Since the RDIA board has been meeting more frequently, we have less of the day-to-day business to take care of at each meeting.

This week, we discussed proposals requested from members at the 2010 annual meeting on laundry troubleshooting (water treatment) and subsidies. We also heard from Dave Milligan about his recent trip to the UK where he met people from dozens of countries all eager to share their concerns about issues relevant to the cloth diaper industry.

Between these discussions, we started to catch a vision of where we could have the most impact for cloth diapers. As one director said, “I haven’t felt this excited about cloth diapers for a long time.” There is much to be done, and the way forward becomes more clear.

Lori Taylor
Fuzbaby and Firefly Diapers
Secretary, Real Diaper Industry Association

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Real Diaper Industry Association
Board Meeting, March 17, 2010
Conference Call

Present: Shayla Boyd-Gill, Dave Milligan, Peter Allen, Leah Carter, Lori Taylor, Judy Aagard, Shirley Murdock, Dennis Frederick. Regrets: Jennifer Liptrot, Ann-Marie Speirs, Mandi Meidlinger. Facilitating: Shayla Boyd-Gill, Vice Chair. Notes: Lori Taylor, Secretary.

Meeting called to order 1:04PM Eastern Time with presence of a quorum.

Admin. Rachel is working on the annual meeting and diaper service email. Next: manage Consider Cloth.

Affiliation Statements. Remind those missing.

Annual Meeting. Sent out a survey on topics. Marketing was a big request. Looking at keynote speakers in Vegas.

Proposed Bylaw Changes. Working on conference call plan.

Project Proposal for Laundry. At annual meeting, members asked for a proposal for a water treatment project. Hardness of water, too complex. Instead, troubleshooting guide for consumers. Changes: inclusion of material type. Result will be visual. Shirley, board liaison, will take feedback to committee.

Project Proposal for Subsidies. Proposal addresses a six-month discovery phase to determine the most effective way for individuals to approach local governments. Acknowledgment of how common subsidies are in Canada, UK, and elsewhere. Do more background. Lori, board liaison, will take feedback to committee.

Cloth Diapers in Daycare. Directory plan is very detailed. Directory is already being built on the site.

Dave’s UK Trip Report. Dozens of countries represented at conference. Everything we’ve talked about today was discussed from an international perspective.

Retailer Resignation. Cari Wolverton resigned today. We need to appoint a new retailer.

Recruiting. Update recruiting letter for manufacturers to send to their retailers.

Meeting adjourned 2:07PM Eastern Time.

Tags: Board, board meeting

The Annual Meeting Committee has been hard at work planning since early this year.

October 14-15, Thursday and Friday following the ABC Show
Las Vegas, Nevada

10/14 early AM – Retailer and Diaper Service Meetings
10/14 late AM – Manufacturer Meeting
10/14 AM – breakout session
10/14 lunch – Social
10/14 afternoon – Keynote
10/14 afternoon – breakout session
10/14 evening – Annual Meeting of Members
10/15 AM – breakout sessions

Pre-registration and more details about the meeting should be available by early April.

Annual Meeting Committee

Shayla Boyd-Gill (Aylahs Alternatives), Chair and Board Liaison
Ann-Marie Speirs (Cozy Baby Boutique)
Judy Aagard (Tiny Tots Diaper Service and Baby Boutique)
Summer Johnston (No Sugar Added)
Matt Guckin (Diaper Junction)
Rachel Aube (Real Diaper Industry Association)

The Committee needs your help in planning and carrying out the annual meeting. Would you like to join in the planning? Can you donate a few hours of your time during the meeting to help with registration, set up, or documentation? Contact Shayla at shayla@realdiaperindustry.org.

Tags: Annual Meeting, volunteer opportunities

Over the weekend, the Handmade Toy Alliance conducted a small business survey in order to gather information for Congress and the CPSC as they work to improve CPSIA. HTA wanted to tell legislators and regulators who we really are.

RDIA sent the HTA survey to our 161 members Friday. “223 business owners participated in the survey, 135 of whom are HTA members.” Some of us who participated are members of both organizations. I heard from quite a few RDIA members who are not HTA members that they participated. Thank you!

Take a look at the small business survey results to get a picture of what the children’s products industries look like today.

Tags: CPSIA, handmade toy alliance, hta, survey

Cecelia Lucero has represented diaper services on the Real Diaper Industry Association board of directors since 2009. Cecelia recently sold her business and resigned her position in order to take on a new adventure. We thank Cecelia for her service to the industry.

A sad and exciting farewell. Is there such a thing? I think there is.

I resigned my position on the RDIA board in January because of an upcoming move my family is making. The exciting part of the farewell is that we will be spending 3 years in Iwakuni, Japan. The sad part was selling my business and resigning from the board.

San Diego Diaper Service was getting so big that we had reached a crossroads decision: do we expand alone or with a partner. I was lucky enough to have Wendi from Earthy Baby Diaper Service as a friend. When my husband got a call saying that we would be moving to Japan in June 2010, the Marine Corps made the decision for us.

