Affiliated Assocaitions

welcome to the self storage blog, our diary of the self storage industry written bby and for self storage insiders.

There are many challenges that self storage owners have to deal with on a day to day basis. One of the great things about the self storage business is the fact that people in self storage like to be helpful to each other. Every meeting of owners, operators and managers is really a big idea exchange, networking event and best practices forum. A lot of other industries are not like this. I have been involved in other industries where people did not talk to each other and would never swap best practices ideas.

State and local associations have been great places for this gathering and sharing of experience to take place. Traveling a few hours to discuss business for a half a day is a lot easier than spending several days and traveling far to a big conference.

In the past, state associations have had some participation from the most interested owners and some states have assembled enough members to have viable associations. Even if a state is big enough and generates enough membership dues to hire a director or an association management firm, it has been tricky to get to the next level of participation. There are so many self storage owners, operators and managers who do not participate in state activities and meetings.

The same thing happens on a national level. As an example, Canadian self storage operators have tried working together many times, but without a steady flow of national issues to motivate them, their efforts have mostly been on a local or provincial level.

The USA’s SSA went through many years of struggling with membership numbers in the 70s and 80s until it reached a threshold of momentum.

In many cases participation doesn’t jump up a notch until someone in a government body wants to target self storage for a bill or regulation that would have a negative impact. Then everyone gets the hair on the back of their necks up and throws in a few dollars to campaign against the bill or regulation. Sometimes associations have been able to carry this momentum past the initial battle to grow the organization. Other times interest from members tails off.

The self storage association has tried a few times in the past to rally the states and other nation associations together to take advantage of the combined synergies. For whatever reason, the past efforts never quite came together. But this time it is happening.

The self storage association created an Affiliated Associations Council and created a long list of benefits for the state associations and state members to create a win-win-win situation. The association went so far as to hire Kathie St. Clair as the director of association relations. She has done similar work for other associations in the past. She is responsible for making sure the states and the national organizations are working together to everyone’s benefit.

So far she has made a lot of great things happen. I expect more is on the way.

So far there are 17 or 18 state associations and the Canadian self storage association in the affiliated council. These affiliated associations are able to sell SSA materials, advertise in SSA outlets and take advantage of SSA’s buying power in the areas of health insurance, web site development, membership drives and event planning. The group is also working together in watching developments in the legislative and regulatory realm. In return, the SSA requires that the affiliated associations do not compete against the SSA in areas where the SSA is active, such as events, training certifications and publications.

I have a personal interest in the developing relationship between the affiliated associations and the SSA. I was named the chair of the Affiliated Associations Council for 2006. As in anything else I get involved with, I want to see the Council become successful. Success in this case means several things.

1. Helping more associations affiliate with the SSA. Any state or national association is eligible. There are many states without an active association that might take advantage of this opportunity to build an active membership. There are many countries in the world that are seeing self storage blossom as a business and might see the affiliation as a way to help continue to grow and prosper.
2. Help the affiliated associations build and run their associations. It takes a lot of time, effort and expense to get any association humming and the help that SSA can offer and the help that other associations can offer should really give a boost to everyone.
3. Help owners, operators and managers get the information, assistance and contacts they need to accomplish their individual business goals. Getting more resources and more chances to share experience to more people means a better industry for everyone.

It looks like the momentum that the SSA has created for itself along with the significant numbers of active people in the affiliated associations will create the atmosphere that many have hoped for over the years. If you are not participating in or supporting your local associations, I urge you to do so. It takes a little time. But the contacts and ideas you will share will be more than worth the time, effort and expense. Self storage is becoming more and more of a business that requires attention and innovation. It is no longer a matter of only getting the building up and the sign lit. There are lots of interested and helpful people ready to share their experiences and practices with you. All you have to do is to show up and start visiting.

More info is available at www.selfstorage.org

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Disclamer: This entry is intended to promote our partner StorageMart and some or all participants received compensation.

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