On May 8, 2008, at 12:00 AM, RECMGMT-L automatic digest system wrote:

> I would worry about the fate of any
> ListServ that allowed itself to become a forum for advertising,  
> since it
> would inevitably force practitioners off of this ListServ, and  
> leave the
> remaining vendors advertising themselves to each other.
>
> Douglas P. Allen, CRM, CDIA+
> [log in to unmask]

You should also worry about the fate of ARMA while you are at it! I  
have probably given 60 presentations at ARMA Chapters through the  
years and a disturbing trend is the participation of vendors to pull  
the wagon.  Oh sure, a few RM's sit in the Schooner gliding along,  
turning the reins and charting the course but who pulls the wagon?  
The vendor mules. ( Or you may term it more harshly.   :~)

These vendor mules were also head of the new member committee, the  
Program Chair and most likely at least have the officers and maybe  
even more of the Board.

I was in a recent city of notable size and, as always, I geared my  
speak to the development of the Records manager, trends in the  
industry the records manager should take advantage of and so on.   
Over half the room had no interest in my topic as they were not  
records managers.

As the meeting came to a close, I saw vendors trying to corner  
records managers, records managers attempting to break for their  
cars. The vendors were the gauntlet to conquer to achieve the safety  
of their cars. Everyone was in such a panic too leave that no one  
even came up to talk with me. No "How as your flight?"  "How do you  
like our city?"

No one asked but I can tell you what I think of that Chapter!

So at the end of the meeting; it was mass exodus.

But during the meeting, the President asked the head of the annual  
seminar committee (an offsite storage company) what the status was on  
this years conference.  Then they asked about new members and guess  
who?  The office furniture manager told about his work there.  The  
Program Chair, a software vendor, told about plans for future  
sessions. And a local offsite storage company, AKA, the Treasurer  
gave her report.

The Program Chairs discussions often go like this:  We have $900 in  
our budget next year, so who can we bring in for  $900?  Okay now we  
have two bon a fide speakers.  Now lets fill the seven other spots  
with people who will speak for free..............

Never forget this! ARMA can only exist because vendors pay for  
everything and do at least half of all the work!  This wasn't true in  
1986, but each year the organization becomes more dependent on  
vendors.  And as such, the respect for vendors drops.  This needs to  
be fixed.

To become self sufficient, the conference would need to be less  
dependent on vendors and your cost of attendance would triple.  How  
does $2,700.00 per attendee sound?  But instead the cost to exhibit  
for the most minimal space increased $900 to $1,800.00 to $2,500.00,  
$3,000.00 and up over the years.  You, the records manager, basically  
get a free ride.  In fact, you can't even sponsor your own party as  
your main vendor steps up to do this for you.

This Listserv has no real cost because it is run by volunteers and  
the site is sponsored so there is little cost there.  So this is the  
last bastion of real records management dialog. I would ask that you  
excuse the vendors if they occasionally lose track of where they  
are.  They mistakenly think their year long commitment of  
volunteerism and financial commitment to the education of RM buys  
them a little respect.

Remember the old joke....The wealthy merchant approaches a beautiful  
woman and asks "Would you sleep with me for $1 million dollars."  The  
beautiful woman relies "Yes." To which the millionaire says "How  
about $20.00?"  The woman yells "What do you think I am?"  The  
merchant replies "We have already determined that.  Now we are just  
haggling over price!"

Everyone here has a value. Vendors practice records management as any  
company does. They have something to share.

ARMA should determine how viable they really are and choose six good  
chapters and prohibit all vendors and see what happens??????   
Harrisburg, PA, and the Lehigh Valley Chapter both folded. The day  
the networking and sharing of ideas stopped, the RM's quit coming and  
the Chapter existed a few more years with vendors doing most of the  
work only to realize WHY??  No one but other vendors are here.

ARMA will soon be a book store like Amazon.com and the seminars can  
be done as webinars and this Listserv is the last place where open  
dialog on questions of current interest can occur.  All else can be  
learned from the Internet.

Maybe the Listserv is really ARMA now and ARMA is really just another  
vendor.  Do you know how many emails I get from them each year asking  
me to spend money?  Wow!

And none of them even care about what we are talking about here.   
(That's interesting? )

I guess I first realized ARMA has real problems when I looked up and  
saw that I was the current President of the combined Harrisburg/ 
Lehigh Valley ARMA Chapter. (Groucho Marx would never belong to a  
club that would allow him to be a member. )  Certainly one that would  
allow me to be President has worries.

What do you think Mr. Allen?


Hugh Smith
[log in to unmask]


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