APHA Outlines 2015 Strategic Plan
APHA Executive Director Billy Smith. Photo courtesy of APHA.
PHJ press release by: Executive Director Billy Smith
Each February, I present to those in attendance at the APHA Convention a “State of APHA,” which includes our progress in fulfilling our mission—to perpetuate the American Paint Horse—as well as our strategic plan. Although APHA follows a strategic plan that’s nurtured and updated every year, it’s not reinvented. APHA Executive Committee adopts the plan; the APHA staff’s responsibility is to carry it out.
Our strategy is to avoid falling into the trap of just trying to do the same things, only harder. We are, instead, planning better and are constantly in search of ways to keep current members engaged while attracting new horse enthusiasts to the APHA family.
I invite you all to attend Convention, but here’s a sneak preview of the basic components to APHA’s strategic plan:
- Develop clarity around governance roles.
A governance task force will present a slate of moderate and positive bylaw modifications that clarify the roles of members, directors, Executive Committee and staff. These are included as part of the rule change proposals. The general tone of these recommendations is to clarify roles and create ways in which new leaders can commingle with the experienced.
- Renew the focus on education throughout the organization.
A look at the schedule for the February Convention will give you some idea that we’re all a part of this initiative: judges, exhibitors, members and trainers. You’ll recognize the return of our popular seminar “The Game Plan,” but you’ll also have a chance to experience a half-day session with Dr. Rick Rigsby, who will guide directors and members in a shared experience that should strengthen APHA’s leadership position in the horse industry.
- Strengthen club structure and purpose.
The most important hands that roll out the welcome mat to new APHA members are those of the APHA clubs, and never has that job been more challenging. The evolution of the double-registered horse, other emerging breed shows and a proliferation of open shows has made the competitive landscape more and more crowded—even before a conversation about other activities that vie for members’ time. One of the tools that clubs can use to attract new members within their zones is the advent of the APHA Championship Shows that we successfully piloted this year. They’re unique in the horse show industry and reflect an allegiance to those who want to dip their hooves in the Paint Horse waters.
Clubs have to commit themselves to developing member opportunities that are actually better than those produced by any other horse organizations—we can’t settle for doing the same thing, only harder. Candidly, it is going to require that kind of Herculean effort for APHA to prosper. Moreover, it requires that we do more than merely bear down. Our clubs need better training; our Regional Clubs Committee is providing the first pieces of this training at Convention.
- Broaden the association’s appeal beyond an exclusive registry and show organization.
The natural appeal of Paint Horses is undeniable. We have to embrace Paints wherever they are found, which isn’t always in APHA events. That means we’ll expand our relationships with other equine competition organizations to ensure two critical strategies: to retain the bloodlines in the registry that created this great breed and encourage those who ride Paints to find value in their association with APHA. We’re already making progress to that end. If we don’t end the year with more members than we started with, we’ll for sure show the lowest decline in more than a decade. Much of that can be attributed to dedicated clubs that have courageously engaged members in new ways and the advent of new initiatives on the national level.
- Expand or reconfigure services to industry professionals, non-competitors and first-timers.
