Canada and raises our provincial industry above all other regions in our great country.
The article continues to point out that many join associations for:
Advocacy – Which, as mentioned above, is at the heart of AMBA.
Networking – We all grow stronger when we can get together with like-minded professionals and share ideas and concerns.
Access to Resources – The MBSE courses, exam, and professional designation are all a result of countless hours of service to this industry by those who have preceded us in this association.
Comradery – Although this current year has been a challenge for gathering in large numbers, our annual Golf Tournament is a great opportunity to have a lot of fun and some friendly competition.
Learning – We as a Board continue to explore ways to add more opportunities to share innovations and ideas with all of our members. Small tabletop presentations at our AGM help showcase new products and services that can help our members build their businesses. To further this effort, you will see a new section in our quarterly newsletter titled “What’s New” where we hope to showcase new and innovative products that complement Metal Building Systems.
Exposure – The Board has started working on ways to increase our industry’s “on-line” presence and help improve access to our Associations and our Members whenever anyone searches for Metal Buildings online. Another new section in our Newsletter and on our website is “Project Profiles”, where members can proudly showcase special or unique projects.
We want to encourage every member to consider what they could offer to either “What’s New” or “Project Profiles”. Your Board would welcome any submissions and we look forward to including these not only in our quarterly newsletters but also on our website.
We all know that Metal Buildings Systems of today are a far cry from the old notion of an ugly tin box. Let’s work together to show the market the best of what we can be.
As always, if you know of anyone working in the industry who you think should be a member, please pass their information on to any of the Board members so that we can encourage them to join. There is strength in numbers and we want to continue to grow the Association for the future generations of MBSE specialists.