Phalaenopsis Journal Second Quarter, Vol. 21(4) 2012 | Page 9

IPA Strategic Plan
I
James Rider, IPA Chairman
n late 2009, the IPA Board formed the Strategic Planning
Committee to look at where the IPA has been and to pre-
pare a blueprint for guiding the IPA into the future. In 2010,
the Committee surveyed current and former IPA members
to ascertain member’s ideas and provide the Committee with
some direction. The survey summary was published in a previ-
ous issue of the IPA Journal. More detailed information about
the survey results can be downloaded from http://www.phal.
org/downloads/ipasurvey.pdf. After months of discussing ideas,
rewriting drafts, arguing over precise wording, and genuinely
trying to create a realistic plan for the IPA, the Committee sub-
mitted the IPA Strategic Plan Recommendations to the Board.
I hope you find our recommendations relevant, engaging, and
intriguing. If not, the Committee and IPA Board would like to
hear your ideas.
I would like to thank fellow Committee Members Barbara Noe
and Lynn Fuller for their tireless efforts. This document could
not be done without them.
D D D
IPA Strategic Plan Recommendations
The following recommendations are the culmination of over
two years of research, surveys, discussions, and long confer-
ence calls by and between members of the Strategic Planning
Committee. The IPA survey was the primary basis for most of
the recommendations and the Strategic Planning Committee’s
recommendations attempt to address the major issues and ideas
identified by the survey. However, during the past two years the
IPA has not stood still and additional issues and opportunities
have been identified. Some of the identified issues have been
resolved. The following recommendations do more than just
address the most pressing issues of the day, but also provide a
framework that provides guidance for a manageable time frame
in which each recommended action should ultimately be ad-
dressed by the IPA Board and members.
IPA Journal (Currently On-going)
Key Issues
It is clear from the survey and member comments that the Jour-
nal is the soul of the IPA. As the Journal goes, so does the IPA.
However, there have been som e problems publishing the Journal
on time, and there have been some problems with staffing.
There is a great technology shift with printed material in gen-
eral. Clearly the industry trend is to move to purely digital tech-
nologies. However, a substantial number of current IPA mem-
bers want to continue having the Journal in a printed format and
do not support or use new digital technologies. There were also a
significant number of members (approximately 25%) that want
to move to digital formats immediately.
Like everything else, publication costs are increasing. Every-
Phalaenopsis - Second Quarter, Vol. 21(4) 2012
one wants more color, but printing in color is very expensive.
Furthermore, there has never been a comprehensive analysis of
the Journal’s publication costs. The Journal should be heavily
promoted for targeted advertising. This is a needed source of
revenue to keep publishing costs as reasonable as possible.
(Please note, the new Editor and Assistant Editor have taken
steps to remedy or incorporate many of the issues and ideas enu-
merated below. The Strategic Planning Committee fully appreci-
ates and supports their efforts.)
Recommendations
The most pressing issue for the IPA is getting the Journal back on
track, including expanded content, on time delivery, and color –
lots of color. In order to meet this rigorous goal, the IPA must:
1. Improve the quality and content of the IPA Journal by creat-
ing permanent areas of content, including:
a. Comments from the IPA President
b. Questions and Answers (If demand is high and not all questions
can be published they could be forwarded to a web-based forum.)
c. Culture for both beginner hobbyist and seasoned growers
d. An article on a new Phalaenopsis cross
e. A spotlight article on a commercial IPA member, grower, or a
major commercial hybridizer
f. A spotlight article on an IPA member (non-commercial)
g. Color photos of award winning Phalaenopsis
h. Recent hybridizations
i. Emphasize/Increase advertising/promotion of commercial
members
2. Manage Journal production so that there is an ongoing out-
line of content for at least the next 4 publications and a consis-
tent publication schedule. This will allow IPA to successfully
sell advertising because vendors can plan product promotions
that complement Journal features. (Note: The Journal’s new editor
has already created a publication schedule for the next four quar-
ters.)
3. The IPA needs to comprehensively analyze the Journal’s cur-
rent publication costs and compare the cost to alternative pub-
lication methods. At a minimum the analysis should review:
a. What are the exact costs of printing the Journal?
b. Where are the price breaks for printing? For example, print-
ing 250 copies costs $10/copy, 500 copies costs $8/copy, and 1,000
copies costs $7.50/copy. (Please note these costs are fictitious and
are used for illustration purposes only.)
c. Are there other printers that can meet the IPA’s needs but at a
better cost?
d. What are the costs for distribution/mailing?
e. How much can be saved by promoting the distribution of the
Journal as electronic media? At what point is there a significant
cost savings when printing X copies of the Journal and publish
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