CSGA ANNOUNCEMENT

President Gord Cundell working with the support of the Board of Directors is announcing the short term suspension of operations of the venerable Trade Association so that it may undergo a revitalization process that will allow YOUR CSGA to meet the evolving needs of its membership in an increasingly volatile market.

The plan currently sets the re-launch date for July 1st, 2011.

Core services to be maintained during the transition to include:

• 3rd party relationships with Can Par being the partner most members deal with

• Online 2010 trade directory

• Voicemail and Email queries with contracted services of former CSGA employee Marisa Viviani

Contact numbers voicemail for Marisa Viviani is (514) 393-1132 who will be monitoring calls and emails csga@csga.ca

About your CSGA

The organization launched in 1917, the same year the National Hockey League was founded, to produce The Montreal Hockey and Sports Show. The CSGA was incorporated in 1945 as a non-profit organization and in 1973, established a permanent office in Montreal. The goal was to support and promote the growth of the Canadian sporting goods industry and to serve the interest of its members.

The CSGA provides members with a number of valuable services and works to represent the industry in Canada and abroad.
The business package in which the association has been operating has limited its ability to evolve at the same pace as the market.   

Despite ongoing attempts to fix the problems within the existing model, and the dedicated energies of all involved, the association was failing financially and without drastic action would have ceased to exist by the end of 2011.

Our industry needs a vibrant, engaged trade association championing the needs of the individual member with voice of the entire membership.  It must speak to the issues we’re all facing in business and utilize tools that move at the speed of modern business.  

The existing portfolio of member services had become outdated and the association’s ability to fulfill its mandate in a technology driven global economy was waning.  

As the association navigates through this process of renewal and reorganization, it has settled all accounts with its past employees and will dedicate 100% of its cash flow and reserves to this revitalization. 

In addition, the Board of Directors has assumed an active role in the revitalization and will donate its time and energies towards re-establishing YOUR CSGA as the common voice of our industry.

The association has reached out to other North American trade associations for counsel and support and will be engaging the membership periodically leading up to the re-launch to ensure the investments made against member services actually represent the members' wishes.

The revitalization of your CSGA

For the last decade, the executive at YOUR CSGA has tried to maintain and enhance its member services within the confines of an operating model that has been in place for the better part of the last 20 years.  The quantum shift in our industry at all levels in the that time has made it very clear that dramatic changes are required to allow YOUR CSGA to take a leadership role in advancing the best interests of our industry.

YOUR CSGA’s mandate is to provide premium trade based information, business tools/services to help members by providing its membership a competitive advantage at market while creating synergies and a voice that the industry needs to prosper.  It is the belief of the CSGA executive and the Board of Directors that these dramatic steps are critical to YOUR CSGA being able to fulfill its mandate.

You too have a role in the reorganization of YOUR CSGA by providing your insight on the most critical member services the association provides and the services that the association is missing to best meet your needs to csga@csga.ca and your voice will be heard.

Our wish as the CSGA executive and Board of Directors is that with this brief pause, reflection and input from members to re-emerge in 2011 to better serve you as an association, your opinion counts, please share with us.