NARFE Convention

Ah well, another week, another convention. The Democratic National Convention in Denver, the Republican National Convention in Minneapolis (I only saw this one on TV), the AARP Convention in Washington. And, this week, the 30th Convention of the National Active and Retired Federal Employees Association in Louisville, Ky. Or, as they say there....LOOOville. Home of the Kentucky Derby, the Louisville Slugger, Mohammad Ali, and many other interesting things too numerous to mention. But, I went to conventioneer, not to tour.
So....here are my impressions.
In a word, I was totally IMPRESSED.
Impressed by the orderly progression of the business at hand;
Impressed by knowledge and dedication of the NARFE staff and Officers (With the exception of one officer, who shall go nameless here---See me offline, if you want more on that);
Impressed by the enthusiasm of the attendees; and
Impressed by the venue, both hotel and city of Louisville.
Now some details.

Overall, there were no significant changes in the officers or operations of NARFE that came out of this convention. There is a new VP, Joe Beaudoin. The other officers remain the same. There are a few new Regional VP's. but most also remain the same. And there were a few nibbles around the edges of how they will do business in the future (i.e. The Board will select the Convention sites in the future, vice the Convention doing that.)
I will leave it to my readers to get the full details out of the upcoming NARFE Magazine.

There were two key issues at the Convention, Legislation and Membership.
In the end, legislative influence is the prime reason d'etre for NARFE. In short, they are the lobby that Civil Service workers, both active and retired, have in Congress. And we will need every ounce of that influence in the upcoming couple of years. In the words of the Legislative Director, Dan Adcock, we are approaching a "Perfect Storm" of issues over the next year or so. With a looming budget crisis in the country, Congress will be looking for every opportunity to trim expenses. Our earned benefits will be under great pressure. It will be up to all of us, NARFE staff/officers, and NARFE members to ward off this storm. There will be great pressure to reduce COLAs and health benefits to help reduce the impact of entitlement costs on the overall budget. There will be many calls over the next year or two to contact your Congressperson on behalf of your benefits. Watch for those calls and respond when asked.
Even if you are not now, or ever been, a government employee. Because you are my friend...or at least one of my loyal readers. I hope I have a few.

The second key issue was membership. In a word, it continues to DECLINE. Down from a 1960's high of about 500,000 to the present approximately 325,000. Down 9,000 this year alone. To be honest, I saw a lot of hand wringing about this, but no fresh ideas on how to reverse it. The best approach to increasing membership is personal contact. If you know any active or retired federal employees, ask them if they are NARFE members. If not, recruit them. Not obnoxiously, but aggressively. If any of my readers are in that category, I beseech you to join NARFE. The only way to prevent that perfect storm I mentioned above is by increasing our clout. It all starts with increasing our numbers.

OK, enough lobbying on my part.

In summary, let me repeat my opening remarks about how impressed I was with my first exposure to a NARFE convention. I look forward to an active two years ahead and the next convention in Grand Rapids, MI in 2010. Louisville will be hard to beat.

All comments gratefully accepted.

Alan