ATSI Convention Update

By Lori Jenkins
April 2006

[In light of the upcoming ATSI convention, we asked ATSI President, Lori Jenkins, for a mid-year update on her Presidency.]

As President of ATSI, my number one goal is to raise the profile of our association, and thereby the industry.  During the past few years, I have been working with ATSI’s Marketing Committee to produce information about the industry for the general public.  There’s a lot to talk about – appointment scheduling, database management, and e-services, just to name a few.  Our new PBS informational piece and PowerPoint presentation templates are great aides to help members promote the industry to local Chambers of Commerce, Rotary Clubs, and other organizations.  Plus very soon, the ATSI Marketing Committee will be releasing commercials that our members can use in their local markets. 

I am also working hard to help make the industry proactive to technologies like VoIP and video conferencing, which can and should be integrated into our client services.  ATSI will continue to help members identify and evaluate the new technologies and how they can be of benefit.

In 2004, ATSI analyzed the wants and needs of members.  Last year we formulated further goals for our organization and industry.  From there, we’ve worked to implement these ideas and through our various committees, put together a plan which helped shape this year’s convention.  We believe that ATSI must address the needs of our three constituencies: members, the user groups and regional associations, as well as vendors.  Doing this is not an easy task, but with the help of our many volunteers and committees we believe we are on the right track.  The more members who become involved, the stronger our association will become.

One thing I learned from my mother was, “Share and you will always learn three times what you have shared.”  If there was anything I would tell members, it is to get involved to enjoy the benefits ATSI offers. 

If you joined your local Chamber and maybe went to a meeting once a year would you be getting anything from that membership?  No.  You have to get out there and network and get to know the people in your area.  ATSI is no different.  If all you do is come to a meeting once a year, read the list serve, and not get involved, then you won’t get the full value of your membership

We also need to be aware of legislative efforts affecting our industry, which the ATSI Legislative Committee carefully watches.  We need to create a cooperative approach between all the regional associations for state to state reports of legislative issues.  There are some key issues ahead and we need to stay informed to keep our industry strong and healthy.

I believe that education is the leading role of our association — as our tag line says, “ATSI, Learning by Association, Sharing Ideas is What We are All About.”  Some of the ongoing committees are Legislative, Emergent Technology, Marketing/PR, Health Insurance Initiative, Benchmarking, Education, and Owners’ Forums.

Also, we have put out several industry surveys and benchmarking initiatives that can really benefit our organization if everyone participates.  For instance, individual firms sending out the customer satisfaction survey will build stronger relationships between their clients, plus let ATSI see on an industry basis where we need to improve.  The better service we give and the stronger our relationships with our clients, the stronger our industry will become.

Likewise, our Industry Standards initiative is a first step towards being able to truly measure specific Service Level Agreements on a known basis across platforms.  With tools like this, as well as the Financial and Wage Benchmarking and other programs, we will be able to present a strong, confident, and healthy industry to the consuming public.

One of the areas we are currently investigating is a health plan benefit for our members to lower the cost of health insurance.  We are also revising and adding to a Marketing Toolkit that will put common sense ideas and easy-to-use templates into every member’s hands.  Also, the commercials I mentioned will be unveiled at our 2006 Convention.  Other planned highlights include reports from our Emergent Technologies Committee and a new series of audio interviews about special applications and markets.  I hope that everyone can make it to the convention.

For more information, visit www.atsi.org, email admin@atsi.org, or call 866-896-2874.