Hi All and especially SCAA voting members,

Many of you may have not been notified of a vote in progress to unify SCAA and SCAE. There is a lot of one-sided information, missing information within, and unanswered questions with regards the proposal 'for' the unification on http://www.scaaunification.org/.

PLEASE VOTE! MORE DETAILS BELOW ON VOTING!

The following is an opinion of Jim Piccinich at 1st-line Equipment:

a) In the communications from SCAA, we learned SCAA had our account with an email address for someone other than 1st-line. We never received the email communications from SCAA about unification. In our interactions, we learned SCAA also distributed US Mail communications. We never received any hard copy communications about the unification. Unfortunately, we later learned it was only where members decided not to choose email as a primary contact. We voiced our concerns that emails would be overlooked, and we reiterated the fact that a US Mail component should have been implemented for such an important decision about SCAA.

b) http://www.scaaunification.org/ - In my opinion, this web site seems very one-sided 'FOR' the unification. Just a few quick points...

The SCAE outcome should not have been published or revealed. In fact, their vote should have coincided with the SCAA vote. As a seller of European espresso machines in the USA, I believe the merger will be more of a benefit to green coffee purveyors, European equipment manufacturers, and other International suppliers who want to do business within the USA. How many SCAA members export from the USA? Was the growing international membership on a percent basis of total membership, as SCAA has claimed, due to a declining USA membership? If yes, why? This is probably, our guess, why you see a growing international membership - they want to do business here.

The 'What your vote' means section promotes a benefit, but gives no indication of future costs to members after 1 year. Where are the balance sheets of both organizations for last 5 years versus predicted future 5 years as shown? Why the large surplus for a non-profit? Where is the 'lost' revenue factored in whereby there is a member currently in both organizations and in the future will only need to pay for one membership? What percentage of members do they expect to lose after the unification?

Does 'one member, one vote' mean by person or organization? If by person, can a arge organization have thousands of employees with thousands of votes? Do allied members or others vote in the new organization? If yes, then can non-coffee members hijack the specialty coffee organization? Or will individuals hijack it?

The Prospectus is so general and definitely not fair balanced to make a proper decision. There is a lot not spelled out 'in favor of status quo' on the web site.

c) Per the web site, 700 of 8757 members responded to a SCAA sentiment survey which we would have considered a very low rate. Although it is better than other trade association rates, it is still low. In addition, reviewing the survey resultant report, the results are very simple and at the surface seem to indicate a lack of proper research design for a survey.

Please note that I have Master's degree in Marketing and I know a lot about market research design and implementation. Although I am not currently a professional market researcher, these survey results do not reveal any cross sectional analysis of a proper survey. In fact, the sample pool was the entire membership, when in fact, the sample pool should have been a pool that represented a cross segment of each parameter of the membership ie age, person title, type of business, geographic, etc, I have not seen the survey, but based on the results, I do not believe the right questions were asked.

I have learned from my schooling days that surveys can be designed to get answers one wants. This is extremely clear in the member outlook result. For example, the resultant answers were pessimistic, unsure, hopeful, optimistic. Any professional would have phrased the answers differently. Two answers are in favor by choosing hopeful or optimistic, one unsure, and only one selection for negative is pessimistic. The answers should have been very pessimistic, pessimistic, optimistic, very optimistic, and 'unsure, need more information'.

d) Integration of two associations - Was the purpose of the outside firm(s) hired by SCAA And SCAE to find synergies to integrate or was it researched to explore all elements ie status quo, partial partnerships in certain areas, full integration, etc. Coming from the pharma industry in the early 1990's that was full of mergers and acquisitions, I learned there are many unexpected things, and most outside firms hired were more interested to have a partnership occur because it meant more revenue when the merger had to occur. The reason is that since they did the research, they are usually selected for integration as another company would have to be paid to learn both organizations all over again. The same goes for the attorneys/law firms who were involved in the process, as well.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. When reviewing information about the unification, one needs to think on one own as almost all the information presented is pro-unification. Therefore, please [url-https://www.directvote.net/SCAA/sendID.aspx]get in your vote by starting the process[/url].

