An open letter to DeMaurice Smith, Kevin Mawae and all National Football League Players Association Executive Committee Members:

Dear Sirs,

At a time when every one of your association’s members is unemployed, we applaud your intense efforts to get them back to work. Add to that trade negotiations, a new CBA and getting the ’11-’12 NFL season on track, and yours is an extraordinary situation indeed – particularly for trade association leadership.

As such, we understand completely if one of the primary reasons for the NFLPA’s certification as a trade association may not be receiving the attention it deserves: organizing conferences and conventions.

As one of the thousands of associations headquartered in Washington, DC, we’re sure the NFLPA understands the value of bringing like-minded individuals together, to share ideas, explore new products and innovations, and discuss industry trends.

But did you realize properly marketed conferences can generate a high percentage of an association’s operating budget? In fact, a large number of associations find between 50% and 75% of their annual operating budgets are derived from hosting conferences and conventions.

Profitable events put less pressure on raising revenue via member dues, and while your members are out of work, a break in their dues could help alleviate any of the financial hardships the lock out may be causing.

For nearly two decades, we’ve been experts in helping some of the country’s largest and most productive trade associations generate operating revenue through successfully marketed events. In fact, we’re the region’s only agency whose primary focus is the marketing of association conferences, events and conventions.

As Creative Director at Fixation, I’d like to offer our services to you. And in these tough times, with unemployment rates still hovering around record levels, I’d like to offer you our creative services free of charge until your members are gainfully employed once again.

Top trade associations and non-profits have relied on Fixation to achieve a diverse set of objectives that include: increasing tradeshow attendance, enhancing issue awareness, promoting special programs, boosting membership, raising funds and much more.

We can help the NFLPA, too. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if we can assist your trade association in any way possible.

Sincerely,

Mike Gallagher
Creative Director
Fixation Marketing
mike@fixation.com