BFMA is 50 years old. Think about it, a HALF CENTURY

By: Bill Hill, CFSP, CFC
VP Program Council

How much money has BFMA saved industry and government in 50 years?   It boggles the mind.

Yes, it has been 50 years of educating people to a more efficient way of conducting business. Our knowledge may be the most unappreciated key to successful business processes. If BFMA could collect 1% of all the cost savings people have utilized from our teachings, would there be a bank big enough to hold it all?

Craig Dartnell from Australia has stated it best, "Forms are the lifeblood of business."  Remember, Forms reflect Philosophies, Policies and Procedures or your business/ agency.  Therefore, forms are: Mini Public Relations Statements, Mini Policy Statements and Mini Procedure Manuals.

We have been doing this for a half century. We are celebrating this awesome anniversary at our BFMA Symposium in Las Vegas on May 4 through 8th. Many people think of Las Vegas as a party town, but Las Vegas has also become convention central as numerous conventions are held in Las Vegas every week.

You can look at the website to sign up for the fantastic education opportunities we have available for you. Be sure to define your education path and get management’s approval, as your training will enhance your job performance and your company’s profitability.

Example:  You have a form that takes one minute to complete and 100,000 are completed a year. You learn a concept from a Symposium class that will save 5 seconds in completing each form.    Do the math.   Be amazed at the amount of time you will save in the measurement of an FTE.  You can save days, months, tons of paper, increase return on investment that management never thought could be saved by a person... who just draws lines.

Our history in Video

Yes, this Anniversary celebrates what BFMA has accomplished in 50 years.    Andy Browne has created a video that will display our history over many of these years.   Unfortunately, some of the earliest years are lost to time.     If you have some ancient pictures and wouldn’t mind showing them, bring them along.    

Sunday night at our Ice Breaker, several things will be accomplished.  We will start with industry group meetings and develop networking within our industries as we meet people that share our challenges. We will then have an anniversary cake with a short presentation from our President, Ray Killam, CFSP, CFC.  Ray will introduce the video developed by Andy Browne. We will see people that were involved in developing BFMA and those bringing our organization to today’s level. You will see people that you have heard great stories about but never met. You will see people that look familiar... then realize that some of us old fogies were young at one time... although there are some who seem to never age.

We have an extremely rich history and that will be revealed throughout the video. The video will loop during the night so you can grab people to ask who certain people are that you may have heard something about. In the replaying of the video, the sound will be reduced so those who want to hear more details can, but still allow you to converse with new and old friends.      

We did the same thing at the 50th anniversary of a racing organization I participate in and as the night went on, the enthusiasm grew as more people were asking questions about events on the screen.   This should be no different.    Don’t be afraid to ask someone if they recognize an event on the screen... particularly the more senior people who have the blue ribbon on their nametag.

WE OFFER QUALITY EDUCATION.    WE OFFER A LOOK INTO OUR GOLDEN HISTORY. We also offer an auto museum at the location that can be visited afer events. THIS HAS GOTTA BE ONE OF THE BEST BFMA EVENTS EVER.

If you know former members or know people who know former members, alert them to this event and tell them there is now a special membership for retired forms people.  They need details that are available from headquarters.

They say what happens in Las Vegas stays in Las Vegas.   BREAK THE RULES.   BRING HOME WHAT YOU LEARNED IN LAS VEGAS TO MAKE YOUR COMPANY/ AGENCY MORE EFFICIENT!      See you there.