Date: Tue, 22 Jul 97 06:10:16 UT From: "Mark Zettler" To: balloondeco-d@fooledya.com Subject: Subject: State of the Industry Magnificent Mr. Kwain, After years of thinking, being annoyed, talking to others and more, it took you three paragraphs to explain my "angst" about this situation. Beautifully explained, clear and concise and as right as rain!!! You read my mind - THANK YOU! Independence - a glorious word steeped in our country's history and the best way to do business. But how do we create a truly independent group? Is NABA, or something like that, a better answer than what we have at present (if it happens to try and make some kind of comeback)? For those new to the industry, NABA (National Association of Balloon Artists) was formed some years ago to try and be an independent group. It started out strong enough with a newsletter, "Link-line" membership directory, yearly convention, certification and more (sound familiar gang??!!). It was created and run by Festivities Publications who still produce conventions (now under the name of JUBILEE!) and still publish trade magazines for our industry (Balloons and Parties, The Party Shopper, and others). The group had well over 1,000 paid members (myself included) who were located throughout the world (still sound familiar??!!). I believe the group had alliances with a number of manufacturers and suppliers, NOT JUST ONE COMPANY. And then the group seemed to disband as quickly and quietly as it had formed. Would it be appropriate for such an organization to re-organize, as some wheels are already in place and some of the growing pains have already been suffered, or just start from scratch again? Would some fine tuning to get it into the 90's be appropriate (e.g. website, chat lines, group insurance plans, better and truly independent certification, etc.)? Maybe Wynn and Lindy Bell stated it best when they said "it is obvious that our industry has grown beyond the scope that one manufacturer is able to handle". I would respectfully like to add that one manufacturer should never have "handled" it in the first place. Honestly, no offense to Pioneer, because they have spent a lot of time and money to produce a number of exceptional ideas (QBN, tapes, a fine magazine) and product. However, you didn't hear it from me, the Bell's said, "Pioneer has done an OUTSTANDING job in helping their distributors and customers." Exactly! The only problem is it is THEIR distributors and THEIR customers. We are not exactly welcome if we don't play with their ball. Mr. Kwain also spoke volumes about the problem we are faced with when he said, "QBN is a marketing program for Pioneer. This is a great idea and should be encouraged, it sells balloons for us and Pioneer. It is not, however, a professional trade organization. The other big difference is the CBA designation. This is a marketing tool that is being passed off as professional certification. It's a little like having your dentist tell you he got his degree from the Listerine company. Even if the training and testing were identical, you might be a bit skeptical, especially if the dentist had to "feature" Listerine product." I wish I had said that!! So...where do we go from here? Do we go up or down or stay right where we are?? Mark Zettler Life O' The Party Hackensack, NJ lifeotheparty@msn.com