It has been over five years since I joined the ISA Board of
Directors. In those five plus years I
have seen many positive changes. I hope
in some small way that I have contributed to a new direction and attitude for
ISA.
My term as ISA Board of Directors President and as a member
of the board comes to an end in a little over 30 days. With the date fast
approaching, I have not only been reflecting on the past, but also looking at a very
bright future for ISA.
When I was first joined the board of directors, ISA began
re-evaluating its business model, which after many years was no longer functioning
financially or administratively. ISA was
carrying an enormous amount of debt, we were working with a negative cash flow
on most operations and perhaps most importantly, we were failing our
members. The Board decided upon a new
business model through an association management group, which included strong board
member participation, responsibility and accountability. With those changes, ISA has weathered the
storm and we have not looked back since.
ISA now has a viable business model that not only works, but
actually promotes growth, capital investment and responsibility. The face of
ISA has shifted from the executive director and now rests with the board of
directors and the President. The ISA
presidency brings a new infusion of talent, ideas and enthusiasm to this
crucial ISA leadership position every two years. It is a proven business and leadership model
that has worked tremendously well for ISA through past Presidents Fred Winer
and Judith Martin fostering societal growth, membership responsibility and
capital investment. With this newly formed foundation and association
structure, ISA will continue to grow and prosper well into the future.
With that, a short list of recent accomplishments:
- our finances are now in order, with no long term
debt on the balance sheet, and sound effective annual budgeting
- we are and have been for several years
consistently profitable and have a positive cash flow
- our backroom operations are administratively
sound with effective internal controls
- after closing the Associate category our
membership has stabilized and we are now looking at real societal growth with a
strong core of professional appraisers
- a new web site/find an appraiser search/member
profiles
- an educational director
- a new logo
- new promotional advertisements
- profitable and functioning education foundation
in The Foundation for Appraisal Education
- development of a new on line learning management
system (scheduled for Jan 1, 2014)
- updating and developing new courses and pathways
(Oriental rugs, Asian studies, legal, updating and adding to the fine art
program)
- we are applying for sponsorship of the Appraisal
Foundation
- developed the new Business Affinity Membership
category
- reworked our outdated committee structure\
- we hold the absolute best personal property
appraisal conferences
- enhanced bridging policy
- mentoring
- ISA is
growing and showing stability while other personal property organizations are
showing signs of complacency and resting on past accomplishments
- ISA is trending for growth, education and
membership benefits while other personal property organizations are showing
signs of weakness
Perhaps most importantly and after working with multiple
organizations over the past five years, I strongly believe that ISA has now
assumed the leadership role in our profession and is consistently setting new standards
for other organizations to follow. ISA has been actively involved in The
Appraisal Foundation and TAFAC for many years, now, should our application be
accepted for January 1, 2014 we will be even more involved and active in
setting the personal property appraisal agenda as sponsors of The Appraisal
Foundation.
ISA has now become the organization to belong to for
professional personal property appraisers. We are setting a high standard and
have witnessed membership growth through new bridging opportunities and as new
and existing appraisers are selecting ISA over other appraisal organizations. Our
growth and future sustainability has a lot to do with new and positive
perceptions of ISA. Some tenured
appraisers may not agree with the suggestion of ISA exceptionalism, but they
may be dealing from “muscle memory” and resting on past accomplishments. The trends of personal property organizations
are changing, actually, the trends have changed and I believe ISA is the new
leader for professional personal property organizations.
During my time on the ISA board, I have witnessed a remarkable
and positive change in member attitudes toward our organization as well as perceptions
of ISA from allied professionals. I now observe
many members wishing to get involved in our growth and development, praise the
new logo, website, find an appraiser function and support the positive and
progressive changes we have forged. We
now have allied professionals approaching ISA looking for joint opportunities
and direct access to our members. For
proof of this, just look at the record number of sponsors and advertising from
our last conference in Chicago.
The excitement and enthusiasm relayed to me from members at
conference and other events such as the recently held FAE symposium has been nothing
short of amazing and personally gratifying.
Attend conference and you will of course witness the great program, but
beyond that you will see first-hand the “buzz in the room” as we welcome new
members, award accomplishments, populate committees, and meet new members at
social functions while networking with the best professional personal property
appraisers. Attend another organizations
annual personal property conference and you will no doubt see a good program,
but from my point of view the intangibles are just not there. Those intangibles
are what separates an average conference from a great conference and an
ordinary organization from a progressive organization such as ISA.
In closing, I encourage all members to promote ISA as the
best and strongest appraisal organization with the best appraisal theory and
methodology program available. Encourage fellow nonmembers to join ISA (if they
are certified or senior at AAA or ASA mention our new and efficient bridging
policy to the ISA AM level), inspire members to get on board and volunteer and
become part of the positive growth we are now seeing in ISA. Our short term goal, which is within reach,
is to become a 1,000 member organization with a $1 million budget. Help us work toward that goal.
It’s a new ISA, and as I have said in the past, it is a
great time to be an ISA member. I thank the ISA Board of Directors, staff,
committee chairs and members for their support and trust over the past several
years. I look forward to seeing everyone
at Conference in Kansas City.
Best regards,
Todd W. Sigety, ISA CAPP
ISA Board of Directors President