Victorian newsagents have more nominees for vacancies at VANA than are positions available. The resulting election is an excellent opportunity for newsagents to bring fresh blood to the VANA table and to influence the direction of the VANA Board.
With appalling direction from VANA on the Bill Express matter earlier this year I would expect to see Victorian newsagents support the David Backholer, Ray Burgess, Darren Howe ticket which is pitching on this issue.
Newsagents are not known for engaging industry politics – they leave that for someone else yet they are quick to criticise when things do not go as they wish.
If the David Backholer, Ray Burgess, Darren Howe ticket touting constructive change was able to –
a) make VANA accountable to members on issues such as Bill Express,
b) focus VANA attention on truly looking after member’s interests instead of wasting time on activities like N-Stock and
c) bring on a divorce from the ANF given that the ANF in its current form, with the conflict of (pecuniary) interests and lack of leadership it has, will never again be able to properly represent newsagents across Australia whilst the memories of it’s disgraceful performance on Bill Express remain in newsagents’ memories
– then they would have my vote and would be short-priced favourites with most of us.
I believe that failure to address all of the above and a long list of other issues that tend to get thrown into the too hard basket as a matter of urgency will see VANA going the same way as the ANF surely will – dead in the water.
Jim,
The odd thing on Bill Express is that VANA changed its position following the public meeting not organised by it earlier this year. Until then they had left the handling of Bill Express to the ANF. This is where they failed their members and this is why the entire Board ought to resign.
mark
Jim
By way of background, V.A.N.A. earlier this year signed a Memorandum of understanding with the A.N.F. and in brief this document left Federal issues
( such as Bill Express) in the hands of the A.N.F. and State related situations with V.A.N.A.
Hindsight is a wonderful thing but if V.A.N.A. had its time over again I feel they would have respected State members rights more respectfully and we would have had more trasnparent coverage.
Our ticket stands for openness and accountability at these elections by ensuring that we relate to members in a more professional manner. We learn from the mistakes of others if you like.
We will establish a business plan and seek Newsagents input so that you are made aware of where we are headed into the future.
David Backholer
David, what are some of your ideas and thoughts on the industry and what do you seek to improve?
David,
The MOPU was signed with the ANF in 2005 or thereabouts.
Mark
Michael
Please remember that I am not elected yet, but having said this
WE THE TICKET MEMBERS
have had overwhelming support from members for constructive change.
We need to have a Board that is more open with its members than it has in the past. By this I mean we need to know that we have people we can rely on to lead us forward in this State and Nationally.
Part of our problem in the past is that we have the “hangover of a badly run A.N.F.”
AND it’s asscoiated problems with regards to the implementation of and running of Bill Express.
We have a situation as I mentioned before that we signed an MOU and I believe that they the Board of V.A.N.A. were not comfortable with breaking any component of that MOU when clearly they should have done so.
We need openness as I said, we need a business plan to take us into the future and we need member input into that plan.
We need a united busines in Victoria where Newspower are not crossing V.A.N.A.’S domain and visa versa.
It goes without saying that we need a unified Federal Asscoiation with the mending of rifts with NANA and the QNF.
One State association is not better than or more superior than another, we need combined unity to move ahead.
We need to be able to gain new business for Newsagents to lift their bottom line and also to gain more unifority within the Industry.
Ask yourself how many Newsagents do not have Fax machines, internet access at work, answering machines etc. This needs to be addressed with the help of the Publishers.
We can be more profitable and more respected as retail outlets if we come together as a “team” and head in the one direction.
Our group or “ticket” give you this promise that we move ahead with openness and purpose.
So David if you were to get in, what would be the first five things you would fix, reconstuct, implement etc?
I’m not just trying to be glib, but why is it OK to engage in the VANA election and use it as an ‘excellent opportunity to bring in fresh blood..” but elections in the ANF are irrelevent?
sa,
VANA, while far from perfect, is streets ahead of the ANF. The ANF has all but stopped servicing its members whereas VANA is active on some fronts.
Also, bring three new voices to the table could achieve change. The ANF board structure does not easily facilitate this.
Mark
Fair enough Mark. I wont derail this further, I do hope some positive things occur with this election that can be extrapolated to a national level.
Sa, I hope so too. The VANA / ANF MOU has failed to serve newsagents well. The Bill Express fall out is a good example of this. Compare VANA to QNF and NANA. If VANA quit the ANF a year ago as they should have, the ANF problems might have been fixed and newsagents would be better off.
Mark
Michael
I have answered your question regarding what WE stand for and I would prefer to leave your last comment until WE become Directors.
