Membership Manager
Jamie King
January 2008

Potential changes are coming to NAI memberships. The NAI board will vote this month to approve changes that would make the membership levels less confusing while keeping the great benefits at a low cost for all members. We have previously heard complaints from members who found the forms to be too complicated, some of which sited this as the reason they were not renewing. If these changes are approved, they will take effect later this year.

With the new year brings a few changes to the way we handle memberships. When members join/renew online, they are now getting an email with information regarding the processing time for their membership as well as a temporary login for the NAI member area. Tara and I are also working on speeding up all processes in the membership department.

We have been discussing “green” ideas all around the office. I am currently working on creating the option for green new member packets. Currently members are getting an NAI folder with brochures for the certification courses, a printed membership card, and a copy of the membership directory. Previously we had also included a copy of the most recent InterpNews. The new option I am working on will give members the option to get the same information either online or in printed form, whichever they prefer.

It has also come to our attention that many professional associations have started using social networking sites, such as MySpace and Facebook, to promote their organizations to the internet generation. NAI has taken the steps to create a MySpace and will eventually create profiles on a number of the social networking sites. If you have one that you want to see us on, let me know and we will make it happen.

Sincerely,
Jamie