As always, the ACA Convention & Expo is a highlight of the summer conference season. This year’s event did not disappoint. We spent several glorious days in Seattle, Washington at an amazing venue just blocks off the waterfront, and the weather did not disappoint with clear skies to take in some of Seattle’s scenic vistas.
The event kicked off early Sunday morning with a meeting of the Council of Delegates (COD). We are thrilled to report that GLCCA is now the largest delegation within ACA. GLCCA’s representatives included Pauline Kussart, Tim Haag, Mark Neeb, David Cherner and myself.
Over the last year the GLCCA delegation has been vocal in seeking greater information flow through the COD to our membership. After some noteworthy discussions during the meeting, we are confident that GLCCA’s voice was heard. Looking forward, we are encouraged by our ability to engage in constructive dialogue and believe the new board will work with us to share more information about what is happening at the national level. Additionally, we believe they will seek greater input from GLCCA as new initiatives are rolled out.
We also enjoyed a very spirited election of new board members. There was a large pool of extremely qualified candidates, which gave the COD many good options from which to choose. This was evident by the election process, which saw three tie votes needed to be recast. The new board and executive committee can be viewed here: https://www.acainternational.org/news/aca-council-of-delegates-elects-new-members-to-board-of-directors.
In addition to voting, other highlights from the COD meeting included a report on the State of the Association and the consideration of new bylaws. ACA proposed reestablishing divisions that would allow attorneys and vendors to join a State unit without membership. These groups would have the ability to select their own COD members using a formula to be determined in the SOPs. Because this initiative would move the process from the COD to the board, as well as the concern about losing members at the state level, the proposal for attorneys was rejected. It is anticipated this proposed change will be resubmitted to the COD with the requested fixes and will easily pass in the next meeting.
ACA is very excited about its Industry Advancement Activities. With the funds raised from members, ACA is supporting members in fighting meritless claims and serial filers to create a meaningful and positive impact for the credit and collection industry. If you have a matter in which the facts are strongly in your favor, you are encouraged to reach out to ACA for help.
We were also introduced to the work of the Institute for Collections Leadership, a consortium of large market participants created to change the dialogue regarding our industry and develop positive public relations for the benefit of all. This group will serve as an adjunct to ACA, separate but assisted by the ACA staff in pursuing the same objectives. Their site, www.collectionsleadership.org, looks great and should help our employees and members feel good about the work we do.
In the end, The ACA Convention & Expo provided great educational content and a chance to discuss business challenges and opportunities with peers from around the country. We encourage you to visit the ACA website to see the posted summaries as well as other updates.
–Irwin Bernstein, GLCCA President