As anominity is the flavour of the day in this Blog site I will leave what I have said for you and others to read.
I consider your comments to be pre empting and until we are Directors what we will do first to me is somewhat irrelevant at this juncture with respect.
That’s alright David, I respect that. I’m just interested in where associations are going to find their footing in this industry.
I wish you well, Good Luck.
Hi David,
Nice to see some engagement in relation to VANA issues but I’d like some clarification on your comment :
“We need a united business in Victoria where Newspower are not crossing V.A.N.A.’S domain and visa versa.”
Newspower is a marketing group supposed to be negotiating commercial deals on behalf of their members in such a way as to have a point of difference in the market place against the other groups.
VANA is an association representing it’s members at all levels of politics, on all issues and providing support for the industry. In my view, the eVANA and N Stock are blatent commercially negotiated deals which, whilst not meant to, interfere with Newspowers ability to negotiate commercial deals on behalf of it’s members. I’d suggest they also interfere with other groups prospects of negotiating commercial deals and ‘split the pie’.
Are you therefore planning to exit VANA from commercial negotiating and leave that to groups, many members of whom are also VANA members, or are you planning to exit Newspower from commercial deals so they do not cross over eVANA /nStock commercial arrangements?
Look forward to your response. Would also like to see the current board consider this open forum to place their position. It might actually encourage higher membership.
Have a great day.
Lorraine
Thank you for your in depth analysis and comments.
First of all may I say that WE would like to involve newsagent’s comments in our future direction and suggestions as to how we can develop opportunities and to develop constructive change into the future.
Your views are just as important as the next Newsagent who wishes to express his complaints and compliments. In fact it may be a good idea to consider such a forum so that we can consider your comments and suggestions to help us move in the right direction.
All too often in the past we as Newsagents have been left wondering where we go to from here as a state organisation. Mind you I have the deepest respect for the hard working and loyal employees of V.A.N.A. and that includes the work by the C.E.O.
They are only as good as the motivation behind the Board of V.A.N.A. as direction comes from the top.
My comments and views regarding V.A.N.A. stem from other states trying to assist members as best they can without, in my personal opinion, strength to lean on in the way of a national body that is not currently united.
In Victoria of late we see Newspower Victoria signing members up to V.E.C.C.I. without member’s authority. Whether that is right or wrong is up to Newspower members to ascertain. I see Newspower crossing the boundaries of effective business resources in industrial matters when in my opinion that is the reason why we have V.A.N.A. to represent us in this field. I believe that V.A.N.A. does an excellent job in this regard.
I put it to you that if V.E.C.C.I. had a situation that involved Newsagency Policy or industrial claims against a Newsagency from the public or staff, then the first organisation they should consult is V.A.N.A. So why bypass the servant to re-invent the wheel, when I believe that we are being served in that regard with professionalism.
Finally I love this Industry almost as much as I love my wife – LOL- but get very emotional at the political events that disrupt the effective unity of a group of hard working family businesses that when it all boils down is our superannuation in retirement.
We need combined strength Lorraine as I am sure you know and we need organizations that we pay our dues to keep us in front of our opposition, to work together as a union and keep us up to date with business legal change, new products and from Newspower’s point of view – added effective value to our on-sale products and shop standardisation.
That is why we have V.A.N.A. and Newspower as separate organisation as each has a valued goal and direction.
Whilst I have faith in G.N.S. to deliver I am concerned that when I order stock from G.N.S. I get non branded Newspower product. – That is an area we need to see improved especially when you consider I am a Newspower Newsagency like many other agents.
Are you old enough Lorraine to remember the V.A.N.A. exercise books at school?
I rest my case.
Lorraine,
Re David’s comment – “We need a united business in Victoria where Newspower are not crossing V.A.N.A.’S domain and visa versa.”
Perhaps this relates in part to Newspower reportedly suggesting that they may deal direct with groups such as VECCI on members behalf rather than utilising VANA services.
If this is to be the case then if I was a Newspower member (and I’m not) I would be just as concerned at Newspower stepping outside their marketing mandate as I am at VANA stepping outside theirs with the N-Stock “initiative”!
This industry has no bloody hope whilst the politics and crap that the various associations and organisations carry on with is allowed to continue – I maintain that with the numbers we have nationally, we have the greatest opportunity to tackle suppliers to all parts of the industry head on – issues such as magazine over/under supply, newspaper deliveries, stationery ranging and price would all disappear in short time if only we could get together and confront the problems in a unified manner. That’s the dreamer in me talking – the realist in me acknowledges that newsagents in general are lemmings and that dirty great cliff created by divisive, politically driven old boy’s clubs (aka VANA, ANF, etc, etc) and so-called marketing groups with secret agendas looms closer and closer every day.
