Discussion About IFA’s 50th Anniversary Exemplifies What Franchising is Really About!

Recently, on the International Franchise Association group on LinkedIn, I posted the following discussion, “The 50th Annual IFA Convention in San Antonio is less than three weeks away. Will you be attending? If so, what do you hope to bring back to your organization? If not, is there a specific reason?”

Many franchise professionals responded and explained why they would be attending the event. Most of the responses centered around sharing ideas and building relationships. Sure, some mentioned exploring new opportunities with potential and existing clients, but we are all in business to make money, right? But in addition to generating new business, almost all that responded were looking to interact with fellow franchise professionals. Hopefully, long-term relationships will be established over time and the franchise community will continue to evolve and strengthen.

One of the responses was from franchise veteran, Michael Seid. He stated that he had been going to IFA conventions for 25 years. I really admired the fact that he had attended these events for over a quarter of a century! Think about all that has changed in 25 years. Just think about the technological changes that have occurred during this period of time. I mean no one was walking around the IFA event in 1985 with a cell phone, right? How about a laptop? Could anyone have even imagined the internet and email? Heck, fax machines were barely around in 1985, albeit the ones that were used that ridiculous paper that always seemed to roll onto to the floor and under a desk… just out of reach.

Yes, times sure have changed, but the love and passion for franchising apparently has not. It’s just been passed onto people like Michael Seid. By virtue of his responses to my original discussion, and subsequent question, “I’m curious, what was the convention like back in, what, 1985?”, Michael takes us down memory lane and does so in such a dignified manner and with genuine sincerity, that he really seemed to pay it forward. For the benefit of all within the franchise community, I am honored to share his response below.

“1985 was in Miami if I recall and that was not my first so it may be longer than [25 years]. If I recall the attendance at my first convention was measured in the hundreds – not like we have now in the thousands. It was a much different association – we have come a long way with programming and content and member services. A lot of the founders were still around. I just got a great biography of Joe Francis from The Barbers who was very active years ago. If you did not know Joe you missed a great man – really a fine individual who went out of his way to give guidance to anyone who asked for his help. His son is still very active in the IFA. It’s a great quick read if you have not seen the book. Joe is gone 15 or more years.

The culture of the IFA has not changed. You can still corner an experienced member as a new comer and they seem always to be thrilled to mentor and give advice. I remember asking Fred DeLuca a question when I was new in the association and he spent two or more hours giving me his advice. That has not changed at all as most members today will do the same for a new comer.

Looking back at what has changed – No franchisees back then. That was a major difference Steve Lynn and Jim Bugg made that happen). No PAC to speak of (Sid Feltenstein changed that). No franchise appreciation day (Bernie Browning‘s idea). No Education Foundation only an education committee (I think Sid Feltenstein is also responsible for that). No thought of diversity or minorities in franchising (Ron Harrison). No VetFran (Don Dwyer‘s idea during the first gulf war). No Second Tuesdays (if it was not Lane Fisher and Scott Lehr then they were responsible for making it grow as it has). Who would have thought we would be looking at using franchising to provide products and services to the poor in the emerging markets and yet today we have the Social Sector Franchising task force. No CFE (John Reynolds). No one would have thought of a franchisee ever being chairman (Steve Siegel was the first and Doc Cohen the second). No franchisees or suppliers forum leadership on the board (Joyce Mazero if I recall was the first Counsel of Suppliers chair on the board and Jeff Kolton was the second – although we had no vote then. Supplier membership on the Executive Committee did not exist (I had that privilege when I was supplier chair to be the first because of Gary Charlwood).

I remember the IFA chair years ago saying that he would never let a mattress salesman (his word for suppliers) ever being on the board. Suppliers got a board vote when Gary Charlwood was chairman). No suppliers elected to the board in their own name for six years (I was privileged to be the first and Lane Fisher the second). No women as chairman (Joanne Shaw was the first and Dina Dwyer the second). No major investment in research (Mike Isakson). I think Jim Amos when he was chair actually creating the first IFA long range strategic plan. When Don DeBolt became president of the IFA we were near bankrupt and look at the great financial condition we are in now (Russ Frith as Treasurer did an amazing job). We did a lousy job in lobbying years ago and now we have a huge public affairs team. We dealt with Coble and LaFalce holding hearings on relationship laws in Congress and those days are gone.

Yes a lot has changed over the years. We owe a debt to a lot of some very smart folks who were in the leadership back then who kept adding great elements to make the association better. Along the way we had some who were less than stellar also but for the most part, we have been fortunate by those who chose to be in the leadership. Lets not forget the amazing job Debbie Moss has done in growing and professionalizing the convention supported by a really professional team of staff.

Still with all of the change, growth and the better financial condition of the association, the culture of the IFA has not really changed. I expect that many of the members/leaders from years ago who have not been active in the IFA will be at the 50th anniversary. Some of them will be surprised and pleased how far we have come.”

A Few LinkedIn Tips

Let me help make your LinkedIn experience more satisfying and effective.

When posting a url to a discussion, be sure to post it in the “Additional Details” box below the “Enter a Topic or Question” box. By doing so, your link will be active and all a reader has to do is click on the link. If the link is placed in the “Enter a Topic or Question” box, the link will not be active. Therefore, in order to access the link, the reader must copy and paste the url into the browser before being able to access your site.

My own research, okay, trial and error, has shown that active links are four times more likely to be accessed than links that have to be cut and pasted. Be sure to include “http://” to make the link complete. The same is true when posting within responses to discussions as well.

