ALFA Advocacy Fly-In

SAVE THE DATE: September 17-18, 2013

Please save the date for the ALFA Advocacy Fly-In, September 17-18, 2013, in Washington, D.C. Registration is free for ALFA members and will open July 8th.

About the Advocacy Fly-In

The ALFA Advocacy Fly-In is the premier public policy event for senior living advocates. Open to ALFA members only, this two day event brings together leaders from across the country to Washington, DC to advocate for the principles of choice, independence, and quality of life for seniors.

Advocacy never ends. It is a constant endeavor. And your presence in these meetings is paramount to our advocacy efforts. You are the voice of senior living. You are the most effective advocates in the best interests of resident-centered care.

ALFA fully briefs and prepares attendees for meetings. At ALFA's Issues Education and Grassroots Advocacy training, we arm professionals with facts, figures and fundamentals for engaging federal representatives. ALFA provides an informative session that features political insiders and policy experts who reinforce the importance of advocacy and prepare professionals to have successful and substantive meetings. ALFA also provides an assisted living overview that includes:

• Current assisted living resident demographics
• Appropriate senior living terminology
• Average assisted living costs
• Senior living business and labor issues

ALFA 2012 Fly-In... Your Colleagues Said:

"I have not previously attended an ALFA Fly-In. The experience valuable and allowed for great insight in the industry as a whole. The meetings with the members of the House and Senate allowed for discussion on topics meaningful to our industry and the aging population in our Country. I left the Fly-In feeling inspired and that united, in our industry, we truly make a difference". - Kimberly Johnson, Senior Executive Director, Benchmark Senior Living.

"The ALFA Advocacy Fly-in is the premier event in the senior living profession where senior management is briefed on leading legislative issues by experts, including policy makers themselves. I am unaware of any advocacy event in our profession that can match ALFA's Fly-in for its impact on legislation and policy-making". - G. Leader, CEO, Country Meadows.

"The Congressmen and legislative staff members that we met with were very receptive. They listened and asked great questions. More importantly, the visits to Congressional Offices on Capitol Hill quickly resulted in visits by Congressmen to our communities". - Rick Banas, Vice President of Strategic Marketing, BMA Management, Ltd.

"I believe this is an invaluable experience to educate legislators, as well as establish relationships with congressional staff. The partnerships with the LAs will pay dividends in the future. I would just like to see greater participation by providers". -Kristen Bolling, Director of Operations, Greenfield Senior Living.

"This is a great event and I will continue to participate to support the industry". - Amy Jeffs, COO, Status Solutions.

"This is my second time at the Fly-In. I find it to be an incredibly valuable experience and am continually learning how crucial it is to educate our legislators on the complexities and needs of the senior care industry. I definitely enjoyed the talk from the Assistant Secretary (Dept of Aging) - she drove home the point of how our efforts don't only help individual issues or causes, but are helpful on a bigger ("big picture") scale". - Linda Yoon, Licensing Specialist, Emeritus Senior Living.

"Having participated in Fly-Ins for four or five years now, I can say that every year is successful and enjoyable. Although I leave each year thinking it couldn't get any better, this year the ALFA team found a way to make a great event even better. The venues were special, the speakers excellent, even inspiring, and the schedules perfectly timed and coordinated. You are raising the bar for all of us. Congratulations. We can't wait to come back next year". - Ging Landy, Director/Principal, NY ALFA/Hodes & Landy.

"I thought it was fantastic. Just like last year, it was a chance at some great education on our industry, and the bigger picture of how important things get done in Washington. It's certainly nice to be involved with a large group of people who are all headed in the same direction and doing good things for good people, seniors!" - Todd Hudgins, VP of Business Development, Tel-Tron Technologies.

"The ALFA Fly-in was a well organized and well presented event. The meeting schedule was flawless and well thought out as an incredible amount of organization and preparation was clearly put into this event. Thank you to everyone involved at ALFA. The post training and meeting social events were also very well done and allowed great venues for conversation and relationship building". - Chris Golen, Regional Director of Operations, Benchmark Senior Living.

View photos and read a synopsis of the 2012 ALFA Advocacy Fly-In.

Typical Schedule of Events:

Day 1

1:00pm-5:00pm Issues Education and Grassroots Training
Registration opens at 12:30pm. Final meeting schedules are issued at the training.

5:30pm-7:00pm Welcome Reception
Hors d'Oeuvres and drinks served.

Day 2

9:00am-5:00pm Advocacy Meetings with Members of Congress

5:00pm-7:00pm Thank You Reception.

Learn How ALFA Prepares You for the Big Day!

There are approximately 1.3 million trade and charitable associations in the US.  And over the weekend I went to each one and asked them what makes their advocacy programs so special.  Some were better than others, some were worse, and some looked at me funny and said, “What’s advocacy?”  

However, they all had one thing in common…they all paled in comparison to the show that ALFA conducts every year.  To give you an idea of how ALFA's Advocacy Fly-In compares to the rest of the association world, I’ve compiled a little chart to help you better understand the high level at which we perform for you.

               

What They Do…	What ALFA Does…
Charge you Money.  Other associations charge upwards of $300 to attend their advocacy events.	ALFA’s Advocacy Fly-In is 100% FREE to attend.  All you need to do is, REGISTER, and then show up.  We do the rest!
Make their attendees setup their own congressional meetings.  I was shocked to learn that most associations force their own members to cold call House and Senate offices to make their own meetings.	ALFA schedules ALL of its members’ meetings.  We use our congressional relationships to get you high level meetings with decision makers on Capitol Hill.  Last year, ALFA scheduled 650 individual meetings for our members.
Provide lack-luster training on issues.	ALFA provides a comprehensive Issues Education and Grassroots Advocacy training (with special guest speakers) to arm its members with the facts and figures to conduct successful meetings.
Make you find your own lodging.	ALFA provides a host hotel in a convenient location, at an affordable price.
Provide terrible customer service.	ALFA goes out of its way to provide a rich and rewarding experience when visiting the nation’s capitol.  We are at your service to provide you with everything from tour information, networking opportunities, “must-see” sites, and recommended restaurants.  You only need to ask.

As you can see from the data above, there’s really no reason why you shouldn’t join us next March.  It’s going to be another fantastic event, and we need your voice to tell those folks on the Hill about the terrific communities you have and the great work you do for America’s seniors.

We look forward to seeing you at the ALFA 2013 Advocacy Fly-In.

Justin Worrell 
Assistant Director of Government Affairs
703-562-1178
jworrell@alfa.org