president’s page
By Karolyn Rubin, IFCCE
School’s Out for Summer
However, our membership is still hard at work
Remember the days of yesteryear, when June signified the countdown toward summer? When the days of classroom
daydreaming soon turned to the dog days of
summer? Every day rapidly became one day closer
to the end of the school year? No more homework,
after-school events or schoolyard frolics?
Schoolyard frolics are the most basic form of
what I like to call “playground leadership,” which
seemingly always promoted
individuals and social circles of
varied interests to come together
as one when players were
recruited for teams. Our
leadership is really a transference
of what we learned during our
early years in the schoolyard.
Leadership and passion at the
most rudimentary level will
without fail begin to stir interest
and desire for others to stop,
listen, follow and engage. Each
one of us is a leader. Individually
we demonstrate this quality by
identifying our passion, sharing
our reasons of interest and encouraging others to
participate and engage in the vision until the goal
has been reached.
You may recall that in April, ACA International
did just that—and the Telephone Consumer
Protection Act (TCPA) Coalition and its “call for
action” to our members to help stop the onerous
proposed TCPA amendments introduced by the
FCC were born.
It’s not often that nearly all ACA International
members stand united on a single issue without
debate, difference or discontent. It’s almost
unheard of to have the same hold true for other
industry leaders and interest groups that share the
same initiatives as our TCPA Coalition. I had a
front row seat to witness a “first” for our
membership, industry and other associations—
complete uniformity on one issue. It literally brings
me tears of joy to see that our message was heard
loud and clear as individuals, corporations and state
units banded together as one team. It’s obvious that
everyone understands the repercussions the
proposed TCPA amendments would have on
anyone involved in the revenue cycle.
As I stated in a previous column, ACA is your
association family. In times of need, your ACA
family comes together as one. Your collective
passion, teamwork, leadership and commitment to
help one another seek contributions for our
coalition in less than a week is remarkable and
very appreciated. At the time I wrote this column,
we’d received more than $250,000 in
contributions. These funds are marked for a
TCPA Coalition restricted fund account. By the
time this article is actually printed, I’m certain that
number will be old news.
ACA has strengthened its government affairs
team by retaining the well-known Washington,
D.C., lobbying firm, Venable, LLC. In meeting
with some key associates of this firm, I recognized
that their experience, knowledge and expertise will
no doubt represent ACA members and the credit
and collection industry well and help your
association create and execute the right strategy to
stop the FCC’s proposed amendments to the rule
implementing the TCPA.
Continue to band together as one. Collectively
our voices will be heard loud and strong with one
unified message for members of Congress. Keep
the funds coming because every dollar counts, and
your undying support and involvement will make
the difference. On behalf of the entire Executive
Committee and ACA staff, we thank you!
Karolyn Rubin, IFCCE, is 2009/10 president of
ACA International. She can be reached at
karolyn.rubin@bccfs.com.
