As members of the RDIA we share a common goal—to spread the word and usage of cloth diapers.

Whether you are a retailer, small or large manufacturer, diaper service or a diaper information service, your membership helps to accomplish our unified goal and at the very same time your business is increased as our collective positive influence is felt stronger and wider each passing month!!

Keeping in mind that this is an industry association and therefore increasing our collective sales and market share is of primary interest, we have a plan to bring our position in the “Diapering World” to new levels.

The formula for our organization is working. The membership roles are now 165 strong and growing! We have an opportunity to increase our membership several times over.

THE PLAN IN A NUTSHELL

OBJECTIVE
Double our membership in one year’s time.

WHY
Would increase our ability to advertise, lobby, have trade show presence, educate, and many more worthy and productive activities.

RESULT
Thousands more parents would choose cloth over disposables resulting in increased sales, healthier kids, and a much cleaner environment!!

As the Board of Directors, we are putting a new emphasis on the recruiting committee whose duty will be to follow up on leads for perspective new RDIA members.

As members of this new team we will follow through on an individual basis with the ( soon to be ) new members, making sure that they are comfortable and up to speed on all things RDIA. From service opportunities to initial paperwork to benefits / perks of membership and just giving them a friend to be able to call with a question or idea.

We plan to put together a simple spreadsheet that will help us to ensure that each prospective member is treated with the prompt and personal attention. The committee will consist of members from all membership catagories which will help us to better relate to each new member on his/her own terms.

Ok, there are two things that are now needed to get this ball rolling.

1. Members to fill committee positions.
2. Referrals for RDIA prospects

If you have a small amount of time to give to the cause and you have basic computer skills and you do not mind answering questions via phone or email, come join with me!

As for referrals, this is up to all of us as members. We all know someone else in the industry that is not part of the association and probably should be. We will be creating a referral form that can be submitted electronically. These referrals will then be personally and carefully followed up on all the way through the membership process!

If we all bring just one new member to the RDIA this coming year, our membership will double! Creation and support of this new committee can help to make that happen!!

Please volunteer for the committee today by contacting Rachel at info@realdiaperindustry.org

And for all of us—start thinking of the business associates that should be part of the RDIA

Thanks very much for your support of this most worthy and mutually beneficial call to action.

Dave

David H. Milligan
Bambino Mio (Manufacturer)
Member, RDIA Board of Directors

What is going on in the cloth diaper industry?

• Who bought a laundromat a year ago?
• Who just moved into a new 5000 square foot store?
• Who is celebrating a 10th anniversary?

You know you want to know!

Find answers on the cloth diaper business news feed.  Our home page has a mini version of the feed in a cool sidebar gadget like the one below.

All RDIA members are welcome to send press releases, announcements, and big news to info at realdiaperindustry dot org.  For more details on news feed guidelines, use your member login to the RDIA website and check out the member media tools page.

Time for RDIA board elections is approaching. Every year we as members elect four directors to 3-year terms within five member categories. This board of twelve directors is responsible for governing our trade association.

Any member in this year’s open categories is welcome to run for the board. Last year, following the guidelines in our bylaws, we welcomed both self-nominations and nominations of others. None of those nominated by others agreed to run. Though you are welcome to nominate another member, please be sure that they are willing to run. Because a 3-year board term is quite a commitment of time and energy, we anticipate that most nominations will be self-nominations.

Please consider running for the RDIA board. This has been a growth experience for all of us, both personally and for our individual businesses. We take very seriously our mandate to govern the organization according to the vision, mission, and values we created this year. Professionalism, analysis, cooperative culture, diversity, and transparency guide us. If these values guide you, too, we invite you to make this commitment to our industry to share your experience and skills for the good of all of our businesses.

This year, the following seats are open.

• Retailer - Expires 2010, then 2010 – 2013
• Manufacturer - Exp 2010, then 2010 – 2013
• Diaper Service – Exp 2010, then 2010 – 2013
• Diaper Info Service - Exp 2010, then 2010 – 2013

Nomination forms will be mailed to members in these four categories at the end of April, due back at the RDIA business office by June 14th. Ballots will be mailed and due in July, with the new board to be announced in early August. Current board members invite you to join them for a Q&A conference call on April 28th at 2pm Eastern Time to answer your questions about serving on the board. All members will be sent an invitation to this call soon.

Members, login to the RDIA website for more details about board elections, including a link to the RDIA bylaws and the election procedures that govern this process. If you have any questions, you are welcome to contact members of the Nominating Committee or any of the current board members. All member contacts are available in the RDIA member directory.

2010 Nominating Committee
Lori Taylor of Fuzbaby and Firefly Diapers (small manufacturer), Chair
Leah Carter of Better for Babies (manufacturer)
Cari Wolverton, formerly of Papaya Patch (retailer)

The board has set a schedule for monthly conference calls with members. Last year we had several calls to talk about regulations and board elections. We’re hoping that more frequent calls will give everyone a chance to hear more about all of the exciting projects going on in the association. We’ve scheduled two topics each for the one-hour calls.

WHEN: Every 4th Wednesday, 2-3pm ET / 11am-12pm PT
WHERE: GoToWebinar (online or call-in, instructions will be sent to members by email)

APRIL 28th

• Candidate Recruitment – Current board members available to answer questions.
• Bylaws – manufacturers

MAY 26th

• Bylaws – Jr members
• Vision/Mission

JUNE 23rd

• Meet the Candidates
• Values

JULY 28th

• Retailer Certification
• TBA

To allow as much participation as possible, we will be using GoToWebinar software, which lets you raise your hand to ask questions or type a question to organizers. We can also leave the line open for everyone to talk or mute attendees so only presenters can be heard. It’s flexible software that Leah Carter and her team are testing now.

If you have suggestions for future topics for member conference calls, please contact Leah Carter at leah at realdiaperindustry dot org.

Have you been wondering what the cloth diaper industry is up to? Find out all in one feed. Follow RDIA members on Twitter at twitter.com/RealDiaperIA/members

If you are an RDIA member and @RealDiapersIA isn’t following you, DM (that’s Direct Message, a private message through Twitter, for those of you new to this). Also, add your Twitter ID to your RDIA member record (and double-check the spelling).