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About the changes in PPFA's management structure

Gregory K. Norris CPF

RIP Past PPFA President 2016-2018
Certified Picture Framer®

In Remembrance

Rest In Peace



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3,916
Location
Huntington, West Virginia
Company
Huntington Hall of Frames
Some members have taken their concerns about the changes in the management structure of PPFA outside the organization to public social media venues. There have been no comments internally.

While the board has turned over management to Monarch Expositions LLC, a private company that purchased PPFA and its assets some years ago, PPFA is not without proper management.

Without making any judgment about the effectiveness of this new business model, I have to wonder why anyone in a volunteer leadership position would assume at the outset that a transition from a struggling volunteer managed association to a professionally staffed association is a sign of failure.

This is not a sudden change and there is nothing nefarious about it. These changes have been discussed since the PPFA was sold to a private company. It was legally impossible for PPFA to remain a non-profit association once it was owned by a company.

At the 2018 PPFA convention half a year ago it was publicly announced that PPFA would be completing the transition from a non-profit association to a private LLC before the next convention.

Since I have returned to the status of "just a guy," and have no obligation to represent all members and present all sides of an issue, I have this editorial comment:

I have verified that these discussions were begun by chapter leaders cutting and pasting content from the PPFA Framers' Corner.

They then hint that management is doing something corrupt or behind the backs of the members, or that PPFA is suddenly failing.

This seems to be a recurring theme that goes back many years. The rationale goes something like this:

Problems in PPFA are not complex, but simple and failure to do simple things to solve these simple problems is either the result of incompetence or corruption.

If you just substitute "management" for "board," this is just the same old sniping I have heard as long as I have been framing.

Historically, it seems we are unable to disagree like adults. I have heard it described as "herding cats," which is amusing until you consider what that means. No consensus, no shared vision, and limited success.

I have to admit, I am mystified by this. Right now it just seems adolescent.

We do not have a plethora of trade associations to choose from. We have just the one. Like it or not, it is what we have. It is fine to try to constructively change it. It is fine to argue with each other about it. But whether you are a member or not, publicly trashing it is just bad business. It is disingenuous to think that the general public is not aware of these public squabbles. Text can be--and is--cut & pasted from social media just as easily as from the Framers' Corner.

Until we behave as professionals in our businesses and in our association, until we live our Code of Ethics, until we treat those with whom we disagree with respect, we will continue to struggle regardless of the structure of PPFA's management.

With apologies to Walt Kelly: We have met the enemy and it is us.

Going forward, if you have concerns or complaints, or if you have any questions, you can contact the executive director at director@ppfa.com.
 
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