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by Geoff Reed
Over the last three years, ASMP National policy has shifted to
require that local chapters of ASMP raise their own funds for chapter
sponsored events and seminars, without financial support from the
ASMP National office. Consequently, it has become each chapters
responsibility to make seminars and events pay for themselves in
their entirety. Fortunately, we have been able rely on the generous
support of our sponsors.
Up until now, however, we have tended to approach our vendor/supporters
on a somewhat random basis, such as when we have needed help to
pay for the food or venue for a program. It was not uncommon for
us to feel that we were inconveniencing our sponsors by going back
more than once to request contributions. And, despite their best
intentions, it was not uncommon to hear: "Gee, we would love
to help out but there is no more money in the budget -- try us again
in a month..."
Conceived as the brainchild of past AZ ASMP chapter president
Paul Markow, the recently launched "Friends of AZ ASMP" Program
is designed to allow supporters of ASMP to plan their contributions
to ASMP on an annual basis. Different levels of sponsorship clearly
spell out what AZ ASMP offers in return. Sponsors receive ad space
in the newly revived newsletter, as well as links on the AZ ASMP
webpage that link to the sponsors' own web sites. Other promotional
benefits are listed here.
The program committee gains by being able to better budget and
plan a meaningful schedule because it has advance knowledge of the
money available for programming. The Board of AZ ASMP thanks its
sponsors for their continuing generous support. We sincerely hope
that this new program will help to promote our vendor's interests,
while supporting our own educational programs. We look forward to
all comments and suggestions as to how we can make it better.
For further information about sponsoring or advertising with AZ ASMP, please contact: Tom Eglin, AZ ASMP Sponsorship Program Coordinator Tel: (602) 266-3551.
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