Help For The Holidays
Last Call For Tech Award Nominations
Educate The Offenders
Additional Comm Award Judges Needed
Comm Award Deadline Extended
Commemorative Booklet Project
Bylaws
TWNA Glossary
Avery Vise Rejoins Board
TWNA & Innovation
Banquet Ticket Sales
Help For The Holidays
By Doug Siefkes
Many of you know Gary King. Gary started the Trucker Buddy Program
13 years ago when he brought his idea to the trucking industry.
Today, more than 5,000 truckers are corresponding with classrooms
of kids in a pen-pal relationship. I personally can attest to
the power of the program from both a teacher and industry perspective.
When my wife was teaching she was involved in the program and
I saw first hand how kids were interested to learn about truckers
and our industry. It helped them appreciate and understand the
importance of trucking.
From our industry
perspective, the program has made truckers feel “connected.”
Made them feel like they’re contributing to the minds and
consciousness of our youth. I’ve talked to hundreds of
truckers who say nothing but great things about the program
and how the program has impacted their lives.
Some of you know
that Gary has undergone surgery to combat stomach cancer. It
wasn’t an easy procedure and they had to remove his stomach.
The good news is he survived and he has a positive outlook on
his recovery. He’s lost a great deal of weight and strength
which has severely limited his mobility. Gary and his wife,
Carol, live day to day and their income is very limited.
To help him get around,
Gary needs a scooter and I can think of nothing better than
an early Christmas present to the Kings. The cost is around
$1,000.00 for an entry-level model.
The TWNA Board has
agreed to make a $300.00 donation on behalf of the group. If
any TWNA members would like to make individual contributions
to this fund, please contact myself or Tom Kelley. The check
can be made out to TWNA, designated for the Gary King donation.
Please try to submit your donation before December 19, 2005.
If money is left over, we can present an added check to Gary
and Carol. Thanks for your support.
Doug Siefkes,
The Siefkes Group, Siefkes@siefkesgroup.com,
425-392-2611
Tom Kelley, TWNA, admin@twna.org,
704-599-0570
Technical Achievement Award - Last Call for
Entries
By
Eric Berard, Technical Achievement Award Committee Chairman
At this time
of the year, I am glad to announce that the Tech Award Committee’s
work is pretty well advanced.
The team formed of
James Menzies, John Baxter, Sean Kelley, Tom Gelinas, Paul Abelson,
Tom Berg and yours truly has gathered over 15 new products that
are eligible for the Award and is just about to begin the work
of narrowing it down to about ten items.
Afterwards, a jury
made up of the members of the Committee and other TWNA press
members will vote and the result of that vote will determine
the winner for 2005 and the four other finalists.
This is your last
chance to submit an entry, the ultimate deadline being December
12.
Let me remind that,
to be eligible, a product or service must have a positive and
significant impact on the trucking industry, have been introduced
during the course of 2005 and be widely available. Complete
trucks are not eligible but components are.
We will need an additional
five to six press members volunteering to serve on the jury.
The duty is not very complicated: look at the candidacies gathered
by the Committee members and vote for the ones you think deserve
most to win.
Any entry suggestion
for the Technical Achievement Award should be sent to the following
address: eberard@bomartgroup.com.
Volunteers to serve on the jury are more than welcome to get
in touch with me at the same address.
Let’s EducateThe “Offenders”
By TWNA Organization Director David A. Kolman
One of the founding principals of TWNA was to function as a
watchdog over the non-truck trade media and to respond to inaccurate,
incorrect, misleading or biased reporting on trucking industry-related
matters.
I have volunteered to be TWNA’s official responder to counter
such editorial.
Along with doing so, I will let the “offenders” know
that TWNA can serve as an information source and referral service
as they report on the trucking industry.
You can assist TWNA with its continuing mission to set-the record
straight about trucking by alerting me to any negative publicity
you come across.
