Hello to my fellow CCA members!

My name is Ed Hertel and I am running for Vice-President.

I thought I would take this opportunity to expand a little on where my mind is on some of the topics facing the club. Hopefully, for those who don’t know me, this will be my introduction. My plan is to make a number of posts on various topics and invite questions/discussions.

If you want a brief introduction, please see my initial post here: http://www.thechipboard.com/index.cgi/md/read/id/1779592/sbj/announcing-my-intensions-to-run-for-vice-president/

What the CCA means to me…

As I said in my original post, I have been a member of the CCGTCC/CCA for 30 years! I can’t believe it has really been that long. Other than my parents, this organization has been with me longer than anything in my life. I have shared the birth my children here. I have met some of my best friends in this organization (sadly many have passed). And I have cherished every summer I have been able to see my friends in Vegas. It is truly the highlight of my year.

My greatest joy in this hobby was a couple of years ago when I was elected into the CCA Hall of Fame. It was an immense honor and one that still gets me choked up.

I have volunteered whenever I was able at the convention. I have served on various committees over the years (currently on Doug Smith’s Membership and Growth Committee). I am an active administrator of the club’s ChipGuide (illegals) and spend countless hours writing articles for the club’s magazine. If the club is in need, and I am able, I will gladly step in.

If it hasn’t been made clear, the CCA is EXTREMELY important to me. Its success and longevity is my number one concern.

Why do I feel I’m qualified to serve on the board?

I know that being passionate is not all it takes to make something successful. It takes hard work and know-how. I believe my experience will serve the club well.

Last summer, I retired from my job as Controller/FP&A Manager of a large non-profit organization. This organization was much larger than the CCA (40,000 members in 130 countries, multiple shows per year), but has faced many of the same issues as the CCA. In the past decade, membership numbers had steadily declined, volunteers had pulled back and conference attendance had been down. To add to cash flows issued, cost of supplies, labor and material were increasing faster than revenues.

As the “finance/budget” guy, I had to work closely with the various divisions in finding solutions to their problems. The Membership division needed to find ways to locate new members, then keep them long term. The Conference division had to find ways to convince people to travel to shows. Publications needed to control costs and the Education division had to reach new people and engage.

The more meetings I attended, the more my mind wandered to how these ideas could help the CCA. I understand we don’t have the millions of dollars as these other groups, but surely there could be lessons learned and tried.

I feel I could bring some of these lessons into the CCA, and with my retirement, I finally have the time to dedicate to the club.

Future posts…

Since this is best venue to communicate with the members, I’ll make a few more posts soon to expand on my ideas and stances on some of the issues.

One thing to remember though… nobody can claim they will change the club on their own. The VP is but one vote on the five person Board. I have worked with most of the current club Board members and believe we have many of the same beliefs.

I do not think the club is broken and need drastic changes – far from it. I do however believe it could use some focus, clean-up and organization before we can move forward and ensure a long life for the club we all care so much about.

I encourage anyone who has questions or would like to talk to email me, or ask for my phone number. I love talking about the club, chips or whatever. Hit me up!

Thank you for taking the time to read this. I hope to get your vote for Vice President.