Greater Tallahassee Advertising Federation

[Skip Navigation]

Welcome to the New AAFT Website!

Dear AAFT Member,

Thank you for continuing to support your local chapter of the American Advertising Federation. You’re receiving this letter as a mid-year update, and as a reminder of the change to the 2009 dues structure.

Sarah Beth Hopton - AAFT President

In an effort to provide more value to our membership, we’ve made several changes to our operating structure. If a motto were driving these changes in might be to educate and engage.

To that end, we’ve launched three branded series. The first of which, the Great Minds Series, is intended to provide a forum for the exploration of issues relevant to you, your organization, and the industry. Already, we’ve hosted top-name talent like Jeremy Delaplane from MTV, and tackled tough issues like developing new business in a down economy, which was presented by Paul Field, CEO of FieldVision. And, there’s more to come in the second half of ’09.

Our second branded initiative is the HOT program. This low-cost training platform is provided via webinar by nationally certified educators and is meant to supplement the training offered by your organization. HOT is our answer to the request from membership for local, industry-specific training that’s affordable. Our first will be held in March and will cover the newest ADOBE CS4 Software system.

Throughout the year we’ve also arranged several networking opportunities as part of our 5 O’Clock Somewhere Series. These social hours are widely attended by industry representatives and offer an exciting and relaxed forum in which to exchange best practices, find new talent, or just share a cocktail and support a local business.

Other achievements include a Membership Drive that resulted in a 30% increase in membership; a new, interactive website (www.aaftallahassee.com) ; and, greater use of technology to process payments and communicate regularly.

We continue to raise the profile of our organization and industry by hosting one-of-a-kind events like the Media Auction. This year, AAFT partnered with FPRA and together we generated more than $70,000 in media, advertising, and consulting opportunities. Our attendance peaked at 100 guests, and we raised more than $3000 in scholarship funds.

Our strategic alliance with FPRA later resulted in a joint Christmas Party, and proceeds went to Second Harvest. AAFT also donated $300 to sponsor a family for Christmas as part of our commitment to giving back to our community.

Plans are underway for the 2009 ADDY Gala, scheduled for February 28th. We expanded our mailing database, resulting in more new entries to the ADDYs than ever before.

Students play a pivotal role in all that we do at AAFT. They provide needed support to major events, and in exchange, we offer counsel, internship opportunities, and support during the National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC). In 2008, FSU Ad Club took first place at NSAC and we’re very proud of them.

As you can see, the Board of Directors and committee members are constantly striving to create value, and we are committed to innovation. Although the costs to serve you have increased, AAFT’s dues schedule has not. AAFT has never increased its dues, despite increases from the 4th District and National, and a general rise in the cost of conducting club business.

There was much debate surrounding an increase in dues structure, but the Board of Directors felt it necessary to pass a moderate increase, so they can continue to provide significant value for your membership dollars, and cover rising costs. The new dues structure is simple and efficient, and fixes many issues inherent in the old system without unfairly burdening any one segment of our membership.

New Dues Structure
Individual Membership Rate $125
Corporate Rate $80 per member for two or more; seats can rotate

About half of our membership comes from larger agencies and corporations, but for years, AAFT has been losing money on these memberships because our dues rate didn’t cover even the minimum costs paid to 4th District and National. For every $30 corporate membership, we were losing $5 but still providing the same level of service.

When you become a member in AAFT, you’re automatically a member of the national and district federations too. National and the 4th District charges local chapters a membership fee. In the past, this meant individual members were subsidizing corporate members, but the cost to the club to provide programs and events remained the same per person, regardless of membership structure. That wasn’t a sound or sustainable financial strategy.

If you’d like to learn more about the added value of belonging to the 4th District and the National AAFT, please visit this website: www.aaf.org.

We want to be good financial stewards of our club’s dues, and so we’ve hired a professional book keeping service to provide continuity of our books year-to-year. We’ve also committed to sound, conservative investing practices, and to continuing to save for the future generations of advertising professionals. These measures, coupled with the moderate increase in dues, will afford our club the opportunity to continue providing best-in-class programs, networking events, scholarships, and award ceremonies.

We appreciate your continued support of the AAFT.

Sincerely,

Sarah Beth Hopton
President, AAFT 2008-2009