There was a time in my life where I did not think I would have a child and never did I expect to be such an advocate of cloth diapers.

My daughter was born in August of 2007. We had decided that we wanted to use cloth diapers. It was very difficult for us to find a service in San Diego which we thought was weird considering how big San Diego is. Luckily we finally came across San Diego Diaper Service. The owner at the time was fantastic and patient with all our questions and concerns. At the time I was a middle school teacher but once Megan arrived home I realized that I did not want to leave her and go back to work.

Luck was on our side because in November of 2007, the owner of the San Diego Diaper Service told us that she was going to shut the business down since she had full time job and was doing the service on the side. My husband and I took advantage of the situation and bought the business. It was great I could stay at home with Megan and work at the same time. We started off very small and slowly grew and kept growing. We were so happy to be able to provide cloth diapers to hundreds of families throughout San Diego. What a learning experience it is to own your own business. I was so naïve in the beginning but so glad to have learned so much.

As I began growing my business I started reaching out to diaper services in other states- some people were very helpful others were not. I was fortunate enough to come across Buzzie Bee Diapers in Maine and met Jennifer Moore Temple. The advice and support I got from Jennifer was invaluable. Jennifer told me about RDIA and the great things that the organization was doing. After talking with her and doing some research on my own I realized that I wanted to be a part of the organization. I believed in cloth and wanted to help spread the word. I knew that if more people had information about the ease of cloth diapers they would be willing to try and I knew that RDIA was the right route to take. Once I joined the board I was amazed at the dedication of the other board members. It was easy to be motivated to volunteer your time when you are surrounded by people who also are donating their time to the same cause.

I may no longer be in business but I am still an advocate of cloth diapers and will continue to volunteer my time to RDIA. This is only a temporary goodbye- I plan on being back early next year as an active member with new ventures.

Cecelia Lucero
Former owner, San Diego Diaper Service

Tags: Board, farewell

RDIA board members are excited to have concluded the collaborative process of developing a vision, mission, and values that can be a guide to us as members and as board members. The full text is below. Expect to hear more about vision, mission, and values in the near future.

At the annual meeting September 2009, members voted on priorities for which they wanted to see project proposals. Proposals have been submitted. The board has begun discussions and will continue through the next meeting mid-March.

This meeting also marked the beginning of our new one-hour, twice-a-month meeting schedule.

Lori Taylor
Fuzbaby and Firefly Diapers
Secretary, Real Diaper Industry Association

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Real Diaper Industry Association
Board Meeting, March 3, 2010
Conference call

Present: Leah Carter, Lori Taylor, Peter Allen, Jennifer Liptrot, Cari Wolverton, Shirley Murdock, Shayla Boyd-Gill, Judy Aagard, Ann-Marie Speirs, Dennis Frederick. Facilitating: Leah Carter, Chair. Notes: Lori Taylor, Secretary.

Meeting called to order 1:10PM Eastern Time with presence of a quorum.

Vision / Mision / Values Final Vote. Board approved final text of vision, mission, and values as developed during discussions Dec-Feb.

Admin. Update on first month of Rachel covering admin.

Affiliation Statements. Update statements that each board member makes when elected.

Open Diaper Service Seat Vote. Board approves Peter Allen of Do Good Diapers to fill vacant diaper service seat that expires 2010.

Finances. Board approves $6,200 for annual meeting. Discussion of board retreat budget at next meeting.

Annual Meeting. Developing list of breakout sessions with survey to go to members next week. Advance registration in place by end of March.

Organizational Memberships. Encouraged to use memberships in BoardSource and ASAE.

Proposed Bylaw Changes. Manufacturer group met this week. Will have announcement for member conference call for next meeting. Jr Member group will meet soon. Director Clarification drafted.

Member Conference Calls. Executive Committee will propose a schedule for monthly calls.

Project Proposal for Marketing Committee. Marketing/PR Comm proposed three projects: continuation of Consider Cloth campaign, consumer landing page on website, and a $50K campaign with emphasis on group advertising in national magazines. Board members generally approve of the first two proposals but expressed concern about both time and financial resources for the print campaign as outlined.

Two project proposals tabled until next meeting.

Meeting adjourned 2:40PM Eastern Time.

Vision

As the primary choice for babies, reusable cloth diapers increase sustainability for people, planet, and profit.

Mission

The Real Diaper Industry Association strives to make reusable cloth diapers the primary choice for babies’ parents and caregivers while emphasizing responsibility and sustainability through a focus on people, planet, and profit. RDIA works toward these goals by providing service and opportunities through business education, industry research, collaborative marketing, and group benefits.

Values

We conduct ourselves with integrity and professionalism in compliance with our strict code of ethics.

We apply current information and experience within cloth diaper and related industries to analyze, improve processes, and educate.

We are an open community fostering cooperative culture, sharing knowledge towards our common purpose.

We value diversity within all membership categories; welcoming and supporting qualified businesses of all sizes dedicated to our mission.

As members, we are committed to clear and transparent communication within our association. As board members, we will provide transparent communication to our members regarding decisions of the board and operations.

Tags: Board, board meeting