I'm not sure that the merger of two trade associations would have much effect on the coffee business or its equipment vendors.

Both the SCAA and SCAE have been pursuing a policy of professionalizing the coffee trade. This has had some hilarious side effects (as social workers, nurses, teachers, plumbers, paralegals, computer programmers, etc. etc. etc, etc, etc, have found since the 1920s, when the "I'm a professional" craze started, imitating doctors and lawyers by requiring quasi-academic credentials does not work when there is no millennia old academic establishment to underwrite the credentials' validity); but on the whole, it seems to pushing both associations in the good direction of turning coffee into a recognized, highly skilled craft.

This change of direction seems to make it even less likely that the SCAA/SCAE will be in a position to affect the terms of trade.

11 SCAA PRESIDENTS
VOTE NO

This is Donald Schoenholt, co-founder of SCAA, and founder of Roasters Guild. By now you know that there is an SCAA and Specialty Coffee Association of Europe (SCAE) consolidation vote happening right now. I am writing to you for a group of 11 SCAA Past Presidents. We'd like to talk to you about our coffee association and its future as we believe you don't understand that you are being asked to destroy SCAA. We think you should vote "NO" to that.

HERE'S SOME CONTEXT

The trade stands on the shoulders of folks that pioneered specialty coffee, and the birth of SCAA. Right now is the most critical time for the members since the founding of the association. If you choose poorly you will lose your trade association.

The subject is complex. We can't cover all the aspects of it in this conversation. We offer you some of the most important points to think about


DON'T LET 'EM TAKE YOUR SCAA AWAY
SAVE SCAA - VOTE NO

Unification means Bye Bye SCAA! That's exactly what happens if unification happens as planned, and destruction of the association that got us to the global position American Specialty Coffee now has makes no sense to us. The SCAA has unlimited opportunity to shape programs and projects to serve and encourage diverse coffee cultures around the world. SCAA has the legacy of representing the largest congress of small coffee businesses and consumers. It should not be "put down" to satisfy anyone's needs for a global platform. We are assured that the new order of things will be governed by one-company / one-vote. Here's just one example of what may happen. Our best information is that SCAE has about 4,500 members, and SCAA has under 2,100 voting members. If voting privileges are not balanced so that SCAA members have more votes, each of your votes will be diminished in value in a new association, with the former SCAE members able to outvote former SCAA members by a margin of 67% to 32%.

Speaking plainly, there will be no more SCAA. It will be replaced by something else; something foreign. Something in which you do not have an equal share. There will essentially be a new trade group. It will not be American in character, temperament, direction or name.

21st CENTURY COLONIALISM
SAVE SCAA - VOTE NO
SCAA embraces the whole coffee world, and has admirers and members in many lands. We believe this outreach should continue. We think SCAA should be embraced; not replaced with a new Euro/American association with eyes on Africa the Middle East and Asia. This is not fearmongering. It the plain-spoken truth. We think that approach of top-down assertion of righteousness looks a lot like 21st Century socialist colonialism, and we are opposed to it.

SCAE has built a community of dedicated people doing intelligent things, and we should continue to work closely with them now and in the future. We should work together with our sister organizations on initiatives throughout the world not just to promote specialty coffee, but as an ally in the good fight against natural enemies of best quality coffee; climatic conditions, pests & diseases, and the economic fragility of farming families. We should be in the forefront of stabilizing the population of heirloom Arabica coffee varieties, and the protection of these varieties for future generations of roasters and consumers.

American specialty businesses are our 1st priority. That is who founded us. That's who we were founded to serve. That's who pays the rent. SCAA should be capitalizing on our unique identity and ability to prioritize activities for the welfare of the American Specialty Coffee Industry and the American coffee consumer.

