Update by the Executive Director
Tim Merriman
February 2008


Audit, Budget and Cash Flow_
Cash flow continues to be very challenging and will remain so through late summer. We are renewing our line of credit at the approved amount at the recent Board meeting and placed mutual funds in a brokerage account at Wells Fargo as security. The first month of the year was similar to last year but with lower certification income due to courses not being scheduled during the latter part of 2007. We are heavily scheduled for the remainder of the year and already beginning to schedule courses for 2009.

Bank Service Changes
Beginning in March we will pay staff through direct deposit, a benefit we have hoped to add for a long time. We have also met with Wells Fargo and signed an agreement to create two new merchant accounts for direct deposit of credit card payments from members. In the past our secure server takes the information from members and then the data is hand entered by Beth. Now the transactions on the website will soon result in deposit of funds from credit card purchases directly into our bank account, saving three to four days in time before funds are received. Member cards will also be checked as the transaction occurs so that we do not have to call them if the card does not clear properly. It will also be a more secure system with only Wells Fargo handling credit card numbers and information, and not any third party processors. It will take several months to fully integrate this into our processing but the association store will begin with the system in early March.

Business Plan 2007 - With only one month to report we cannot see much difference from the start in 2007. It will take several months to begin seeing the trends for this year. Laura Diane is doing very well with sales toward our goals in the areas of commercial memberships, ad sales, Legacy subscriptions and book sales.

Grants_- A final report on the Boettcher Grant of 2005 was just submitted, closing out requirements for that grant.

Greening of NAI - We continue to look for greener options in all aspects of our business. Our magazines are now being printed on recycled stock and we have totally moved from print proceedings for workshops to CDs. We are looking into the use of flash drives for these in the future, if feasible. 

Hot Button_- This continues to be the best way for NAI leaders to let us know of service failures. Kelly Farrell has helped us test it and the process works. 

InterpPress_- Sales for the year are just as expected. Amazon sales are now above $600 a month for our books, double this month from last year. Laura Diane is seeking other channels to sell our books. 

Journal of Interpretation Research_- The second issue for 2007 was mailed by Dec. 31, 2007.

Membership_- Membership revenue for January 2008 was $25,000, which is lower than hoped but equal to January in 2007. We have a new marketing plan under development and will focus heavily on institutional and commercial memberships in the early part of this year. 

Networking - I have traded institutional memberships with National Council for Public History (NCPH) and Themed Attractions Association in the past month and will be discussing other collaboration. I will be presenting at the NCPH meeting in Apri. We have also developed a relationship with the Civic Tourism organization and will be doing a one-day workshop at their meeting in October for expenses plus a share of the registration fees. 

Staff Changes_- No changes have been made in January other than Laura Diane Moore officially starting to work for NAI. We had a staff retreat in early February to operationalize tactics and strategies related to the recent strategic planning by the Board of Directors in January.

Training and Speaking - I had no travel or speaking engagements in January and will be in Yosemite to train in a CIT course in late February. The course is nearly full.

Travel Plans
My upcoming travel may be viewed here.