and we will take care of them. However,
if you have any one of the above, you
have embraced technology and can
continue to embrace it.
Now we will revisit the Membership
Portal and discuss the opportunities I
have come across. People still look for
NAMBA forms. They are gone and will
not be coming back. All of your
information is in the database. You can
change it and update it. There will not be
any more mistakes like I have
discovered we have had in the past. Even
though the online forms were designed
to fill out on your computer and print,
many would still do it by hand. I could
not tell the difference between an i, an el
and a one, or Z and a 2. Members would
change their home or e-mail address and
not notify me. This will all go a way
now.
Probably the most important aspect
will be…. No not probably … but will
be, insuring members and Single Event
Insurance on a timely basis.
PROPWASH
16
April 2016
The NAMBAMembership Portal Revisited
By Al Waters
NAMBA Executive Secretary
After processing over 1000 memberships and plenty of site insurances, club
registrations, race sanctions, and Single Event Insurances, the membership has taught
me a lot. I have learned to be a good Boy Scout and be prepared for almost anything.
As with any new program or platform, there will always be a few bugs to fix and
humps in the road to get over. The most difficult is people being resistant to change.
However, as people see the benefit in the Membership Portal, they are coming
around. One thing that we need to remember, we once used rotary phones, then
pagers, voice mail, texting, messaging, flip phones, then Skype and now smart phones.
I was probably one of the slowest to come around. People would ask my why I did not
have a cell phone. My reply was why do I need one when everyone else around me
has one I can use. I eventually came around and I now can not function with out it.
I can’t type so I Google talk. I have Pandora and Sonos. My e-mails come to my
phone in case there is something so important it can’t wait until I get home. I talk to
the GPS and it talks back to me. Apps??????? Oh boy. Do I have Apps. LA Fitness,
my bank and NAMBA’s bank. I don't go to the bank. I take pictures of checks for
deposit. The theater app, Subway, Amazon, Netflix, MLB, NFL, My Personal Cloud I
have at home, and many more but my favorite thanks to Lenny Blake in District 19,
What’s App. It’s upgraded texting in a Wav file. You hear the messages so I don’t
have to spell check or type. And LeAnn Blake says it works well for me because I
don’t talk so long. A nice thing for those who know me.
Where I am going with this is that technology will always be here and we need to
change the way we do things and embrace change because it will be for the better.
Yes, there will be a few who do not have a cell phone, the Internet, a computer
