Have You Made a Long Term Commitment to the Forms Profession?

By: Ray Killam, CFSP, CFC
President

Why are you a member of BFMA? And, if you are not a member, why not? Your answer to this question is important to me and I would really like to hear about it.

I have been doing a lot of analysis recently on BFMA membership patterns over the past 20 years and I find the numbers to be very interesting. Our membership has changed a great deal since 1985 (the year I first joined). We have quite a few members that have been around that whole time, but it seems many members join for a period of time, then drop out. I am sure there are many reasons, but I would like to hear specifically from you regarding your reasons, impressions and opinions.

Would you take a few minutes and send me an email (rkillam@essociatesgroup.com) and tell me why you are, or are not, a member? Is BFMA meeting your expectations? Do you participate for the education? The networking? Both? For some other reason? Please drop me a note and let me know.

BFMA is positioning itself to lead an effort in the US to develop forms management standards and best practices. This process is already well underway in Canada and we believe it will help elevate our profession if we can achieve this in the US. To be successful, we need a lot of participation and involvement from a lot of people. As you know, there is strength in numbers and we need more members if we are to establish credibility for the forms management profession.

Our databases identify more than 10,000 people that are involved in the forms industry throughout the world. We believe this is a fraction of the actual total number of people that analyze, design, develop, produce and deploy forms on an every day basis. So, we have two main issues here. One is to get a larger percentage of the people we have already identified to actually join BFMA. The other is to continue to find other people that are "in" the forms business. You can help is in both of these important areas!

We need you to tell others about BFMA and what we do. Spread the word that this is an important group to belong to. Tell your management that we are committed and dedicated to providing forms and form systems education such that it helps THEM achieve their organizational objectives. It is a win-win for all involved. It doesn’t cost very much to join and participate and the payback is enormous.

Many years ago, I fell in love with the forms business. Eventually, I found BFMA. Now, 20+ years later, I can’t imagine being able to be successful in my job without BFMA, with its education, news updates, and networking capabilities.

Please tell me your story.