Mover’s Edge, March, 2012

The Canadian Mover

The Canadian Mover, CAM's magazine and directory, is scheduled to go to press on April 2. It's time to update your record with CAM and ensure that we have your latest contact information and the services you provide. Check out your listing in the last directory or online.

We have begun to source articles and information for the magazine. If you have any suggestions, please let us know ASAP.

Also, please check your accounts payable. Your membership may have expired and you may not be included in the upcoming issue. We look forward to hearing from you.

CAM’s Education Committee

CAM’s Education Committee is looking for a few volunteers to provide input into our educational offerings:

Updates to existing material
Development of new material
Sourcing of additional courses
Recommend the future direction for CAM’s education programs

CAM's Annual Conference Survey

Earlier this year, we did a survey to see what members wanted in a conference. The results indicated that the general format that we use for our conference should continue. A couple of the findings were:

Members like the meeting-and-greet evening on the Sunday night, followed by a day-and-a-half-long conference.
The conference should end midday on Tuesday.
The educational portion of the conference and the opportunity to visit the tradeshow are two very important aspects of the conference.
The addition of a tour and more networking opportunities were suggested.

The Conference Committee has reviewed members' comments and suggestions and will incorporate whatever value-added ideas are practical.

Licensing of Toronto Movers

CAM met with Ontario's Ministry of Consumer Services to discuss the City of Toronto's proposal to license movers within the city. CAM's board of directors had mandated that any licensing of movers should include standards similar to those that CAM has in place for members.

Complaints

In the CAM office, we have been dealing with a consumer complaint that could have been easily avoided by the mover. Simply put, the consumer had been promised free boxes. He had not been told that he would have to pick them up, or that there would be a fee if he wanted them delivered to him.

To our way of thinking, this was not a big issue except for the fact that the customer indicated that the salesman involved had not disclosed the full nature of what the free-boxes offer was.

We’re getting into the summer moving season and if your salesmen are trained to provide full information to the consumer (the basic principle of full disclosure), we will all save ourselves a lot of grief.

By the way, the consumer felt that nothing short of capital punishment was appropriate.

Moving Industry Calendar

As an industry association, we find it very useful to know when various moving-industry groups are hosting conferences, seminars and events. We thought you might find the following list to be useful. We will be posting it to our website. If you know of any events that we have missed, please let us know and we'll add them to the list.

April

16 to 21 – Mover One Group – United Van Lines & Mayflower – Convention 2012 – Naples FL

May

3 to 6 – SIRVA Operations Conference – Edmonton AB
17 to 19 – BAR Annual Conference – Windsor, England

June

12 to 14 – NCMA – Annual Meeting – Chicago IL

September

16 to 23 – North American Van Lines Tour de Force
17 – CAM's Golf Tournament (date yet to be finalized)

October

9 to 12 – Atlas Van Lines Canada – Annual Conference – Edmonton AB
10 to 13 – IAM Annual Conference – Washington DC
14 to 20 – SIRVA – Agent Convention
21 to 23 – CERC – Annual Conference
21 to 24 – Atlas Van Lines USA – Annual Conference – Palm Springs CA
Oct. 31 to Nov. 4 – UniGroup USA

November

18 to 20 – CAM's Annual Conference – Toronto ON

2013

September 22 to 24, 2013 – CERC – Annual Conference
October 7 to 10, 2013 – IAM – Annual Conference – Vancouver BC
October 16 to 19, 2013 – Atlas Van Lines Canada – Annual Conference – 50th anniversary – Toronto ON

Walk for ALS In Honour of Jean Goulet

Betty Shields of Parkway Van Lines is promoting a walk on March 24 in honour of Jean Goulet, a long-time member of the moving industry. Jean has been suffering from ALS and appreciates the support of his fellow movers.

You can show your support of this effort through your participation on the walk and/or a contribution to the ALS Society of Ottawa. To participate in the walk, contact Jean’s old friends Betty Shields at 613-744-4781 or Steve Sharpe at 613-733-5132.

IF YOU HAVE NEWS THAT CANADA’S MOVING INDUSTRY SHOULD KNOW ABOUT, please let CAM know and we will include it in upcoming issues of this newsletter.