NEW YORK -- An ad hoc group of current and former ASTA officers
launched a campaign to derail a Society plan to save money by
reducing the number of chapters and elected officials.
The plan involves cutting the number of chapters from 32 to 14
and the number of areas with elected national directors from 16 to
seven.
ASTA president Richard Copland said the plan -- if approved in a
February referendum and implemented in October -- would save the
Society about $500,000 in the first two years.
Opponents agree that ASTA needs to save money as its membership
and income have fallen, but they believe the plan is the wrong
approach because it would move the national organization further
away from members, driving them out of the organization and
fostering the creation of other local trade groups.
In other words, the Society would lose all the money it is
trying to save and maybe more, they said.
They also say that ASTA's leaders are acting hastily by rushing
a membership vote without giving adequate thought to
alternatives.
Leading the fight are two area directors, Ray Hanley, Travel Pro
Network, North Chelmsford, Mass., and Linda Rawlings, Travel
Advocate, Denver, plus Hudson Valley chapter president Stan Morse
of Marstan Travel, Millbrook, N.Y.
Opponents also include past presidents Phil Davidoff and Mike
Spinelli.
The group sent an e-mail to ASTA members last week expressing
concerns about the "potentially disastrous effects" of the
proposal.
A particular concern is the composition of the board. While it
would lose more than half its elected members, it might ultimately
shrink less than that, from 23 voting members to 17 or 18.
Three seats would be occupied by board-appointed
directors-at-large, but the board could decide not to fill any or
all of those slots. Three chapter presidents, rather than one
today, also would sit on the board.
Critics complain about the increased number of directors who
would not be elected to those specific posts.
They also note that the three at-large board members "presumably
would be from mega-agencies and large consortia."
Hanley said he understands that members of ASTA's year-old
Corporate Advisory Council (comprising large agencies, franchisers
and consortia) want a voice in ASTA's highest councils in exchange
for financial support.
He said Copland wants that funding and the bulk memberships that
the big players could deliver. He said the big agencies "want ASTA
to fight their battles for them so they don't ruffle the feathers
of suppliers" and risk their overrides.
But what happens, Hanley asked rhetorically, when the interests
of these companies diverge from ASTA's? "Do they walk with their
members and money? It sounds like a setup for blackmail," he
said.
Copland, responding to Travel Weekly questions, said there was
no understanding that any member of the Corporate Advisory Council
would sit on the board, but "I would welcome them [council members]
on my board. This is an opportunity for this industry to unite.
They can't dominate the board."
Rawlings questioned the first-year savings to ASTA because a
grandfather clause allows chapter presidents and board members with
one year left on two-year terms to stay on and finish their terms,
overlapping with other newly elected officials.
Copland acknowledged the overlap would leave the Society
supporting more officials than envisioned by the restructuring, but
he said he can prove his claim for $500,000 in savings in two
years, with perhaps $200,000 of that in the first year.
He also complained that his critics aren't offering viable
alternatives. Eric Ardolino, former ASTA secretary, suggested the
chapters be retained and required to subsidize their chapter
presidents when they travel on national business and to share
support for their area directors.
Copland said that idea, while viable for some chapters, would
not be financially practical for others.
To preserve a grass-roots connection with members, ASTA's plan
allows any group of 40 or more to establish a council within their
chapter, somewhat like a subchapter.
Some critics contend these will be nothing but weak chapters
with an extra layer of officialdom between them and national ASTA,
but Copland believes there could be more, not fewer, opportunities
for ASTA members to work together on issues that concern them.
There could be councils, he said, in cities that currently have no
representation on a chapter board.
Gerry Jung, former ASTA secretary and a frequent ASTA critic,
essentially agreed, saying there could be more councils than
chapters, giving individuals more rather than less access to the
organization.
He said, "No plan is perfect, but this one does a good job of
addressing the need to streamline the decision-making process and
reduce the cost of supporting officials."
He said he had some concerns about appointed board members, but
this was not a "major issue." His only complaint, he said, is that
"this should have happened years ago."
Copland said ASTA is aiming for a vote on the issue in the week
of Feb. 20.
Critics also worried that low-tech members could be
disenfranchised by an ASTA decision to conduct the referendum by
e-mail only. ASTA said it is soliciting e-mail addresses from
members, and for members who do not have the capability to vote
this way, the Society will arrange for an assistant to accompany
them to computer sites and facilitate their voting.