Hope this helps, even just a little bit.

Just starting out with LinkedIn? Watch the video below.

Introduction to Virtual Franchise Events Webinar Rescheduled

First, our sincerest apologies for the technical issues experienced on today’s, Introduction to Virtual Franchise Events webinar. Unfortunately, in dealing with technology, there are times where technical matters are beyond the control of those providing the event content. Today was one such circumstance. We would like to provide you with an explanation.

Our registrations and attendance today were quite high; apparently, unexpectedly high for our technical provider. The difficulty apparently arose when so many people were trying to access the webinar all at once and exceeded the volume of the platform on which they were hosting our event. This caused the provider, behind the scenes and unbeknown to us, to make a change to another platform that was supposed to be better able to better accommodate the volume of people accessing our event. Unfortunately, in making that transition – something must have gone wrong that caused our audio to fail. As we began to see messages coming in from you, we began contacting the provider to try to find a solution, but were unable to find a remedy in the midst of the event.

While we are certainly unhappy and embarrassed about this issue, it does point out the need to us to make a change in our plans regarding this event. Instead of hosting only one session and trying to accommodate everyone in that one event, we are going to re-schedule the event in two sessions – and limit attendance at each session to 300 attendees so that hopefully we can preclude a situation such as we experienced today. Therefore, we will be scheduling two sessions of this event, one on Tuesday, February 2nd at 1 PM CST / 2 PM EST and one on Wednesday, February 3rd at 1 PM CST / 2 PM EST.

Again, in order to prevent a circumstance similar to today’s issues, we will be limiting attendance at each event. Therefore, we encourage you to get your registration in as soon as possible once you have received the email with the link to the registration form.

On behalf of myself and Linda Daichendt, again, our apologies for the confusion and the inconvenience you experienced. We hope that you will not allow the technical issues of an outside provider to color your opinion of this event or our firm, and that you will join us on one of the re-scheduled event sessions.

Register HERE for webinar on Tuesday, February 2nd at 1 PM CST / 2 PM EST

Register HERE for webinar on Wednesday, February 3rd at 1 PM CST / 2 PM EST

Another Component of Integrated Franchise Marketing at franchisEssentials

Franchiseek International opens up gateway to franchising across the Americas

The Franchiseek Global Alliance Network has signed an exclusive partnership agreement for the development of its American portals.

28 January 2010: Hampshire, United Kingdom – Franchiseek Limited is pleased to announce the appointment of Paul Segreto, President, CEO and founder of FranchisEssentials as it’s exclusive Global Alliance Network Partner for the development of Franchiseek’s USA, Canada, Mexico and Brazil franchise portals.

Paul Segreto brings a unique perspective, entrepreneurial spirit and extensive industry experience to franchise marketing and development. For over twenty years he has exclusively served the franchise industry as consultant and coach, senior-level corporate executive, activist, multi-unit franchisee and area developer. He is also the Founder and co-host of the Franchise Today Show on BlogTalkRadio.

Says Franchiseek founder Trevor Hart, “We understand the value of appointing local partners in each of the countries we represent online, especially professionals who have been involved in franchising for some time. Paul’s credentials have proved him to be the best partner for us in this region and we are delighted to welcome him onboard.”

“As well as developing and promoting the Franchiseek brand in these areas, Paul will be working closely with us to create additional portals in this region.”

Says Paul Segreto, CEO of FranchisEssentials, “The opportunity with Franchiseek furthers strengthens our concept of Integrated Franchise Marketing. The key to IFM is the development of a comprehensive marketing strategy that benefits the entire franchise organization, and is in line with the goals and objectives of all parties to the franchise agreement. It includes coordination at all levels to deliver concise, consistent messages that ultimately ensures positive results for franchisors and franchisees alike. In conjunction with our recent foray into virtual events under the brand, Virtual Franchise Events, we feel our partnership with Franchiseek solidifies FranchisEssentials as the leading integrated marketing and media organization in franchising today.”

Franchiseek International was founded in the UK in 1999 and has continued to expand its global offering year on year by adding country portals. To date the site contains 26 countries and over 4,500 pages of news and franchise advice.

Established in 1999, www.franchiseek.com provides franchises and potential franchisees with ability to connect at the push of a button. The website develops franchises brand awareness in the global market and provides franchisees the opportunity to identify these specific franchise opportunities and allows them to connect direct through this clear and concise website.

The Franchiseek Global Alliance Network was formed to provide an international service for companies wishing to expand their operations into other markets. The Franchiseek Global Alliance Network provides that vital link between business, the international customer and the route to success.

For more information, please contact:

Trevor Hart on +44 (0)1590 689755
Paul Segreto on +1 832.838.4822

What Are Local Business Listings? FREE Webinar Tuesday, February 2nd at 1 PM CST

In summary, Local Business Listings are your free yellow page listings by Google, Yahoo and Microsoft. Do you still need to advertise with the Yellow Pages? This need is definitely dwindling. The upcoming generations are using the Internet and their mobile phones. Most probably are not familiar with the hard copy yellow pages. Baby-Boomers are are growing group of mobile device users…and certainly EVERYONE is using the Internet.

Your customers are searching for every type of business, in your local area, using the Internet or their mobile devices. All of the major search engines and local Internet directories are rushing to become local yellow page replacement.

Get your business listed, updated and tap into the growing number of people using local business listings to find businesses, services and products.

For more information and to register for the upcoming webinar please visit http://www.fmdlocalmarketing.com/