October President's Message
While we have barely caught our breath from the whirlwind trip that was our Fall Road Show, we are going into hyperdrive again this month. This time though, for a different reason. Those of you familiar with our Great State’s political calendar know that October marks the start of many Committee Meetings. And with the Committee Meetings, so starts the Political Fundraising race. I believe that 2025 was the year that the IAF really matured politically. Don’t get me wrong, ever since I can remember we have had a presence in Tallahassee, we’ve had our lobbyist, Eric Prutsman, and we’ve had a Political Action Committee (PAC) in place. We can even state that we had a nice winning streak as far as our legislative record goes. I am not saying we have not been involved politically, nor do I mean to take away any of the past efforts on the Association’s leadership.What makes 2025 different for our association, is that this year we have come to the realization that to play the political game well, we need a PAC with a large war chest. Our Fall Road Show proved it, as we had never had so many Senators or Legislators attend our regional meetings. I know the main reason, they were interested in attending was to learn about what the latest technology and products our Industry has to offer the public. But there might have also been some interest in becoming friendly with our very own FL AlarmPAC. Thankfully, the FL AlarmPAC had just been refreshed with cash because of our Spring Clay Shoot. I am also happy to report, that we raised a good deal of funds throughout the various stops of the Road Show. So much so that despite all the checks that were issued to campaigns at the Road Show, we ended the week with a little more money in our PAC than we started off with!
We were so happy with the results of the funds raised at both events, that we have decided to set a goal of raising $25K by the end of the year! While we contemplated holding a few more fundraising events around the State, ultimately, we have decided to simply ask you to help us reach our goals. We know how precious your time is, so we don't want to ask you to squeeze in another event this year. However, if everyone reading this newsletter right now, would donate just $5 we would exceed our goal! So, please accept this as a personal ask to give to our PAC today. Please consider donating $5, $10, $100 or $1,000+ at the link below to help us succeed in effectively advocating for our industry in Tallahassee!
Raising the Bar - One Achievement at a Time,
Diego R. del Pino
IAF President