BACKGROUND
For a quick background, there are two events that have happened every year: our Annual Meeting and our Conference. The Annual Meeting is required to occur every year and updates members on the status of the association. It typically lasts 1 hour or less. The Conference is not required, but is an added member benefit and consists of educational sessions, member category discussions, social events, and a keynote speaker. The conference has grown in value each year and most recently was spread out over 3 days.

LISTENING TO MEMBERS
Historically, we have had both the annual meeting and an annual conference every year at the end of the ABC Show. While our association was in its infancy, this was needed. Members find, however, several problems with having a highly informative and engaging conference at the end of the ABC Show:

• Retailers and manufacturers are exhausted before the RDIA conference has even begun. As our conference grows in value and length, this has become more of an issue. It is so difficult to take in all the information and fully engage when we are so tired on day one of the conference.
• Being away from our businesses and families for 7 days or more is a true hardship.
• Being attached to the ABC Show means that we are tied to dates that don’t work well for families. (The start of the school year is difficult for many.)
• Being attached to the ABC Show means we are tied to a location that isn’t always family friendly.
• Being attached to the ABC Show means we have less affordable options for food and venue.
• Smaller businesses have a difficult time financially affording a business trip AND a family vacation each year.

So, we have listened to members and are making two changes. First, we will no longer have the Conference at the end of the ABC Show, but at a different time that works better for all our businesses and families, most likely in June or July rather than right at the beginning of the school year like the ABC Show. Second, the conference will occur every two years rather than every year. This will allow members better to afford the conference, give more time to plan the conference (it takes so much time throughout the year to make a conference happen!), and make each conference packed full of information and value.

2012 ANNUAL MEETING IN LOUISVILLE, 2013 CONFERENCE NEXT SUMMER
While we did make an announcement of a 2012 Conference, we have bumped that back to happen in 2013 so that we can have much more time to plan and make it the best conference ever.

In the meantime, we will be having our Annual Meeting during an evening dinner plus a fun evening event (more details to come later) in Louisville this fall right around the ABC show again as we have done in previous years.

BRINGING THE CONFERENCE TO YOU
In lieu of the conference this year, we want to make sure that all members, big and small, can benefit from the sessions that traditionally have occurred at the in-person conference. Not all members are able to make the trek, or stay longer than a short trip and have had to miss out on some of the benefits of the RDIA.

Well, this year, the conference is coming to you! We will be having monthly webinars and we’ll discuss many of the same topics and new topics that have been done during the conference sessions. Instead of having to wait until one busy time of year, we’re giving you on-demand access to live and then recorded sessions so you can watch them at your convenience, and in your pajamas if you’d like. Our hope with this new format for this year is that this increases the knowledge we are able to share with each other, and that more members are able to participate.

We’ve started a dedicated, member-only facebook group. This is a great place to discuss what you’re learning in the webinars and anything else-cloth diaper business related. Write to info@realdiaperindustry.org for your invitation to the group.

FINALLY… SNEAK PEAK FOR 2013 CONFERENCE
We don’t have set plans, so we hate to say too much, but we are working hard on the best conference ever for 2013! We are aiming for an Orlando, Florida, location, so families can combine business trip with their family vacation, making it truly affordable for our members. We are also in discussion with the Baby Carrier Industry Alliance and Handmade Toy Alliance to have the first-ever joint conference, bringing cloth diapers, baby carriers, and handmade toy industries together under one roof. We are also hoping expand the success of this year’s product showcase into the first ever natural parenting mini trade show. You definitely won’t want to miss it!

We’ll have more details about the 2013 conference later this fall. If there are any questions, comments, or suggestions, please don’t hesitate to contact the Annual Meeting and Conference Chair, Catherine Bolden (Vice Chair of the RDIA board) at catherine@realdiaperindustry.org

Welcome Kim Meador as Your Newest RDIA Board Member

We would like to welcome Kim Meador to the RDIA board of directors as of December 16, 2011. Kim was appointed to the board to fill Judy Aagard’s vacant position (see below).

Kim Meador of Eco Baby Diaper Service

Kim Meador is the owner of Eco-Baby Diaper Service, LLC. She and her husband Michael are parents of boy/girl twins, now 9 years old. Their twins were getting diaper rashes, and as soon as one cleared up they would have it again. They were sent cloth diapers from a family member who was a nurse in another state and found them to immediately help the diaper rash; from then on they were sold by the use of cloth diapers!

In March of 2011, Eco Baby Diaper Service, LLC. launched serving Southwest Florida.  Kim has just started cloth diapering classes and is now including some retail diapers and accessories for families in the South Florida market for diapers and accessories.

Kim’s energy and business savvy has already been recognized on the board. We are all happy to have her join us!

Farewell to Judy Aagard of Tiny Tots

Judy Aagard resigned as an RDIA board member after two amazing years of service. She pioneered several projects and dedicated much of her time and energy to RDIA, for which we are all grateful. Some of her biggest advancements for our industry include masterminding the hugely successful Great Cloth Diaper Change, the updating of “How To Start a Diaper Service Kit”, and introducing the idea of a Product Showcase at our annual meeting.

Judy left for several reasons. During her exit interview she stressed her role as a board member was rewarding 98% of the time. Some things that frustrated her were the lack of commitment of volunteers, lack of communication, not understanding the direction of the association, competition getting in the way of cooperative movement forward, and a few others. Feel free to contact the RDIA Chair, Mandi Meidlinger, if you have any questions. We always strive to be transparent and are more than happy to discuss any details, of course.

When a board member resigns, RDIA’s by-laws state that the board has the option of leaving the seat empty until the term expires or to appoint a new board member. RDIA board members reached out to several diaper service operators and ultimately appointed Kim Meador to fill the vacant position until August 31, 2012.

Future Board Seats

The board is excited about is the proposed by-law change that was presented at the annual meeting. If this by-law change passes, it will open up seats for more board members and include “at-large” members. The real benefit of having at-large members, meaning that they can come from any category, is that we are able to make room for enthusiastic individuals and strong business leaders.

We had hoped we would have enough ballots returned by now to make this by-law change, but we need five more! When this by-law change goes through, there will be four vacant seats: one for a diaper service member and three from any category. So, if you are interested in serving on the board, please let any board member know.

Mandi Meidlinger
Jillian’s Drawers
Chair, Real Diaper Industry Association