Policy on branch office listings

One of the benefits of ILDA Membership is to be included in our online and printed membership lists. Companies are listed two ways: alphabetically by company name, and geographically by region/country.

In geographic lists, a company's branch offices are not normally included. With a single Membership, the best you can do is mention a branch office as part of the main listing's 40-word description. If you want branch offices to be listed under their country, then the branch office must have its own ILDA Membership.

Example: Single ILDA Membership mentioning branch offices

To make this easy to understand, let's use an example of a Member with a main office in London, and a branch office in Paris. The main listing would look something like this:

Each member gets a 40-word description. Here, the company has added "Branch office in Paris" as part of their 40-word description.

The company's listing appears twice: under "L" in the alphabetic list, and under "United Kingdom" in the geographic list. In addition, ILDA may add an online cross-reference in the "France" listing, such as this:

The online cross-reference lists link back to the main (UK) listing. Note the following limitations of the cross-reference system:

• ILDA does NOT print the branch office's address, phone, website etc. -- all information refers back to the main listing.
• ILDA does NOT guarantee an online cross-reference. While we try to spot branch offices and include the cross-reference, it is up to the company to check to see if this has been done.
• There are NO cross-reference listings in printed lists that are handed out at trade shows, or printed in magazines. Only the main Membership listing's location (UK, in this example) will be included.

Adding a second ILDA Membership for the branch office

To get full representation for the branch office, LaserCompanyLtd. needs to purchase an additional ILDA Membership for its Paris office. The listing might look like this:

This listing would appear under "L" in the alphabetic list (just after the main office's listing), and under "France" in the geographic list.

Advantages of separate Memberships for branch offices

There are many advantages to having a separate ILDA Membership for a branch office:

1. Anyone looking for a laser company in the branch office's country will see the listing. This is true both for ILDA's online and printed lists.
2. The branch office can have full contact information printed, including local address, telephone/fax and website. It can even have a different 40-word description.
3. The company looks larger and more impressive when there are two or more ILDA Memberships.
4. The cost is reasonable -- consider it as part of your marketing budget. Even getting a single job because a client can find your local listing, will pay for the branch office's membership.
5. Each listing has its own Membership benefits, such as voting rights. You will have twice the input into ILDA!

To have a branch office join ILDA, see the "Become a member" webpage.

How this policy was developed

In November 2006, the ILDA Board of Directors and the Executive Director developed the following policy on branch office listings:

Beginning in January 2007, branch offices will not have separate addresses, contact info, websites, etc. in any list (alphabetic or geographic.) A branch office can be cross-referenced in a geographic list. The geographic listing will read: "[Member name] maintains a branch office in [location]". The "Member name" will be a hyperlink back to their membership listing (e.g., the main office).

This policy applies to true branch offices that maintain local staff, facilities and equipment. It does not apply to sales representatives or other more tenuous business relationships.

The Board's decision was based on the principle that one ILDA Membership means one listing. The way Membership is currently organized, a company is either a Member, with a single address, phone, fax, website, etc., or a company is not a member.

If a company wishes to have additional listings, they can purchase additional Memberships. This is not an unreasonable requirement. The cost for this can be as low as $250, which can be less than a single print ad in a single issue of a trade magazine. Also, any additional Memberships give not only a separate listing, but also other bonuses such as separate voting rights and other ILDA Member benefits.