Hey Ron,
First and Foremost from the Roundtable in PA no org. has started....yet. Could there be one?? Possibly. Is there alot of work to do by much needed Volunteers--Definitely. Is there a chance that no org. comes out of this?? Once again possibly. Right now I would say there is a good chance something will come about this.
My involvement with this is no different then most everybody else that went to the ACR Roundtable. I was there to listen and see some Friends. If you want me to recap briefly how the Org. Conversation went after the Roundtable basically ended. I can do that for ya.
The ACR Roundtable ended Sat. Afternoon on Nov 17th. There were at least 100 people there for that. For the Organization discussion there was around 60 people that stayed to listen and ask Questions. Tom Vogle started off the discussion by telling us all a very disheartening story how he was the new PWNA Vendor of the year. He didn't know he was going to win the award and when he won he called the PWNA office at least 4 times to discuss this. He also called the PWNA President. None of his phone calls were returned. I don't know why this would happened to Tom since at the very least he's been a PWNA member maybe from the beginning of that org. If Tom says this happened then I believe him and if you know Tom like the way I do and alot of others do you know he's telling the truth. Tom has a very nice demeanor and he radiates Honesty. He is an extremely likable guy.
Tom explains to us that he feels the time is now for the Roundtable crowd to start an Organization that represents them. The organization in Toms eyes should include Contractors, Distributors and Manufacturers. Along with the contractors there were other Distributors and Manufacturers present.
I want to add that Tom and many others felt the time is now to possibly do this.
When Tom finished up what he had to say he asked Brian Penny to come up and speak. Brian did a great job here and filled in alot of gaps of whats going on in the industry. Brian answered many Questions. Also in the crowed some were giving alot of insight on some positive points for others to absorb. Among these People that spoke in the crowd were Beth and Rod, Jack Kramer Carlos Gonzales, John Orr and a few others.
Robert Hindeliter Also came up front to speak about his experiences and heart Break that he went thru to better this industry as a whole. There is a reason why The PWNA gave one of its highest awards that was name after Robert Hindeliter and to hear this man speak its not easy to figure out why the award was named in his honor.
In the end there were many questions with some being answered and others that could not because there is no answer to them...yet.
As for whose invovled...the door is open to any and all...BUT....there will be as Brian Penny stated Accountability. There will be as Jack Kramer expressed- -Education. There will be as Carlos Gonzales says a way for us to establish ourselves within. There will be as Beth says a constant way to communicate thru the TGS bb. This was a wish from Robert Hindeliter about using TGS as an internet voice. Other bb's such as PWI and PT and Delco's bb are also voices for people to be heard. There will be a price structure to be a member so its in line with the benefits received as John Orr voice his concern about.
All this may happen.......................or it may not. Nothing has been decided for sure but I can tell you if anything is done it is for the Benefit of the Industry and more importantly a benefit......to you.
