E-THOUGHT FOR THURSDAY JANUARY 7, 2010

Greetings fellow vending Enthusiasts,

I decided to do today's E-Thought based on a phone conversation that I had yesterday with Mark Walkie, he is the manager of sales & service for NAMA. I decided to do the E-Thought about this conversation because I think he had some good points and also influenced a changing of perspective about NAMA that I have had for a few years.
Mark started the conversation off by congratulating me on my winning of the 2009 Vending Distributor of the Year. To this of course I said thank you and I appreciate him taking notice. He then proceeded to tell me how as soon as he was done with the article he looked up Vend Northwest or Steve and myself to see that we were members. I'm almost positive that he was shocked and awed to find out that the Vending Distributor of the Year was NOT a member.
There are a couple of reasons why we are not members and depending on who you are, you would agree or disagree with our reasoning.
One of the First discouraging items that we noticed about membership was that it would cost us $1000.00 a year to be part of the Alumni of NAMA, Now that may not sound like allot of money to some people but to a family run small business that must get the most ROI that we can, it is a huge amount.
Secondly for the past several years our perception has been that NAMA was there to help bolster and grow the already large and growing vending companies that were already out there and tended not to make available it's resources to the smaller "mom & pops" of which we are inclined to be there for as these smaller companies are the reason for us (Vend NW)and our existence.
Thirdly, the politics that came with being involved was simply to much for us to deal with while trying to maintain an impartiality to our growing customer base.
What I got out of Mark and that phone call was that NAMA is really trying to get back to it's roots and why it was started in the first place. "To give and make available to ALL vending operators the resources and help that they need to be successful in an ever changing and sometimes very difficult industry.
He told me that since he had started with NAMA 5 years ago, his focus had really been for the most part to get back in touch with the Operators and to really try to learn and understand what it is that NAMA could do for them to help increase, grow, and educate them on their business.
To be honest with you all, I have noticed NAMA "reaching" out more to the smaller vendors and would agree with them that this is a step in the right direction! I am honestly considering for the first time in my 15 years in the business of joining their organization. So thanks Mark for your kind words and enlightenment!

Regards
Curt Wokal