I was one of the speakers at the VANA State Conference in Melbourne today. Attendance was excellent – around 130 – and diversity of presentations good. The theme of the day was change and how we, suppliers and newsagents, need to embrace change.
My presentation was about being an entrepreneurial newsagent and the challenges we face in navigating the future. While some of what I was controversial, or so I am told, the aim is to get newsagents looking at their businesses differently and understanding the nature of the challenges of this marketplace. These challenges are opportunities, exciting opportunities.
This is the first such conference in Victoria. It is something they have done very well in Queensland for years. Getting newsagents together, out of the business, and talking about business is always valuable.
What was the general thought on the current ANF and the idea of starting a new group? – If it was talked about?
There’s nothing wrong with being controversial. I’d like to know what was you said.
Michael,
Ron McKinnis VANA President made a statement about VANA’s grave concerns about the direction of the ANF. There is to be a meeting in Victoria of VANA members in three weeks to discuss this.
Personally, I think is late – the meeting is needed now.
Mark
How many members does vana have?I would assume 130 is not a huge turn out..
A lot of Newsagents are quick to criticise but won’t do anything to help find a solution,the catch cry of I can’t take time off is past it’s use by date and they need to show up to these functions to help fix what is badly broken.
Mark is right; the time is too late in ANOTHER 3 weeks.
We have been asking VANA for a newsagency ONLY forum since Mark Hosted the Bill Express meeting in Melbourne; i think that was 3 months ago. I personally spoke to Ron McKinnis about this.
The timing was perfect to hold it at the State conference; maybe more would have decided to turn up.
If the discussion is solely going to be focussed on the direction of the ANF they are once again wasting members time. How about we look closer to home first and decide if VANA want to be body representing newsagents or a buying group who’s sole purpose is to make money.
vana has to protect newsagents. Newspower was supposed to be this protection but it has failed and this is why vana has to act now. eVANA is only part of this project. Newsagents need something which competes with newspower to show gns a lesson. Ever since they took over VNS victoria newsagents have been treated badly. We cant get stock. The prices are not as good. Newspower is dead here. vana dong something is our only hope.
Gary,
Yes, Vana does have to protect newsagents, but not by becoming a buying group.
Vana should be lobying suppliers for better terms and negotiating IR policy with government. Core association responsibilities.
The Marketing groups are clearly showing they have an alternative if you wish not to deal with Newspower, and are proving to be very competitive is stationery.
Newspower has been dead in Victoria for years and there has been no investment in its infrastructure.
To Mary, Vaughan and Gary,
My name is David Backholer and together with Darren Howe and Ray Burgess we are standing for the current elections to the V.A.N.A. Board. Should we be elcted we assure you that we stand for openness and constructive change and I cite the following:-
In November you as a member of V.A.N.A.
will have the opportunity to sit down with the current Board and discuss your thoughts about the future direction we take. This meeting is aside from our concerns about the A.N.F.
Our opinion is that this meeting cannot divert into a slanging match it must be about constructive change moving forward. In that light I subscribe to the following.
N Stock.
I believe that N Stock has a vital roll to play in our move forward. It keeps other suppliers on their toes as to pricing. I,like others believe that their is as much as a further 20% to gain in wholesale price purchase and I feel this will show more clearly into the future.
My only conecrn and this has been brought to my attention from members in the past few days is that both My Newsagency .com and N Stock need to be off loaded to a seperate Company such as V.A.N.A. Commercial Pty Ltd or similar company so that V.A.N.A. looks after the rights of members in terms of the constitution and V.A.N.A. Commercial runs as a commercial entity for Newsagents. Having said that both N Stock and My Newsagency.com currently owe V.A.N.A. loans desiganted as start up costs and these need to be repaid from profits and this is why I suggest a commecial entity.
Membership.
Membership I am told is around the 500 mark in Victoria and considering peoples views about V.A.N.A. and its Federal partnet in the A.N.F. I thought that an attendance of 130 + was fantastic considering that it was the first one held.
