There are members of GAMA for whom this has gone far beyond disagreement over policy.  It's pretty personal to some people out there.  How do you get past what's happened in the past year and move the organization forward?

Stever:  We've got a list of things we're trying to accomplish, and I believe that if we accomplish that list, the membership will be very happy.  We want to hold the growth of the GAMA Trade Show and improve the programming.  That's why we invited the GAMA Retailer Division board to join us at our fall meeting.  It's the first time that's ever happened in the history of GAMA, and it was the second or third thing we decided to do as a board.  I suggested it and everybody else jumped on it and said, if we're going to improve the programming at the GAMA Trade Show, it's important to get those guys involved because they're doing the heavy lifting. 

If we get a lot more people to Origins, the members will be very happy with us. 

The staff made a tough move to Columbus before Origins--hats off to them.  If we get the staff solidified in Columbus, the members will be very happy with us.   

I think that there are some members that will be unhappy no matter what.  But, I think the reasonable members will understand we've gone through a tough patch; that we've apologized for any mistake we've made; that Ryan's paid a heavy, heavy personal price for any mistake he made; and that if we press forward from here and are successful in what we promised we'd work on in the slate's campaign, and the things we are working on, I think the members will be very satisfied.

Dalrymple:  This is not really so much a recent development, either.  This goes back to the previous board as well.  But all through this time the Association has been growing, it's been doing a lot better, the shows have been drawing more people to them.  Looking from the outside, just from a performance standpoint, GAMA's done very well.  I think that's part of the reason why we've had a lot of this turmoil back and forth with the power struggles and the problems we've had going back and forth. 

Growing pains?

Dalrymple:  Growing pains is a good way to put it.  We're going to have a new set of bylaws.  The Origins Awards are going to get revamped in a way, hopefully, that a majority of members are going to want to see them done.  We're going to have the structure for the staff that the membership has stated that they want--there's going to be an Executive Director type position. So all of these things are going to go a good way toward moving us in the right direction.  Ultimately what it's going to come down to is that people are going to have to finally get clear that things are really going in a pretty good direction. They're going to perceive that, and hopefully that will cause the acrimony to die down a little bit.  I think like Martin said, there are going to be some people that are going to continue to be unhappy.  Unfortunately, I'm not really sure how we go forward with that, to try to alleviate that to some extent, other than to do what we can to make sure that the organization continues to grow, and prosper, and do more for the industry. 

MacKinnon:  We ran on a mandate, we were voted in on a mandate, and we move forward by executing that mandate. 

Stever:  I just want to add two things.  One, the most important thing GAMA does is the GAMA Trade Show, and the economic benefit of the GAMA Trade Show is clear to all parties.  For exhibitors, there's no better opportunity to affect the people that have the buying power to move your product, and for retailers there's no better bargain from any trade show that I've ever seen or looked at in terms of what you get for what you spend.  To me, that's the big picture.  GAMA is moving in the right direction because participation in that trade show has about doubled over the last two years. 

I also want to just say (and this is a non sequitur) there was one error in that release that went out that all the board signed off on, one edit that didn't get made, which was, 'This will be our final statement on this issue.'  That very last line was supposed to be taken out because we felt this week would be an opportunity to talk to you, and an opportunity to meet with the members on Saturday.  It wasn't supposed to have that line.  It was supposed to have a different, more positive line.  So I just want to make clear that were not reneging on that statement by talking to you. 

A couple of questions on GAMA finances.  Will accrual accounting show that GAMA is in better of worse shape than the cash accounting?

Several:  We don't know.

The last three years, according to the existing financial statements, GAMA's lost money and has declining cash balances.  How critical is the financial situation at GAMA?

Stever:  It's tough to say right now, and it's something that I don't think we'll have an answer for until September.  I think we're fine.  We're a going concern.  But certainly the board does share the worry that the cash accounting is not giving us a true picture of how Origins or the GAMA Trade Show are doing, and so we need to go to accrual accounting which breaks up everything up into three clumps -- the Origins clump, the GAMA Trade Show clump, and overhead, and then we can better understand what's going on.   But no, we can't see the bank account go down every year and think things are good. 

Anything else that you want to say about the future of the organization, any of these past events, or where you're going in the future. 

Stever:  I just want to say hats off to the staff.  This has been tough on them, and I think they've done an excellent job of getting ready for Gencon, I think they're doing an excellent job of getting ready for GAMA Trade Show.  Doug and I got to meet with a couple of them when they were out in Seattle last week, and they're pushing the ball forward and they're not letting this acrimony in the air take away their motivation to push ahead.  So I really do tip my cap to Anthony and the rest of the guys. 

I also think it's important to know that even though it's only been five weeks, Don really did light a fire under the staff to get the Website revamped, and that revamp is up and the Website is better than it's ever been.  For the last two years all I've heard is, 'We're going to work on the Website.'

Don kind of lit a fire, and he said 'Look, at least let's get the information that's 18 months old off of there and get the correct information up.  Having incorrect information on there forever is not a reasonable endeavor.' 

And again, I'll just say we're working harder to engage the GAMA Retail Division than any previous board, and we're going to continue to do that because they're a super-important constituency to making this thing run. 

Dalrymple:  I just want to reiterate what I said at the meeting at Origins.  We're still a very small industry.  There's only a small number of companies.  And GAMA is what we've got.  It's our vehicle for trying to better things for all of us.  If we can just get past individually companies, members of the board, any misperceptions that they may have and just everyone try to work together to move everything forward, then GAMA can work for us and for everybody else.  This past year we've seen more stumbling blocks in that process than any other time that I've seen since I've been involved in the Association.  I just wish that people could have the faith in the Association to try to do what's best.  We want to do what the members want to have happen, and we want to move the Association and the industry forward in a positive way and the only way we can do that is if the board and the members are acting in a positive manner.  And that's our challenge. 

MacKinnon:  I think we're doing a great job.  We've got a lot of work ahead of us.  We need some time, but I think this is going to be one of the best years that GAMA's ever had once we get a chance to sit down and really start working on these issues that we have and our mandate and hammering that out, and I think at the end of the year people are going to look back and say, 'Yeah, there were some problems at the beginning from a PR point of view, but wow, they got a lot done this year, and this was a very, very productive GAMA year.'  And I think we're exactly on the right track and I'm exceptionally optimistic this is going to be an amazing year.

Lacefield:  Just to reiterate what Martin said, we have a great staff.  They're the hardest working guys and gals in show business.  Moving them to Columbus where it's central to Origins and more of our clientele was a great move (getting everyone central).  They're working very hard.  We've got great plans in the works that are not only our plans but have continued from the previous board from previous years as well.  We hope to implement them and see them all through to the end.  Things are looking up. 

Niebling:  We need to just put these bad things behind us, quit dwelling on them, and start working together and just move ahead and make it a great organization. 

GAMA Board of Directors Interview--Part 3