| 1. |
What is the history of the National Association of Alcoholic Beverage Licensing Attorneys Web Site? |
| NAABLA was created in February of 2003 by Ken Allen, an attorney in Columbia, South Carolina and former chairman of the state's ABC commission as a networking organization for attorneys doing this kind of work nationwide as well as a resource for the hospitality industry. Over the next two years considerable effort went into locating one or more attorneys in each state and convincing them to participate. | |
| 2. |
How did the link exchanges with major organizations such as DISCUS, NCSLA, NBWA and National Restaurant Association come about? |
| These link exchanges were initially developed over the first two years in order to increase NAABLA's exposure to the industry and hopefully drive quality business to our members. This program is on going and we periodically check to confirm that NAABLA remains listed on the corresponding sites. In the occasional event that the other site goes off line or drops the link back to NAABLA, the link to that site at NAABLA is dropped. Members are asked to suggest any other industry sites with which a link exchange may be beneficial to the group. Some organizations such as NCSLA require payment of dues and a portion of the sustaining membership's annual dues goes to off-set these cost. | |
| 3. |
Before I read any further, does it cost anything to participate? |
| For the first two years listings were free but we closed the book on free listings the end of 04. The goal never was to sign up as many attorneys as possible but rather to create a limited national network of attorneys doing this type of work who could refer business to each other. In order to generate a reasonable annual income to keep NAABLA going, we are now accepting only Sustaining Memberships at $300 per calendar year. | |
| 4. |
I understand the Sustaining Membership dues are $300 for the calendar year but it is well into the year. Do you ever pro-rate the year's dues? |
|
No - too much trouble. |
|
| 5. |
For a given state how do you determine the order of listings? |
| For the first two years, the order of listings for a given state was determined by the order of initial participation. In early 05 all members were given the opportunity by e-mail to become Sustaining Members with the understanding that for a given state Sustaining Members would be listed before non Sustaining Members. In both categories, rank is determined on a first come basis. Starting January 1, 2007 if a state has a least one sustaining member we will no longer list any other non-sustaining members in that state. | |
| 6. |
Our firm would like to become a Sustaining Member of NAABLA. What is the next step? |
| Send an e-mail to NAABLA with the information you want listed for your firm and we will e-mail you back an invoice. Upon receipt of payment we will try to post your listing within 48 hours and let you know. | |
| 7. |
My firm was one of the original members of NAABLA but has only now decided to become a Sustaining Member. By becoming a Sustaining Member will we receive credit for our early participation, i.e., will we move up ahead of the Sustaining Members who came in after us? |
| Yes, but only if you catch up your Sustaining Membership dues from 05 forward. Otherwise you start at the bottom of the Sustaining Membership list for your state. | |
| 8. | It is late in the calendar year. What is the risk if we wait until next year to join? |
| Any other firm that becomes a Sustaining Member this year will always be listed ahead of yours. | |
| 9. |
If my firm pays more money than the Sustaining Membership dues, can we be ranked higher in the listings for our state? |
|
No. Membership and rankings are not up for bid. |
|
| 10. |
Our firm would like to also be listed under the "Federal TTB / BATF
Attorneys". How does this work and is there an extra charge? |
| Any member may request to be included on the Federal TTB list. There is no additional charge. Sustaining Members will receive priority. | |
| 11. |
Other than becoming a Sustaining Member now what else can my firm do to receive the maximum benefit from joining NAABLA? |
| (1)
Mention NAABLA to your multi-state clients when appropriate; (2) if your firm web site has a links or resources page, include a link to NAABLA (this also helps our ranking with the internet search engines); (3) remember to mention NAABLA to out of state attorneys when appropriate. (4) consider listing your membership in NAABLA on your business cards, e-business cards and letterhead. The more each member promotes the NAABLA network, the better off each NAABLA member will be. |
|
| 12. |
How do you communicate with the members and do you ever purge the membership list? |
| Whenever possible all communication is done via e-mail. Yes we do periodically send a purge notice to all members. This will be a "high priority" e-mail. Failure to respond within the time period indicated will be taken as an indication that your firm is no longer interested in participating in NAABLA and your listing will be dropped. We try to keep the e-mails to a minimum so when you receive one, please read it. It is incumbent upon the members to keep us notified of changes in their information. Failure to respond to e-mails can result in a member's listing being deleted. | |
| 13. | Does NAABLA have meetings, conventions, etc? |
| No. We are a networking organization who's sole purpose is to increase business for our members. | |
| 14. | How does NAABLA rank with the internet search engines such as Google? |
| Considerable effort has gone into maximizing our ranking with the search engines. As a result, NAABLA usually comes up first out of hundreds of hits when one searches for "liquor license attorney". You are invited to try it yourself. Obviously this has to be an on going project as the net and search engines are constantly evolving. | |
| 15. |
I notice there is a counter toward the bottom of the first page of the NAABLA web site. What is it and how accurate is it? |
| This counts the number of internet visitors to the site. It started at zero in February of 03 and is, as far as we know accurate. We also subscribe to a tracking service which tells us the number of visitors per day, week and year as well as the site which referred them to NAABLA. For example we can tell for the day, week or year how many visitors came to our site from the organizations shown at the bottom of our front page as well as from member firm's web sites and the various search engines. We are happy to share this information with any member upon request. For an example click here. | |
| 16. |
Our firm has been a member but we have now split into two firms and both want to remain members. How do you determine which is listed ahead of the other for our state? |
| This can get tough. Being a Sustaining Member obviously helps. Having a link back to NAABLA on your site helps. We may on request rotate the two listings each year. There is no perfect answer. | |
| 17. | Can you please tell me whether the $300 annual fee covers listings in more than one state and also whether it covers firm membership or is it $300 per attorney referenced on the website? |
| The $300 annual Sustaining Member fee is per office per state but does cover firm membership. We list as many attorneys per office as requested If a firm has two offices in one state and wants both listed two SM fees are required. If a firm has an office in two or more states and wants all offices listed a SM fee per office would be required. | |
| 18. | As a member will I have any input into the way NAABLA operates? |
|
Suggestions and comments from sustaining members are always welcome. |
FAQ's last revised on 10/13/2006