NAFTZ has been working to finalize details for the 2023 Fundamentals of FTZs Seminar.  While these details will be announced in April, I can give you a sneak peek at the city – Home of the “Who Dat?” nation – the Big Easy – New Orleans will be the host city for Fundamentals 2023 in January.

I was also honored to attend the Georgia FTZ #26 Annual User/Operators meeting in Atlanta.  With a great turnout (pre-covid level), Julie Brown and her team presented a day full of excellent speakers, information and networking.  I’ll share with you some of my comments when I addressed the attendees:  as with the professional associations that I personally have belonged to, you will always get more out of your professional association than you put in – all you have to do is engage.  Wikipedia describes engagement as being “…related to participation in collective activities, which reinforces social capital”. Key elements of include activity (doing something), interaction (at least two people need to be involved in this activity), social exchange (involves giving or receiving something from others), and lack of compulsion (no outside force forcing an individual to engage in the activity).  So how can you engage with NAFTZ – do something with at least two other people involving giving or receiving something from others without outside forces making you participate in the activity?

1. Attend NAFTZ upcoming Spring Seminar in Austin, TX this May 22-24^th or
2. Go to NAFTZ’s Annual Conference and Expo in Miami, FL this September 11-14^th

Both of these major NAFTZ events feature excellent networking opportunities, informative speakers in tracks relevant to your FTZ role, current issues and trends so much more.  Click the links for more details.

3. Participate in an NAFTZ committee, task force or working group. This is one of the best ways to get to know people a bit more than at events.  Digging into a specific topic like accreditation, membership, programs, automation, advocacy (among many others) is a great way to build your personal professional network while being a part of NAFTZ’s efforts to support and advance FTZs.
4. Join the conversation on social media. NAFTZ’s social media channels on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter are one of the easiest ways to increase your NAFTZ engagement.  Join the conversations, post questions or ideas, share photos or just follow and keep informed.

Obviously, there’s more to engagement than these four points available to all NAFTZ members, but these are some of the easiest ways to get started.  So, if you’ve always said you want to do more with your professional association, there is no better time than now.  Questions?  NAFTZ staff is always available to help you find the perfect fit for how, when, and how often you want to engage – just email or call us!

There is no doubt that April is going to be a busy month, too.  I invite you to engage with your professional association and get more out of your membership in 2022!