Please call me at
(410) 374-6565, e-mail me at david@retread.org
or fax me at (410) 374-6565. To borrow a tagline: Together we
can make a difference.
Additional Comm Award Judges Needed!
By Walter Haessner - TWNA Comm Award Administrator
Will you help? Most of you are qualified, but many are intimidated
by the idea of judging others' work. This
is a peer-judged program; your participation is needed.
What is required?
You will be sent several entries in your particular area of
expertise/ experience, together with judging forms to fill in
for each entry, and "Judges Notes" to assist you through
the process. You will have at least four weeks in which to judge.
Judges are needed
in all areas of truck media: magazine, book, television, video,
PR, graphic design, photography, web and radio. If you can judge
in another language, particularly French, German, or Spanish,
please indicate. To volunteer, send a note to iama0@earthlink.net
via e-mail
Communications Award Deadline Extended
Just a reminder that it is not too late to submit an entry for
the 2006 TWNA Communications Award. The deadline for submissions
has been extended until December 8, 2005. Click
here for Comm Award details.
We have already received
quite a number of entries but welcome submissions from each
of you. Award winners will be announced at the TWNA Awards Banquet
at the 2006 Mid-America Trucking Show.
Commemorative Booklet Project
TWNA is planning on developing a commemorative booklet for the
2007 Awards Banquet. Roxane Rose has agreed to be point person
for collecting ideas and samples of commemorative books from
other organizations so when we are ready to put together our
own book we will have plenty of ideas. If you have any ideas
or suggestions of what TWNA’s commemorative book should
look like, please contact Roxane.
Bylaws
The revised bylaws have been officially ratified. Thanks to
all of you who took the time to vote. As a result of the ratified
by-laws, TWNA will begin the process of applying for 501c(6)
status as a not-for-profit organization. Once TWNA has become
a 501c(6) corporation, we will again need to amend our bylaws
to be in compliance with the requirements of that designation.
Stay tuned for details and for another round of voting.
TWNA Glossary
The TWNA Glossary needs to updated. Roxane Rose and Bette Garber
have agreed to work on it. They would love some assistance,
so if one of your pastimes is perusing the dictionary for fun,
contact Roxane and offer your assistance.
New Board Member
Avery Vise has joined the TWNA board as the interim Southeast
Press Director replacing Dan Barnhill.
TWNA & Innovation
By Tom Kelley, TWNA Executive Director
To most folks who have been around the business world in the
past few decades, Tom Peters needs no introduction. For those
who haven't read any of his books, Tom Peters is one of the
top business gurus of the late 20th century, and has helped
many companies survive, succeed and excel through practices
of continuous improvement, evolution and innovation.
Like most prolific
consultant/authors nowadays, Peters has a blog and newsletter.
Last week's newsletter highlighted Peters' recent
interview with the "other" Tom Kelley (nope,
not related as far as I know), discussing the other TK's
book, The
Art of Innovation.
As TWNA quickly moves
up on its 20th anniversary, we've been working to define the
role and future of the organization, create the programs and
systems needed to sustain the organization, and develop the
next generation of the group's leadership.
The changes we've
made over the last few years at TWNA, and those we'll need to
make over the next few years, should by no means be considered
a correction of the foundation laid out by the group's charter
members, but rather, continuous improvement, evolution and innovation
to ensure the group can survive, succeed and excel.
Even if you don't
have time for the book, the interview is a great read, and it
brings up a number of concepts that could help in our process
of developing the future of TWNA. Check it out.
Have a safe and happy
holiday season!
TWNA
Industry Awards Banquet Tickets
Those wishing to attend TWNA's 2006 Industry Awards Banquet
can begin reserving tickets now. The price for tickets is $60.00,
or $450.00 per table (8 seats). Press attendees who purchase
tickets will receive a complimentary renewal/new-membership
at the individual press member level. To reserve your seats,
contact TWNA at admin@twna.org
via e-mail.
