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SMITH, JONES & ASSOCIATES, INC.
ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT
111 EAST WACKER DRIVE CHICAGO, ILLINOIS 60601. AREA 312/644-6610 [/box]]

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Lafayette Jones, co-founder Smith, Jones & Associates, Inc.

BELONGING TO AN ASSOCIATION IS GOOD, BELONGING TO AN ASSOCIATION MANAGEMENT FIRM IS BETTER.

Not only is there strength in numbers, but when it comes to associations, there can be other rewards as well. Belonging to an association gives members a number of benefits such as a powerful voice within a particular industry, greater visibility with the media and the consumer, and educational opportunities. 
Belonging to an association that is professionally managed adds the benefits of expertise. And, belonging to an association that is serviced by a multimanagement firm is the best of all worlds.
For black associations this is possible through Smith, Jones and Associates, the first firm established to service minority associations exclusively.
Associations are an old idea dating back hundreds of years. Most are organized and operated by the members. But because members have individual businesses to maintain, they can't devote full-time efforts to professionally run their respective associations. And, while they are extremely talented in their own business field, most are not trained in association management.As any association president will testify, it does take special talents to operate an association successfully. That is why executive directors, staff and specialists are hired. Unfortunately though, the cost for hiring these individuals is high and many associations can't afford to pay full-time salaries for high level professionals.
Cost of office space, equipment, and support staff is another problem associations must deal with. Today, more and more organizations are finding the solution to these problems by turning to association management firms.
Each association gets as much individual attention as it needs from an executive director and his administrative support staff. They also have experts in public relations, government relations, statistical planning, convention services, accounting, computer operations and marketing on hand to provide expertise. But the great part of this business is that the associations only play for the amount of hours and services they use. This time and talent sharing works equally well for small and large associations. The bigger the group, the more individual attention they need and get. The smaller groups, also getting all the attention and services they require, normally use a lesser amount and only pay for that portion.
Because Smith, Jones and Associates provides services for many associations they have greater negotiating power with hotels, airlines, publications, car rental agencies, insurance firms-basically every establishment with which they do business.
Smith, Jones was formed in 1981 by Lafayette Jones, its president, and Bill Smith, chairman of the board of SJA and Smith, Bucklin and Associates, the nation's largest general market association management firm. Jointly, SJA and SBA book more hotel rooms per year than any other firm in the country.
Because the major hotel chains recognized the tremendous amount of potential business, they are extremely willing to offer substantial savings on accommodations. This means SJA can pass exceptional discounts onto all of their associations. The same holds true for airline fares for association travel to meetings, conventions and seminars. SJA provides car rentals at group rates, liability individual association programs.
SJA is headquartered in Los Angeles, California. It maintains communications office in Chicago and government relations office in Washington D.C. All associations managed by Smith, Jones can utilize the professional services  of over 200 employees knowledgeable in all facets of association operations. Membership promotion, educational seminars, association newsletters, trade shows and conventions are just a few of the programs SJA can provide.
The concept of association management is similar to the strength in a cord of branches. A single branch can be bent or broken by strong winds, adverse conditions or harsh weather. The same holds for associations during harsh economic times and adverse conditions. When branches are bound into a cord, they stand a better chance of surviving adversity-so do associations. For black associations, Smith, Jones, and Associates serves as the means of banding together and withstanding adversity.

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