EXECUTIVE PERSPECTIVE Another Good Year for ALOA interests, business needs, experience levels and viewpoints — and they live and work all across the globe. The job of our ALOA SPAI board is to consider all of these needs and opinions and use them to forge forward to better both the industry and the association. A tall order, but we’ve been blessed with hardworking and conscientious leaders who truly want to ensure all of our members are heard. As you’ll see in this issue, nominations L are now open for the several seats that will be available next year. Now is the time for you to step up and consider run- ning for an open position. Be the future leadership of this association and help us continue moving forward. Nomination forms are due by March 1, so get those signatures rolling in! If you have any questions, please contact ALOA Secretary Clyde Roberson at [email protected]. If you can’t commit to the time in- volved with serving on the ALOA Board, please do be involved and give feedback to the board and staff. We need your in- put to ensure that ALOA is giving our members what they need. And thank you to the board members who have served throughout the years. Your dedication is so appreciated. ALOA Accomplishments in 2018 Those very board members I just thanked have been instrumental in helping ALOA move forward with goals on many fronts this year. Between them and the hard 6 KEYNOTES DECEMBER 2018 eadership is so important in a membership association. We have thousands of members with unique voices, work of the ALOA staff, we’ve been a to accomplish some wonderful thi for members. One of the most recent changes that h been well received is the elimination o the recertification program, which so members had come to view as a burd No longer do you need to track poi and activities to keep your members active! Instead, we now are implemen ing a fantastic rewards loyalty progr that gives you incentives to particip in ALOA activities. By attending clas and the convention, taking the PRP, stay- ing at the host hotel and other activities, you can earn free classes, free convention registration, ALOA Bookstore credits and even free airfare to attend conventions. We’re proud of this new program, and we hope you take advantage of it. Con- tact [email protected] for questions. ALOA has also made changes to its education program both at the Aaron M. Fish Security Training Center in Dallas and at the conventions. We’re offering many new classes and updating others, and we’ve added new events as well. At the Security Expo this year, we created a Tech Pavilion on the show floor where attendees could receive free education in short sessions. This added benefit let members get up-to-date information on new technology from industry experts. We also recently held the first-ever IAIL Forensic Conference, where attendees received in-depth instruction on forensic work and serving as an expert witness. At the end of the conference, students had the option to sit for CFL exams. The conference was a great success, and there are already plans to expand it for next year as well. We continue to promote and develop our ALOA and SAVTA Tech Link apps, which allow members to access technical maga- zine articles going back several years. To ac- cess the ALOA Tech Link app, go to www. ALOATechLink.com, and log in with your email address in your member profile as your username, and your ALOA member number is your password. At the bottom of the home screen are directions on how to add the app to your phone or tablet. These are just a few of the ways that ALOA has worked to improve programs for our membership. We’re always looking for ways to add value to your membership dollars, and we’ll continue to do so in 2019. If you have any ideas or questions, we’re always here to listen. Contact us anytime at [email protected]. Thank you for being a part of ALOA in 2018. We hope that you are having a won- derful holiday season. See you in 2019! Mary A. May Executive Director [email protected] WWW.ALOA.ORG
