NCA Board in New Orleans
NCA Board members, left to right: Marion Bradley, Linda Foat, Tyler Volz, Lori Hammes and Pam Markel.
New Orleans is known for Mardi Gras and its overall festive atmosphere—so it makes sense that the Crescent City is beloved by costumers. That fact was evident when costumers from all over the country hit town for the 2020 Halloween & Party Expo, held January 17 to 19 at the New Orleans Convention Center. It was a fun but busy time for the NCA: The association hosted a booth at the show, and held its 2020 Business Meeting and Winter Board Meeting in NOLA. Here’s a look back at the NCA’s time in New Orleans.
The NCA booth, which included a large lounge area, was a key meeting place for NCA members and show attendees alike. Four beautiful costumes provided by NCA members Linda Foat, Pam Markel, and Lori Hammes drew people into the booth; and Markel’s costume, part of a silent silent auction, raised $250 for the NCA Scholarship Fund. The show also was a great place for new NCA managers Ed Avis and Kathleen Furore to meet members and learn more about the costuming industry. Avis and Furore have published The Costumer magazine for the past five years and became the overall administrators of the association in December.
“It was great to meet so many NCA members at the show,” Furore says. “We also got a lot of great new story ideas that we’ll be able to incorporate in coming issues of the magazine and on the website.” Avis and Merlyn Foat toured the show floor and met with dozens of NCA Vendor Members. Their visits resulted in a photo gallery on the NCA website.
The Business Meeting
The NCA held its official annual Business Meeting on Saturday evening, January 18. After a Meet-and-Greet reception for members, NCA President Marion Bradley opened the meeting and thanked NCA’s Gold and Platinum Vendor Members for their support— West Bay, Halco and Sunnywood (Gold) and Rubies, Forum and Smiffy’s (Platinum). Bradley introduced Avis, who said he feels there is a lot of interesting, innovative things going on in the costume industry, and he wants to help raise the NCA’s profile in that industry.
Terri Greenberg, owner of Halco and chair of NCA’s Bereavement Committee, expressed condolences on the loss of NCA past president Herb Easley of Easley’s Fun Shop; Lyn Flaharty, wife of board member Gene Flaharty of Mehron; and Bette Mitcheltree of Arlene’s Costumes.
Avis then delivered the communications report. He explained that he and Furore are professional journalists who believe that making the NCA website more news-oriented will help raise the organization’s profile, draw more traffic to the website, and please vendor members who are advertising on the website. “Increasing the quality of the information coming from the NCA will help the organization attract members and help the industry as a whole,” Avis said.
Avis also announced that the NCA is launching a series of four webinars, as well as virtual roundtables. “The roundtables are online forums in which members can meet other members and discuss whatever issues they want,” he explained.
Foat introduced former NCA treasurer Jane Powell and former NCA president and Harrelson Award winner Terri Greenberg. Foat was also recognized as a former past president. To conclude the business meeting, Louella Torrence was nominated for another term as treasurer. She was elected by acclamation.
The Board Meeting
The NCA Board met on the Monday following the Expo. Among issues discussed were the mission of the association. The association will focus on building vendor/buyer relations,and emphasize the social/networking aspects of membership.
Avis explained that he will explore programs such as an aggregated buy that would reduce prices and minimums for Buyer Members and increase overall sales for Vendor Members. He also suggested launching a Costumers Advisory Panel, which is a group of Buyer Members who can evaluate new products and promotions from Vendor Members.
The Board discussed topics for the upcoming series of webinars and details of the virtual roundtables. It was decided that the virtual roundtables should be dedicated and targeted to different categories of members, such as retail members, rental members and other subgroups as appropriate.
During the committee reports, it was confirmed that the NCA will continue to publish four issues of The Costumer each year. In addition, the board decided to open new Instagram and Twitter accounts, since the usernames and passwords for the existing accounts were lost when a key employee of the previous administrator changed jobs.
The meeting concluded with a discussion of future conventions. It was decided that a committee would be formed to explore the options.
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