Dear Members:
I am pleased to announce that we have selected a venue for our annual meeting of Members of NAATA which will also be the day we elect new Trustees. I am happy to announce that we have selected the Westin Hotel New York at Times Square, located at 43rd Street and 8th Avenue as the location. As you know the event starts the evening of the 5th of April and concludes on the 6th of April. Special thanks goes to our Executive Assistant Cynthia Scales who contacted several hotels in the midtown area; visited them and secured proposals and negotiated pricing. Great job as usual. The dates coincide with the New York Auto Show and Cynthia is looking into providing tickets as part of the cost of admission to the meeting.
We will begin on the 5th with a welcome reception at 6pm which will last to 9pm. Breakfast will be served the next day at 8:00 am and we will start our proceedings promptly at 9am. Lunch will be served at noon and we expect to conclude our proceedings at about 4:30 pm. As I previously announced, we have secured the attendance of Port of Newark CBP Supervisor Noel Moloney and Special Agent in Charge Sean Willman of Homeland Security. They will be speaking in the afternoon and will be prepared to answer questions and interact with the Members.
We have secured a special rate for our members for the rooms at $289 for the nights of the 5th and 6th of April. When booking the room be sure to identify yourself with NAATA MEMBERSHIP MEETING 2018. You will be able to book your rooms starting next week. Please book early since we have a limited number of rooms available at the special rate. The cost of attendance is $500 per attendee if paid prior to February 25 and $600 per attendee if paid thereafter. The charge is solely to cover the cost associated with the event.
With regards to attendance – it is imperative that we achieve good attendance at this event. We are electing new Trustees and we will provide all Members with a brief biography of each Member who is standing for electing as a Trustee.
During the meeting we will be discussing the gains that the organization has made this past year and our forecast and expectations for 2018. We will also be discussing plans for the 2018 conference which will be held in the Cancun area.
This membership meeting will provide an opportunity to meet with your fellow members, get to listen to excellent and relevant speakers, ask questions and get answers. Your attendance will demonstrate to our speakers your support and commitment to doing things correctly.
We will be accepting 4 sponsorships for the event at $750 each and just as with the conference, sponsors will be allowed to post signage and distribute information about their companies and if they wish, make a brief presentation. Andrew Pilsworth, one of our outgoing and long-standing directors has agreed to donate $750 without the sponsorship and it is greatly appreciated. Thank you Andrew. Please, if you are interested in sponsorship we need your support so please contact either me, Mike O’Rourke or Cynthia Scales.
I am excited about the success and progress the organization made this past year and I am looking forward to a future which looks very bright for NAATA. You can sign up for the event through our website so please do so at your earliest convenience. I cannot underline strongly enough the importance of your attendance.
See you in New York on April 5th
Charles S. Brofman, President