You see Regional meetings are falling away I feel because they are more of a “men,s club” ( sorry Ladies I include you as well.) and if you heard the fantastic speakers especially the last speaker we had you would be asking for another such meeting next week.
Maybe next time a better day could be considered such as Tuesdya- but I am not taking away any praise for what Bronwyn Roney and her team did. It was fantastic.
Newspower
I personally consider it was wrong of Newspower to enter the Industrial relations field and I assure it will be on the agenda for further discussion ,But, again we need to move forward and I assure you that V.A.N.A. will move forward especially considering the shear amout of emails I have received and I thank each and every one of you.
Regards
David Backholer
Hampton east
“Having said that both N Stock and My Newsagency.com currently owe V.A.N.A. loans desiganted as start up costs and these need to be repaid from profits and this is why I suggest a commecial entity.”
You are kidding!!
Simple question: Who authorised VANA to use membership money to lend to those companies and why is an owner of one of those companies a current board member; who i might add was invited to sit on the board this year.
When are the associations going to learn the phrase ‘conflict of interest’?
Vaughan
Need I say more than WE as (hopefully) new Directors need to ensure due diligence is paramount in everything we as a Board undertake. That is proper business practice. I rest my case.
Believe me when I say that the reason for the change in business structure for N Stock and My Newsagency.com is to show business clarity and correct accounting principles for V.A.N.A.
Vaughan, some years ago a C.E.O. at the time decided it was prudent to buy the property that we then owned in Bay st Port Melbourne and he convinced the then Board that it was wise and proper to do so !
Personally I am not regretting that decision now. Sometimes a Board need to take decisions that are in the best interests of its members and that is what the current Board did in relation to N Stock and My Newsagency.com.
My suggestions whilst somewhat premature separate Commercial from V.A.N.A. due purpose.
David Backholer
Vaughan – well said!
This is the sort of behaviour that so many have been rightly critical of the ANF for.
Whilst both could be deemed to be “commercial transactions” there is a lot of difference in investing in well chosen real estate versus providing start-up funding for ventures which potentially carry a lot more risk.
The fact is that association funds have been used for ventures which may or may not benefit all members i.e as a member you may have good reason not to be involved with either yet your money is at risk.
It’s easy to hide behind the statement that sometimes decisions need to be made on behalf of members without consultation – those decisions should involve nil risk and should be to the benefit of all members.
Fact is that VANA should not be involved in commercial activities at the expense of providing services to members.
Jim,
If you feel so passionate then I think you would be an added bonus to the Board structure. I am standing with three other Newsagents because we are passionate about where we want to help you move forward.
You cannot have your cake and eat it too. By that I mean you cannot have V.A.N.A. buy a property and in the end do well financially and then turn around and say that they should be facing their directions for Newsagents in direct support Industrial support etc…
I believe that my suggestions are fair and reasonable especially when other emailers say the same thing that they want transparency and also Commercial entities in a basket away from the original concept of what V.A.N.A. was formed for.
A commercial entity soundly based and with due diligence carried out is right for V.A.N.A. especially if it returns added value to Newsagents including you through up to date Internet technology and cheaper wholesale prices for stationery.
Let us get behind constructive change and ensure that commercial advantage is the way V.A.N.A. moves ahead because it is not happening at National level and yet we pay our dues to them to receive the results that have been leveled at us through the demise of Bill Express.
We all thought at the time that Bill Express was the best thing since slice bread.
We live on.
Hi Gary,
Gee, ” VANA has to protect newsagents”
Forgive me but don’t they own Newpsower in Victoria? Wasn’t less than 30% of the VANA directors also members of Newspower? What great support for something they owned. 30% support. Or own. Which is it?
How does it look that Newspower, the very business VANA had to “protect newsagents” is now in the controlling hands of someone else?
And who allowed that to happen? The VANA board as I understand it but I may be wrong.
VANA needs to represent newsagents, not protect them. VANA needs to do it’s IR and Political job and their membership will grow and that growth will provide protection. Strength in numbers Gary. Always works.
VANA does not need to raise money through grabbing a slice of the supplier margins and then give out loans to set up commercial businesses, especially since it had one in Newspower, at no cost to VANA, and coughed it up.
