New website, logo, membership dues structure
July 22/29; Volume 27/Number 7
By Louis Iannaco
The North American Association of Floor Covering Distributors (NAFCD) has announced the launch of a new website, logo and changes to its membership dues structure.
The newly designed logo provides a fresh and modern representation of the association while still highlighting its core values of trends, education, leadership and networking. “This design was the basis for the recently launched NAFCD website as well,” said Michelle Miller, the organization’s executive vice president. “To us it was just a box. It represented a very old fashioned type of look. What we were going for was a bright, colorful and more progressive logo.
“Our companies are making many changes in the right direction,” she explained. “They’re adopting new technologies, making their operations more dynamic, are more progressive with sales and training, and we want to represent that. We thought the old logo didn’t reflect what we are trying to do as an organization. The new one represents what we do: providing information on trends, education, leadership and networking.”
As for the new NAFCD website, the revamped version provides all the resources of the old site, with several new and enhanced features. An easy-to-navigate menu and improved pages make it simple for members and non-members alike to find pertinent information. “This is way overdue,” Miller said. “It’s more robust than the previous website.
“With the way the directory is now,” she explained, “visitors are able to do more searches for members/products in certain categories. The new site is more dynamic and can tie into LinkedIn and Facebook, which our members are now able to join from our site.”
According to NAFCD vice president Craig Folven, the organization wanted to portray the image of a progressive association that embraces technology. “We needed to have an updated website for the face of our organization and also make it more interactive, such as with the registration process. Before it was one-sided; information was posted and there was no interaction. Now it’s a living, breathing site members can use to take advantage of the services NAFCD provides.” To view the new site, visit nafcd.org.
The trend of companies condensing and consolidating within the industry has also driven the NAFCD leadership to re-evaluate its membership dues structure. In 2012, the NAFCD board began to research the best way to reposition and simplify membership categories in response to industry movements.
Following significant review and examination of potential offerings, the board approved a new membership dues structure to take effect Jan. 1, 2014. This structure simplifies the previous offerings for distributors from five options to three and cultivates inclusiveness and independence for members. Furthermore, companies that have acquired other entities will be able to share one membership but will still be recognized separately as individual members. The new structure takes into consideration branches, geography and diverse product lines and, as a result, provides access to NAFCD to a greater number of individuals.
“[The change] isn’t about trying to collect more dues,” Folven said. “It became cost prohibitive for companies that might have made an acquisition and had two or more subsidiaries. They would pay under one dues structure but those other subsidiary companies could not take advantage of the benefits we supplied as an organization. That’s really what we’re here for—to supply educational opportunities for those employees and reports that help their businesses.
“By simplifying the dues structure and allowing those subsidiary companies to participate,” he explained, “we get their feedback, which is part of our mission, and allows them to utilize our education, research and trends information.”
In previous years, Folven noted, a company wouldn’t want to pay two or three membership dues for each of their companies. “That’s why we simplified it, to allow more people to take advantage of what we offer as an organization.”
For more, call 312.673.4734 or visit nafcd.org.