Well John it looks like my cover is blown….my master plan of over running this part of the world with PPFA Chapters is out!!!!…..
The set up of the PPFA is that there is head office and then the Chapters…some of the Chapters are quite big and would even have there own web sites…..I’m the only member of the PPFA in the South….there is an other business in the North who is listed in the PPFA directory (you can see this on line at the
www.ppfa.com it’s in the members bit of the site you can check details by Country)…….perhaps this is changing as it takes a few weeks for the PPFA to up load members details to there web site..
Now back to me being “Ambassador at Large” for the PPFA….that’s my good friend Ron (Ron Eggers) having some fun
….the PPFA have some sort of “orphan” program in that a PPFA Chapter can adopt a member who is a long distance from the nearest Chapter…..I had asked Ron more as a joke if his Chapter would like to adopt me…..of course I can imagine what happened at that the meeting of the Wisconsin Chapter ………Yippee lets all get our golf clubs and head for Ireland and annoy Dermot and have him buy us all copious amounts of Guinness……and then the St. Louis Chapter jumped in to claim me!!!…….some chance they will have ……..little do the know……I’m a non drinker and I have no interest in golf…….though I would be more than happy to help the PPFA organize a trip to Ireland……
and BTW members and non members are welcome to attend a PPFA Chapter meeting…..there is generally a small charge to attend with non members paying a little more…..at the present special of US$25 to join the PPFA you would very quickly recovery your outlay……
I’m heading for the framing (this is the big one lots of education of all sorts methodology and business training) show in Atlanta in September where I hope to get more to grips with what would be involved in setting up a PPFA Chapter in this part of the world…….I’m very lucky in that I can indulge my passion and devote quite a bit of my time to the development of the world of framing (some would say I over do this I say I can do it at present and why not)…….my wife is much better at making money than I’ am and I rum my business as a second income…..though I would have strong ambitions that if I can get it right in a few years it will be very much a stand alone earner and quite a good one at that…..my plan would not work for everyone but I have high hopes….
if anyone is heading to Atlanta let me know as the Grumblers get together for dinner on one of the nights….I have been to one in New York a few years ago and it was a super night….
You may not be aware but a few years ago the PPFA joined with the PMA (Photo Marketing Association) in fact my receipt for membership of the PPFA came in UK£ from the PMA office in Birmingham (I understand this is for admin purposes), though you have to make Membership applications via the PPFA’s US office, …..the PPFA is now a well financed and managed operation and is growing in leaps and bounds I have being very impressed by what they are doing……...in fact recently William Parker (a framer himself) who heads up the PPFA gave me a call one day to welcome me on board and to clear up a small miss understanding, other people at the PPFA office keep in touch from time to time…just yesterday I received an email letting me know that I could get the CCI Notes
www.cci-icc.gc.ca/ – (Painting only sections that apply to the CPF exam) directly from PPFA …..and this was from a casual remark I had made on the US Grumble (the folks at the PPFA do participate on the US Grumble and will give input, use it as a conduit to pass information and ask for advice and guidance from time to time) …..they keep in touch and look after their members like nothing I have ever come across before…..it would be hard not to be impressed…..
The networking with the PPFA is second to none…..there are members right now who are helping me with how I hope to develop my business……with planned visits, by sending me training material….and by inviting me to there workshops to give me individual training in the area of framing I’m hoping to presume…I’m seeing a very bright further for myself…..from what I can only describe as a disaster a year or so ago…
One last thing that I like about the PPFA is how they have left the job of setting the standards for framing to FACTS ( big things happing there also) an independent stand alone organization which allows the PPFA to get on with the job of helping framers with the business aspects of running a framing business…….
