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Director’s Desk
Welcome Back to the Big Apple By John Ospina It’s been six years since we last hosted our Annual Convention in New York City. There are tons of things to do and places to see in the “City That Never Sleeps.” As a destination, this is one of the best locations in the country to visit. New [...] -
Evaluating and Innovating To Improve Member Experience
By John Ospina Over the past few years technology has played a large part in how GAWDA, as an association, communicates with its members and how our members communicate and network with each other. Not long ago, social media was new to many of our members. Now, it’s fairly common to see members tweeting, [...] -
Membership Renewal Ensures Continuing GAWDA Benefits
by John Ospina The Gases and Welding Distributors Association (GAWDA) is constantly evaluating and improving member services to provide the best and most useful advice, assistance and information available. Members’ valuable input last year has resulted in GAWDA’s expanded range of member benefits. Since membership is the only way to access these, please make sure [...] -
Goals Set, Met: More Useful Assistance Provided for Members
by John Ospina Welcome back to the Grand Wailea. The last time we held our annual convention here was in 2010. A lot has changed since then, but the drive to improve the offerings of the Association remains strong. GAWDA continues to have a vibrant and active leadership and volunteer base. Their involvement and dedication continues to [...] -
Introducing CVENT: GAWDA’s New Registration System
Here’s How to Get Utmost Benefit from this Online Program As you may already know, GAWDA has launched a new registration system for this year’s Annual Convention. Having a new, streamlined system was identified by President Bill Visintainer as one of his main goals for his year as GAWDA president. GAWDA staff researched a number of software [...] -
Here’s the Good News: GAWDA is Healthy and Growing
Membership Committee and Staff efforts have boosted our numbers Our association continues to remain healthy and is growing. In 2015, we closed the year at 548 members. This is an eight percent increase in our total membership numbers over the past year. For several years our total membership numbers have stayed right around 500. [...] -
GAWDA Sponsored Group Health Program
On July 1, the Gases and Welding Distributors Association began offering a national association-sponsored group health purchasing program offered through United Healthcare and sponsored through The Horton Group, an association insurance program sponsor based in Chicago. This program is open to any current GAWDA member firm, and can be joined on the first of any [...] -
GAWDA Provides Free Vital Access To CGA Electronic Safety Standards
The agreement between GAWDA and CGA continues to provide GAWDA distributor members with access to CGA’s electronic safety standards. This member benefit was announced back in 2011 in New York during the GAWDA Annual Convention by Bryan Keen, 2012 GAWDA president, and Michael Tiller, Compressed Gas Association’s president and CEO. “This is a big deal” [...] -
Gearing Up For The SMC
Things are shaping up for the upcoming Spring Management Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. Our conference over the dates of May 3 to May 5 comes right on the heels of Jazz Fest. SMC attendees who get to the city a little early are sure to enjoy the kind of festival that made New Orleans [...] -
Celebrating A Successful Transition
2014 was a busy year for GAWDA staff. The new Headquarters build-out is complete, and the results are highlighted on page 102. The end result is nearly 2,000 square feet of space redesigned for the successful operation of GAWDA. The eight-month-long process concluded in December, and following is a quick synopsis of activities resulting in [...] -
Continuing Efforts To Stay Relevant And Strong
In the spirit of this year’s theme of staying relevant, GAWDA counts down to the end of the year as we move to self-management. In the last four years, GAWDA has experienced a huge amount of change. First, the move to Florida where the Association was managed by AWS, and now the move to self-management. [...] -
GAWDA Is Heating Up This Summer
Summer is finally here after a long cold winter. If you attended the Spring Management Conference, then you know from Alan Beaulieu’s (ITR Economics) presentation that this should be a good year for our industry. If you were not able to attend the Spring Management Conference, then you missed a number of insightful presentations with [...] -
Keeping Up With Change
We all know change is constant and nothing stays the same, but merely acknowledging this fact is not enough to keep us ahead of the game. Each changing day brings us new opportunities to reinvent ourselves and our organizations. We’re constantly exposed to new ideas of how to improve the way we do things. They [...] -
Avoiding Information Overload
Not too long ago, information was hard to come by. Before online search engines, social networks, blogs, tweets, chat rooms, YouTube, instant messaging, text messaging and email, people relied on only a handful of resources for their news and information, including newspapers, magazines, a few network TV stations and radio programs. Business communications were also painfully [...] -
The Power Of History And The Direction Of Your Future
History is a tricky thing, especially when it relates to business. We all feel the need to preserve our past, as we plan for our future. Marcus Garvey said, “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” This rings true for most of us, and [...] -
The Power Of History And The Direction Of Your Future
DIRECTOR’S DESK History is a tricky thing, especially when it relates to business. We all feel the need to preserve our past, as we plan for our future. Marcus Garvey said, “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” This rings true for most of us, [...] -
What Does Peak Performance Really Mean?
Positioning yourself for peak performance can be applied to the GAWDA experience. By John Ospina -
Members Only!
GAWDA website offers new resources exclusively for members. By John Ospina -
Looking At The Baltimore SMC And Beyond
This year's SMC looks at how domestic and international factors shape the business landscape. By John Ospina -
What 2012 Has In Store For GAWDA
Start the year off right with GAWDA programs that can save you time and money. By John Ospina -
Keeping Relationships Strong
We have a lot to be proud of in the gases and welding industry. The men and women who make up our workforce are a dedicated, tough and resilient group. Many factors contribute to any one success, but a critical component in every success is maintaining a strong relationship. By John Ospina. -
Time To Renew
Now is a great time to sharpen your skills and those of your employees. By John Ospina. -
Evaluating GAWDA Member Benefits
Familiarize yourself with the array of GAWDA’s member benefits. By John Ospina -
Improving Our “Value Proposition”
GAWDA looks to serve members through educational programs, networking opportunities and resource-based communication channels. By John Ospina.