Even GNS invest some ot the supplier rebates into flyers and TV. What is VANA doing with the money it is making through Nstock? When is the first catalogue or TV commercial being aired?
And who is the winner Gary? A weak GNS is not in the best interests of the industry. Teaching them a lesson is doing the whole industry more damage than you think.
Is VANA destined to take over GNS? To offer it’s members promotions, Flyers, TV, POS etc? Or is it just trying to teach GNS a lesson by splitting the industry further.
Can’t imagine which part of that is protecting newsagents. Maybe I’m a little tired.
Best Regards,
Lorraine
VANA should not be involved in any commercial enterprise. Nor should any newsagent association. The track record is bad, appalling in fact. VANA needs to be an association in the true sense of what that means.
Mark
David,
If you think I am having a crack at you personally then please read other posts where I have actively promoted your ticket. I am not questioning you or your team’s motives but as a paid up, passionate and proud member of VANA (with apologies to Hawthorn Football Club) I want to see VANA functioning as it should i.e. supporting all members on those issues best represented by a credible organization solely focused on member’s rights and welfare, not distracted by external issues outside it’s bailiwick.
I don’t know you but I have met Ray Burgess a few times and like what I see although it seems we might differ on VANA’s involvement in commercial activities. Unfortunately I am in no position to involve myself in VANA other than as a member wanting to see VANA return to what it was originally chartered to do in serving and caring for all members interests, but you are right – I am passionate about seeing the right thing done in an industry I am part of – like thousands of others I have been badly burnt by the Bill Express episode, I suffer from the monthly cash flow crisis brought on by magazine suppliers driven by a set of KPIs at odds with those of their customers, as a country newsagent I lose boatloads every month “doing what’s good for the industry” – delivering papers simply because some tosser on Southbank with no regard for rising fuel and labour costs and dwindling numbers thinks I should using rates of remuneration more suited to when chaff was two bob a bag and neither horses nor the carts they pulled required expensive servicing.
Where has VANA been on these issues – they had a bet each way on Bill Express as they very slowly grew to understand the developing, diabolic situation – magazine over & under supply remains the bane of the industry despite the reams of data fed daily to the distributors by compliant newsagents – delivery fees remain at an embarrassing low and newspaper publishers pat themselves on the back at getting away with one paltry increase in God knows how long. I ask the question again – where has VANA been – we all know the answer – fiddling around with N-Stock doing what the marketing groups do best and ignoring member’s concerns on those issues that are really hurting as they burn resources propping up that lame dog called the ANF.
I remain firmly of the opinion that no association representing the industry in the way we expect VANA to has any right or role in engaging in commercial activity in any way that a) impacts upon their ability to best serve member’s interests or b) engages them in tit-for-tat games that feeds a few egos but ultimately destroy each player’s credibility in an increasingly competitive market and always to the detriment of the rank and file who also pay their salaries.
If your comment about me being passionate was more than tongue in cheek, then I would be more than happy to hear from you – I am sure someone will pass on my contact details.
Jim
I thank you for your comments and trust regarding the election. All I can say is that the comments we have received are all positive and I know the support is there. I can also feel your passion from within.
May I just say that our view is that V.A.N.A. need to continue being strong in the industrial area and Commercial area and I know we have a strong advocate in Bronwyn Roney at V.A.N.A. She is excellent at what she does and please do not underestimate her. Ring her Jim and have a discussion with her and you will see what I mean.
Jim, we will move forward and I can tell you are passionate about the Industry.
I have mentioned before Jim that our intentions are many fold but we need to wait until we ARE elected before we can move ahead with passion and bring our views to the table.
Rome was not built in a day.
I will then listen to any member who has passion like you.
I can be contacted through V.A.N.A. should you wish to chat but please wait until the new Board is in power.
Regards
David Backholer
Who own’s N Stock & My Newsagency.com
Where do the profits go!!!
Helen
They are owned by V.A.N.A. and any profits will go back to V.A.N.A. to improve member’s facilities etc.
David