Make Your Convention Plans

I would like to thank all of the members who emailed me and gave me their thoughts and opinions on the subject of licensing. It was very interesting to see all of the diverse opinions on the subject and nice to know that many of our members are taking the time to read Keynotes magazine.

I would also like to publicly thank Jackie and Steve Bright for all of their hard work putting on the NCLA tradeshow and Barbara McGowin for all the hard work she put into the ALA tradeshow. I was able to attend both shows and they were both very well organized and successful.

In this issue of Keynotes, you will notice that the annual pricing survey is included. I would like to caution everyone that this survey should not be used to set your prices by. The answers to the survey came from many different members from all different markets. Some might be from large metropolitan areas, while others may be from very rural areas. Some areas may have very few locksmiths, while other areas may have a very high saturation of locksmiths. However, it can be interesting and useful to see what others are charging for services in different parts of the country. When setting your prices, you should take many things into account, such as the full cost of the goods being sold, the market you’re in, your skill level (or what you’re worth), and even the percentage of profit you would like to make. So, I hope everyone enjoys looking through the pricing survey and finds the information useful — just don’t set your prices based solely on any pricing survey.

Now I would like to address all of our safe technicians. If you have not already made plans to attend SAFETECH this year in Milwaukee, you should make plans to attend now — it’s not too late. Even if you are not a full-time safe tech but would like to add safe work to the services you already offer, you should plan on attending. Pick up a class or two so you can add to your bottom line. Also, while you’re at it, you should make plans to attend ALOA 2018 in National Harbor, MD! It looks like it will be a really good show with a lot of sites and attractions to see. If you have children on summer break, you can make it a family vacation, and the kids can have some fun learning about our nation’s history and its capital.

I sincerely hope to see you at both events! I hope that everyone is having a good and prosperous year, and I hope to see you soon!

Best regards,

Jim Wiedman, CML
President
ALOA Security Professionals
Association, Inc.
president@aloa.org

Important Notices for Members

As we get further into the year, it’s time for a few notices and reminders for members.

Membership Renewal

Thanks to all who have renewed memberships for 2018. Many changes are occurring in the industry, and ALOA needs your continued support to stay abreast of them. Any membership that is not renewed by April will be inactivated. So, don’t delay; if you haven’t had a chance to send in your payment, do so today! To make payment arrangements, please contact the membership department at membership@aloa.org or give us a call.

Professional Development

In addition to enhancing your professional development and networking with add-on memberships in specialized groups (IAIL – the International Association of Investigative Locksmiths, AIL – ALOA Institutional Locksmiths, SAVTA – the Safe and Vault Technicians Association and ALOA Latino – serving Mexico and beyond), ALOA SPAI is always reviewing services to add as additional member benefits. For 2018, we are looking at adding at least threenew programs:

„. A new Tech Pavilion on the ALOA Convention show floor with mini training sessions, industry tech talks and new product introductions.

„. First IAIL Forensic Conference, October 18-21 at the Aaron M. Fish Security Training Center, Dallas, TX.

„. High-quality online training that can be viewed from the comfort of your home or business.

Annual Conventions

The registration for the SAFETECH 2018 — which is scheduled for April 30 to May 5 — is now open. You may register online at www.savta.org.

The ALOA 2018 convention brochure is included with this issue of Keynotes magazine. Please take a few minutes to check it out. This is a new venue for ALOA, and we have plenty of new classes to go along with it. You don’t want to miss this year’s convention. Please email conventions@aloa.org if you have any questions about the program or venue.

Call for Volunteers

If you are planning to attend either of the conventions, contact us at conventions@aloa.org about volunteer opportunities. We’ll send you a form so you may let us know your hours of availability and the area that you’d like to help out in.

Thanks again for your continued support of ALOA SPAI!

Mary A. May
Executive Director
mary@aloa.org

ＡＬＯＡ　国際地域の皆様へ

私は現在ＡＬＯＡ国際地域部長です。そして2期（4年間）活動してまいりました。その前はNon-Boarding Dirctorとして2年間働いています。その間、私はアメリカ本土と各地で開催される役員会議に1年に3回以上出席していました。私は多くのロックスミスと交流ができて大変うれしく思いました。現在私ができることは、ＡＬＯＡのアジア地域のメンバーを中心に交流ができるチャンスを広げたいと思いました。2012年に中国上海市で「第１回ＡＬＯＡアジア会議」を開催して多くのメンバーが集まりました。また、2013年は、韓国支部の協力を得て、韓国ソウル市で２回目の会議を開催しました。９カ国のメンバーが集まりました。本部からはエグゼブティブディレクターのＭａｒｙ女史も参加して頂いています。本来ならば、ＡＬＯＡメンバーの皆様はアメリカで開催する展示会、総会に参加するべきだと思います。しかしながら、旅費や時間を考えると実行できないと思います。その為に、ＡＬＯＡの情報やメンバーの交流を図りたい目的で私は「ＡＬＯＡアジア会議」を実施しています。言語の問題は非常に大きいです。

さて、それらの情報を新たに「ＡＬＯＡ　ＡＳＩＡ」のホームページ、ブログを立ち上げて少しでも言語を変換できるようにして見ていただきたいと思います。この内容は、韓国の李さんのサポートがあり大変感謝しています。また私の周りには多くのサポートをしてくれる人達がいます。これからもＡＬＯＡメンバーの為に役立つことを進めていきたいと思います。

ご理解ご協力をお願い致します。

Yoshio Suzuki
International Director