Journal of Corporate Renewal

Sept

2016

REFLECTIONS

foundation for building and maintaining solid business relationships. According to our recent survey, networking is the number one reason most of us joined TMA in the first place, and face-to-face participation in our national, regional, and chapter conferences, seminars, and other events is a key to realizing that objective. In-person contact is critical to forming and maintaining the relationships that sustain and grow our businesses. Spending time with someone at a conference can be the next best thing to working together on a deal for developing a mutually beneficial relationship.

Being “pen pals” doesn’t cut it.

The 2016 Annual, November 2-4 at Disney’s Yacht Club Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, offers attendees myriad opportunities for face-to-face contact to strengthen existing business relationships and expand each of their networks. The many receptions, coffee breaks, and informal gatherings during the conference are fertile grounds for networking. In addition, this year’s Annual also features a golf tournament and a 5k run/walk, where you can meet more potential clients or referral sources. And, of course, strong business friendships often grow out of after-hours informal encounters with other conference attendees in the hallways or lounges of the hotel.

The Annual offers impressive value.

More than 100 turnaround consultants from 24 states and 64 firms attended The 2015 Annual. More than 100 attorneys from 30 states and 80 firms were there as well, along with more than 100 lenders and investor/capital providers from more than 30 states and

35 firms. Even if it could be arranged on
a one-by-one basis, can you imagine
having to travel to meet all those people
in their home states? How much time
and money is saved by meeting with
even a handful of these individuals
at The Annual rather than traveling
to meet them? It is not hard to justify
the expense or time for attending
the conference if you consider
the alternative means of meeting
prospects. The TMA conference app
includes a continuously updated
registration list and a messaging
feature that makes it exceedingly easy
to reach out to individuals before
and during The Annual to schedule
that critical face-to-face meeting.

TMA is a “watering hole” organization: that is, it is the only association in our industry that by the very nature of its multidisciplinary membership brings together the professionals and investors involved under a single banner. That’s why The Annual includes a host of multidisciplinary education sessions offering CPE and CLE credits. We wholeheartedly invite you to come and explore topics of interest in your own profession and avail yourself of opportunities to learn more about topics of importance to professionals and investors from other disciplines.

As I close, I want to pause and offer my respects and those of the entire TMA community on the recent passing of Peter J. Tourtellot, CTP, (see page 26) a former TMA president and chairman.

Peter was one of the key founders behind and proponents of TMA, and he exemplified its community spirit. One of my earliest experiences at a TMA Global event so many years ago was Peter walking over to me and taking the time to introduce himself. He waxed eloquently on the virtues of being a TMA member. He “made it personal” every day and became a friend to more members then I can recount here. My condolences are extended to Peter's family and friends. He is missed. J

TMA Global:
Making It Personal
BY DAVID F.W. COHEN, TMA GLOBAL PRESIDENT

When we think about the impact of technology on our client interactions, we have been here before. With only a couple of minor tweaks to reflect advances in technology, a United Airlines television ad that debuted in 1989 could just as easily be run today. In the spot, a boss named Ben walks into a conference room and informs the assembled employees that one of the company’s oldest customers “fired us” after 20 years.

“He said he didn’t know us anymore,” Ben explains. “I think I know why.

We used to do business with a handshake, face-to-face. Now it’s a phone call and a fax, ‘Get back to you later.’ With another fax, probably.” Ben tells his staff that something has to change. He begins handing out airline tickets, putting everyone on his team on the road for “a little face-to-face chat with every customer we have.” (The ad is available on You Tube; search “United Airlines old friend.”)