Starting out with BAFTS in a new role

It's three and a half months since I joined BAFTS in the newly-created post of part-time Marketing and Membership Coordinator. Although I have had seven years' background as Chair of Durham City Fair Trade Partnership (Durham City has held Fairtrade City Status since May 1997) this work was primarily with local Councils, retailers, schools, Durham University, holding meetings and events, and revolved primarily around products with the FAIRTRADE Mark, or FLO Mark as we at BAFTS call it!

So, it's easy at that point to think you know pretty much all there is to know about Fairtrade (one word), although I had done work in Gateway World Shop, Durham (BAFTS' shop member) for many years, and had some understanding of BAFTS as a member organisation, and that we had to have a minimum of 70% fairly-traded goods in the shop, with the rest comprising organic foods or items, recycled goods, and some local products. I had also completed two County Durham Fair Trade Directories for the Durham Co-operative Membership Committee under contract, and helped Durham County Council with theirs a few years' earlier, so I knew that BAFTS was a "seal of approval" if you like for fair-trade outlets stocking items well beyond commodities certified with the FLO-Mark, such as paper, jewellery, kitchenware, bags, clothes, accessories, and craft items. At the time of me joining, BAFTS had just changed its name to include Suppliers, so I thought I was pretty much up-to-date.

Yet my role is multi-faceted, and involves anything and everything from ringing members to introduce myself, to updating Facebook and Twitter, sending out Newsletters and emails to the whole membership, looking out for potential new members, and trying to address the needs and concerns of the existing membership-base. It really helped being able to attend the AGM and Conference in Burntisland, as names which had been a blur on a Google Document eight weeks before started to make sense as the people behind them made themselves known to me. This was the very first time I had met the Board members face-to-face as well, although we had skyped so often that it felt quite easy to fit alongside them.

I think things really gelled there -meeting shop members, seeing suppliers exhibiting, getting to grips with the Resolutions, starting to see how these impacted our members, hearing concerns about WFTO proposals and what that meant for BAFTS. Whilst I had some knowledge of retail, I was keen to better understand the suppliers' businesses, how they operated and made their producer contacts. So I am relishing going to Harrogate Home and Gift Fayre next week to do exactly that, so that as I gain a wider knowledge of our membership, I can better understand all your situations, and hopefully provide solutions for your problems.