A Message From The RPA

It has come to my attention that in order for the RPA to remain strong and useful, it needs to bolster its membership. 

I know that personally, when I hear Bob Seigel of NPR and all of his staff begging for bucks, it turns me off, and in fact I turn THEM off when they are in begging for bucks mode. I like some of their content, but not all of it, and don't always support their points of view. I have to ask myself, “What's in it for me?”… and is it worthwhile of my monetary support. 

Now, I find myself in Bob Seigel's shoes, begging for bucks through membership increase. And again, I am asking myself, “What's in it for YOU?”. In order to sell this membership, there has to be benefits to you, the members. 

I and the board of directors are working on that exact question, and are trying to come up with a short sweet message as to why you belong. As one of the board members told me recently, I can stand up here and extol virtues until the cows come home, but most of you aren't going to hear that message. I have less than thirty seconds and three words to make my point before you drift away…

Trust me. We are working hard behind the scenes, and will come out with something in the near future telling you what we believe is in it for you, the member. I plan to come back in the near future with a clearer, short sweet explanation as to why you should join/re-join our efforts, and can only tell you that in my personal and professional opinion, this IS a worthwhile organization that YOU should belong to. It is by the members, for the members.

We have some significant programs under way right now, with many more bubbling to the surface, and we want and need your participation as members in order to see these through to fruition. I have to thank all of the previous board and staff members for their contributions in getting the org. to the point where it is, but we need to continue and further this effort more now than ever before. If you are not yet a member, by all means, sign up. If you are a returning member, by all means get signed back up. For most contractor/distributor/wholesale members, the annual fee is $300 per year. That is less than $1.00 per day, and if divided by 3 (the number of members allowed under that premise) it works out to be $0.27 per day per person to belong. Inexpensive, at best for access to some of the brightest minds in the business.

My personal goal is to get one member signed up per day, and I would like to invite our current members to do the same. At least ask one new person per day to consider joining our efforts to move this industry forward.

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and by all means, feel free to comment.

Mark Eatherton, Director of Training RPA

Mark is the Radiant Professionals Alliance (RPA) Technical Director. A 36-year veteran of the radiant/hydronic industry and an RPA member since 1995, Eatherton  serves primarily as staff liaison to the RPA’s various committees in addition to other duties. As liaison to the Codes and Standards, Technical, Education, and Hydronics Industry Alliance committees, Eatherton leads each in meeting its specific goals and objectives, coordinate its work, and ensure it represents the best interests and position of RPA membership.