Welcome to the NECNA Website. As the 2008 calendar year begins, so do some changes for our association. We have recently switched to a new web service provider. As a result, we will be able to better serve the membership. There have been a few bugs that have needed fixing which has led to a little confusion on the part of some of our members. For this, I apologize. These changes have come about as a result of our attendance at last year’s NICNA meeting. We learned what the other member organizations were doing with a number of things, including websites, registrations, memberships, etc. and have been working on implementing some changes to improve our own organization. The new web service will allow us to send information via Email in a more timely fashion, as well as minimize mistakes created by misspellings and erroneous Email addresses. Another benefit is that it will allow us to upload information into other formats like Excel, saving much time previously spent in re-entering the data.
As your Executive Board, it is our duty to find ways to make improvements while being good stewards of organization funds. This year we mailed out reminder postcards to all identified members and other individuals who may benefit from attending our annual conference. With that we posted the conference brochure online. The printing and mailing cost savings were substantial. If you did not receive a post card it may be because we had erroneous information on file. Again, the new system should greatly reduce and hopefully eliminate that problem.
The 8th Annual Conference planning has been ongoing since the close of last year’s conference. [In fact many plans are already being worked on for next year’s conference as well). We are lining up some very timely and informative presenters on a variety of negotiation topics. REMEMBER - ALL CONFERENCE REGISTRATIONS MUST BE COMPLETED ONLINE. You may pay by credit card using PayPal or by check or purchase order after filling out the registration online, printing it and then mailing it.
Just a reminder, dues are also due at this time. Once again, this must be done online as well. When you renew or become a new member, you will be asked to provide your Email, as well as a password (this is one chosen by you). These will be captured in the new system and then allow you to enter the members only area which we hope to expand and include things such as current membership rosters. If you have any questions regarding your membership status, please contact NECNA Secretary Mark Higginbottom at mhig@comcast.net.
As always, thank you for all you do in the field of crisis negotiations and the lives you save. I may be reached at:
Lieutenant Steve Pugsley
Massachusetts State Police (retired)
Phone: 781-356-5632
Email: smp92@beld.net
