Statement to Members from Committee
As you will now have heard ex NABAS Chairman John Bowler has set up a rival organisation. This organisation is not an Association like NABAS but a private company run for profit backed up with finance from the major manufacturers.
The implication that NABAS members were becoming ‘dissatisfied’ and the larger manufacturers left because they were concerned over the direction NABAS was taking is a totally inaccurate account of the situation.
In reality, unknown to anyone, the seeds for the new alliance were sown some considerable time ago and there has been an organised and constant drip-drip of misinformation circulated with the sole intention of undermining NABAS and the Committee.
Earlier this year a take-over proposal was put to the NABAS Committee. It was proposed that the membership be moved from the existing structure to John Bowler’s own for-profit company. His proposal was to take the NABAS name and its membership, abolish the Committee, education and the structure of NABAS as we know it bringing everything directly under his own personal control. John Bowler was adamant there was no financial value to the NABAS name and membership list and that this should be handed over to him for free.
As members will be aware NABAS invests all monies back into the Balloon Association, through shows, insurance, training, public awareness events and the fight against bans on balloon releases. NABAS is there to support its members – not profit from them.
Committee lead associations can at times appear cumbersome and slow but at the very least they provide their members with a democratic voice and an opportunity to express their concerns. Privately run for-profit companies are in it for the money! Similarly manufacturers are there to sell product and their allegiances can and do change over time.
NABAS remains the original and credible independent trade association and the one of choice for not only the balloon industry but also the party market as a whole. We are now extending our ‘insurance umbrella’ to cover entertainers and others working in similar fields thereby attracting a quality membership from the many and varied parts of our exciting industry.
NABAS is forming contacts with other important sectors of the market including Face Painting and Costumes.
The NABAS Festival of Balloon Art [16/17 October 2010] offers members an opportunity to meet the famous names in the industry during the Design & Portfolio Day. The day of workshops/demonstrations, provided by qualified and respected NABAS teachers, is aimed at improving member’s skills and providing new ideas.
Also, importantly, the Festival offers a unique opportunity for the membership to network – catch up with old friends and meet new. Who else offers that!
NABAS teachers are together working on moving our training programme forward.
NABAS is a totally independent UK based trade association [although there are several members from further afield]. The core principles from the start have been to ‘Promote, Educate and Inform’ it’s membership. As a non-profit making Association it is there for its membership and not for financial gain.
The future for NABAS is extremely bright. We are not constrained by the big manufacturers who are only interested in selling product. NABAS is there to support its members and their businesses over the long term.