Is the Future Certain or Uncertain?

By John Walsh, WSTDA President

Wasn’t Scottsdale a wonderful location for our past Spring Meeting? For those of us from northern climes the warm sun was a harbinger of better times to come. How fast the time has gone by! Summer is nearing it’s end and we will soon be busy with early fall activities. Uppermost is our WSTDA Fall Meeting October 1 through 3 in exciting Las Vegas. While I am sure many of you have visited Las Vegas, we have not and this adds to our anticipation.

Please take note of the meeting dates. Since we are joining with the IFAI for this meeting, we are starting on the Monday rather than the usual Sunday. The schedule includes an extra social networking event with IFAI Members on Tuesday. In addition, we have a valuable opportunity to attend the IFAI Trade Show, which runs from October 3-5 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

As is the Hallmark of the WSTDA, Committee work spearheaded by dedicated Committee Chairs continues. The Tiedown Committee has been formulating a series of Out of Service criteria questions for presentation to the Testing Committee who will generate a testing program to provide data to support, or allow change to our Out of Service Criteria. The Legal Resource Committee has refined their Request for Proposal and sent it to the three chosen finalists. Our Policy/Forms Review Committee continues the laborious task of side-by-side comparison of our various standards. Both Roundsling and Web Sling Committees also are moving their programs forward.

The work of the WSTDA continues with the able assistance of Fred Stringfellow and Diane Vaughnley and remaining staff of the King Stringfellow Group. Our thanks for their valued support.

Following the Scottsdale success of Core Committees holding extraordinary meetings before the official schedule began; Web Sling, Legal Resource, Roundsling, and Policy/Forms Review will have Core Committee meetings on Sunday and Monday.

As prudent businesspeople, we constantly review the past, assess the present and try to understand the future. We do this in areas of product manufacturing, raw material sources, market trends, competition, the economy and our financial requirements. Of these periods, the future is the most problematical!

Today we are bombarded with financial news that causes concern. On Friday past the headline of one newspaper I read blared “Pain and Panic”. How is that for throwing gasoline on a fire?

The sub headline read “Markets worldwide weather a shock wave as the Toronto Stock Exchange endures a near-record loss, with its 2007 gains wiped out in hours.”

Headlines are for attention grabbing; yes, this one grabbed my attention! I then carefully read the following articles and the included quotes from respected financial experts. This is where my day got better. One statement read “in three or four weeks this is going to be a forgotten problem” another, the Chief Economist of the CIBC one of Canada’s largest banks noted the crisis “ is more about fear than reality”. On Friday, the U.S. Federal Reserve took what was termed a bold step by reducing their discount rate, a move that sent positive notice to world financial markets.

I will never claim any real degree of financial expertise; actually, after many disasters I gave up and now my wife balances our bank statements. However, I have learned over many years and many experiences that “things are never as good or as bad as they seem at the moment”. Everyone should be positive, be prudent but certainly not panicky!

The continued success and prosperity of WSTDA member companies is of paramount importance to them and the WSTDA. With help from the wisdom, commitment and leadership exhibited by those attending our meetings, I am confident we can look to a strong future.

It will be a pleasure to see everyone in Las Vegas.

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Web Sling & Tie Down Association

2105 Laurel Bush Rd. • Suite 200 • Bel Air, MD 21015 • phone: 443-640-1070 • fax: 443-640-1031 • wstda@ksgroup.org • www.wstda.com