Put someone with balls into VANA – give the Backholer, Burgess and Howe ticket a go – at least they have put their case publicly, piss off the ANF who are dead in the water, make the associations focus on real member issues and leave commercial activities to the commercial groups.
We couldn’t possibly be worse off than what we are now!
The best thing that could happen to VANA is new, fresh blood. It’s time for the reign of McKinnis and Cowley to end.
They chose to sit back and watch the Bill Express situation and only picked a side when they felt it safe to do so.
Newsagents should have been their first priority and if it have of been they would have had nothing to fear.
The MOU between VANA and the ANF is a joke and was designed not to best advance the interests of newsagent members but rather to advance the political agendas of those within the respective organizations.
It’s time to get back in touch with what newsagents want and need from an association. Then go out and do what it takes to meet that.
Hi David,
Thank you so much for your response. Yes, I did remember the VANA exercise books.
My concern is something which you didn’t address.
One of the groups, in this case Newspower,approach GNS to negotiate a deal on paper for their mid year promotion. GNS negotiates a deal only to find out that VANA have an offer of another paper to their own members through eVANA.
So you have a VANA and Newspower member torn between supporting VANA as the lobbying group or GNS (who they may hold shares in) as the newsagent owned supply channel.
Until this is addressed, we in this industry will have one body, VANA, trying to make money and offer commercial services to members whilst another body, GNS, is trying to run a commercial business for it’s members. It’s no wonder GNS have negotiated a deal with VECCI. VANA started the split of the industry by going commercial. Right now VANA is not lobbying in my best interests but is offerng me commercial deals.
And I, as a VANA member and a GNS customer and a marketing group member am torn between who I support and for what? Divide and conquer!
So David, we have a mess where VANA is doing GNS’s job and GNS have retaliated.
Meanwhile, VANA has failed in negotiating any increase in Magazine commissions, oversupply, home delivery fees, etc.The list goes on. The only thing they feel strongly about it getting eVANA into nStock.
Watch the newspapers get so thick in November you can’t roll and deliver correctly. This has been an issue for about 6 years and VANA has done nothing except cut a deal on cheap copy paper and other items.
Is VANA a commercial arm or an association representative arm? Will your ticket address the conflicts between these areas and give GNS an opportunity.
Have a great day
Lorraine
Lorraine, I would have preferred to answer your questions face to face so I could explain at length from where I am coming from. As I intimated yesterday it would be our desire to have an open forum in the near future to discuss where we go to into the future and to discuss the views you raise.
You may not necessarily agree with me when I say that to have a forum in the manner I am talking about, it needs to be a constructive move forward forum and not a reflective view as what people consider are mistakes from the past. Having said that –
My personal view of your N Stock question,and I certainly hear what you say, is that N Stock has a place in Australia as it keeps competition healthy between suppliers, however I feel that it should be managed at arms length in a separate commercial entity from V.A.N.A. and owned by the A.N.F. as it is a National product now. There is a lot of work to be done before this will transpire.
The realism of your thoughts however are that V.A.N.A. need more income to pay salaries and look after its members interests than what you and I as members pay in subscriptions each year. I see it their job to source new income streams that keep overall costs for you and me at a low point.
With regards to your comments concerning bundle sizes, on costs and fairer commissions for deliveries we have undertaken to look at this area already in our “ticket” flyer we sent to every Newsagent last week. I accept your comments in the manner they were mentioned. On a positive note we must congratulate HWT for their proactive manner with regards to finance at zero interest over twelve months for the purchase of new Rolling machines. I know that it does not suit every Newsagent to do this but it is a step in the right direction.
Magazine commissions, as you would appreciate are a National issue which comes under the auspicious of the MOU. It is something that Victoria needs to push very hard. Other issues such as oversupply, on sale times, Part works are all part of this basket.
Lorraine, Rome was not built in a day and whilst WE have solid views as to the way ahead it is not right of me to say when these changes that WE propose will eventuate. We need time to settle in then WE will be accountable to you and our members that I assure you of.
I look at this as a large challenge ahead and with support from people like you WE WILL SUCCEED.
We stand for constructive change
Regards
David
Vote for the three new directors. God knows vana needs new blood. Their childish war with gns and newspower is crazy. e-vana is costing members $50,000 a year. This is a dreadful waste created on misguided folly by the board and the people guiding them like blind sheep. No, I am not a member. I learnt my lesson and resigned.
Jim
we need you and your views.
I will be at the V.A.N.A. function at Flemington tomorrow and The Caulfield Cup.
Please introduce yourself.
David