Hello, My Friends!

     Many, many thanks to each of you for making our 2012 L.A. convention such a fantastic one! The inspiring speakers, generous sponsors, our introducersand monitors, and, of course, our attendees, all came together to create an experience we will long remember.  I would like to extend a special thankyou to our host member, Alfred Music Publishing -- Ron, Morty, Iris, and all of their wonderful co-workers -- for an unforgettable red carpet welcome! My deep gratitude also goes to my fellow board members and to Madeleine Crouch, all of whom work tirelessly to keep RPMDA the heart of the print industry.

     As we go about our busy schedules, I want to take a moment to remind everyone of why being a member of RPMDA really does have a positive impact on your life as well as your business. We all know how much we've gained by attending the conventions; the multitude of ways we've learned to tweak our operations, to manage our print inventories, and to make our businesses profitable. But I truly believe that the greatest gift offered by our organization is the opportunity to form the relationships with each other that will support and sustain us through good and not-so-good times. These caring, personal relationships are what make the RPMDA family unique in our industry, and what will enable us to continue working together while finding solutions to our common problems.

    Many of you have contacted me, offering any kind of assistance I might need in the upcoming months. To begin, I urge you to please respond to the couple of requests found in this newsletter. Our goal to keep this organization strong can best be met IF we are actually reaching every employee in your print music department, and IF we are giving you what you need to support your business.

    To further strengthen our organization, Becky Lightfoot, a past-president of RPMDA, has been appointed Director of Communications. Not only is she keeping us current on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, but she has been working diligently, along with Madeleine Crouch, to update our website. Additionally, Chris Scialfa, one of our new Associate

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board members, has created an RPMDA YouTube channel. He's also in the process of collecting social media IDs of all of our Associate membership.

    Your board is already hard at working planning the 2013 convention, which will be held May 1-4 in Columbus, OH, home to Stanton's Sheet Music. We would welcome any ideas or suggestions you may have for us!

    I wish you all a busy and profitable fall season and look forward to hearing back from you.

Very sincerely,

Carol Wilbur, President/RPMDA

cwilbur@penders.com

Can you name one or two areas that you and your business could use some help with? Whether it's instrumental music, workshops or teacher relations, let us know so we can work at creating a convention session that will give you the most benefit. Send your suggestions to office@printmusic.org.

One of our most popular and entertaining sessions at the 2012 RPMDA convention in Los Angeles was presented by Chip Averwater, chairman of Amro Music. Turning his session into a rousing old time revival, Chip used the "Proverbs" approach to share many of his wisdoms from his new book, Retail Truths. Chip has generously given us permission to post a "truth-a-month" on our RPMDA website home page, so check out www.printmusic.org often!

Please take a moment to send us the email addresses of everyone in your print department, as well as your company's owner(s) and managers. While it's not always possible to bring everyone to the annual RPMDA convention, let's make sure everyone can access RPMDA member benefits throughout the year: networking with fellow members, staying up-to-date on the hottest topics in print music, and applying RPMDA's Best Ideas to your business. As part of RPMDA's member network, everyone can see the bigger picture and be part of a vibrant industry that relies on each and every one of us to succeed. Send names and email addresses to office@printmusic.org and we'll add them to our database and email address book (and don't "opt out" when you receive an email from RPMDA, or we won't be allowed to email to you in the future).