UNIFICATION WILL MAGNIFY NOT SOLVE ISSUES
SAVE SCAA - VOTE NO
The SCAA leadership is choosing to innovate at exactly the time they should be looking to reform. Staff positions must be open to a wider selection process. We have a history of choosing vendors without a proper bidding process that wants reforming. The By-laws have been altered (no one wants to take responsibility for this) and is now a charter lacking important republican principles. It needs to be rewritten with an eye to putting back democratic process with power in the hands of the governed. There is a lot of "transparency" talk, and many communications, but little substance in vital areas of the governing of the association. Having stakeholders discover for the first time in October that we are going to merge and then finding out that the leadership has been working on this for years in secret is not the way things should be done, Withholding or not having a comprehensive plan for merger including an exit plan should the merger prove a bad idea down the road, is not as things should be done. Failing to respond to legitimate questions posed in writing by members, for weeks even months at a time is not how things should be done. Releasing financial and other information for the first time only 2 weeks before a scheduled vote is not how things should be. We do not expect that Europeans, with a different sense of personal responsibility, a different administrative culture, and in some cases a different sense of what is administratively right will help the association right what is wrong with itself. Do you?

YOU ARE SCAA, NOT ANYBODY ELSE. YOU.
SAVE SCAA - VOTE NO
Many who are pushing for unification believe that the idea of America, American values, and American character are passé, out of date. One of the Yes People's prime spokespersons writes on the way we are thinking, "That's what's wrong with America." Among some of the juicier things we are being called is, reactionary, xenophobic, and jingoistic. Among some of the good attributes that are claimed for unification is its collective benefit. That doesn't sound American to us. It has an unfamiliar alien ring to it. Down what dark road are we being led?

We are the Specialty Coffee Association Of America, PLEASE VOTE NO to merging into a world collective, and vote to continue to be an association that represents its roots, its members, our uniqueness, our diversity, our small businesses, and just as importantly the world of coffee we are building together with other organization's doing the same for their individual members around the world. This pie in the sky stuff you are being sold with unification, is just stuff. Theodore Roosevelt said, "Keep your eyes on the stars, and your feet on the ground." We stand with TR.

SCAA BRINGS PEOPLE TOGETHER OVER COFFEE
SAVE SCAA - VOTE NO
The world changed for the better with the rise of the American Specialty Coffee movement and the establishment of Specialty Coffee Association of America. Yes, it actually did change the world. Yes. But coffee was not always a romance. In the 150 years before us coffee was an engine of colonialism, and in the first half of the 20thCentury coffee became just another commodity. It emerged, in the post WWII world, as the economic life force for millions of people and scores of emerging nations, but it was all about money and economic power. Small craft coffee businesses disappeared and consumer choices narrowed. Things are different now because hard working, talented, and sensitive people created a coffee revolution, and created in their own image a trade association they called Specialty Coffee Association of America. Now our association is at a crossroads, and you must choose what path you want it to take. Should SCAA remain an American trade association with outreach to the world, or should we forgo our American heritage and become members in a larger global one-world of coffee were our voice may be lost among many all, as we are told, for the greater good.

SCAA MEANS QUALITY & SUSTAINABILITY AROUND THE WORLD
SAVE SCAA - VOTE NO

SCAA has developed ideas of quality and sustainability that have swept the coffee world. It's what we do. We make better coffee, advocate for better coffee, and better practices, and in time we have made the coffee universe better, not just at home but everywhere. There are no less than 15 trade groups worldwide that were founded following the SCAA model. We should all thank them for their efforts, and support and we should applaud and support their successes in return. We should continue to support joint venture programs and our own initiatives in lands outside our borders.

SCAA IS BEANS-WITHOUT-BORDERS
SAVE SCAA - VOTE NO

SCAA breathed life into coffee through small businesses, and passionate Canadian and American people of goodwill who have shared their time, and knowledge with each other, and have enlightened the world that now appreciates coffee's quality taste and how it is grown, realized, manufactured, prepared, and consumed. There is dignity in our work, and there is respect for our partners in coffee, the Farmers, Exporters, Importers, laborers, Roasters, Baristas, and Consumers.

TAKE THE HEAT OR GET OUT OF THE ROASTING ROOM
SAVE SCAA - VOTE NO
You may have noticed our ranks have grown. There are now 11 SCAA Presidents asking you to vote NO. We believe SCAA is wonderful, yet imperfect. There are lots of things wrong in the way we treat our members, govern and manage ourselves as a trade association, but we will get into that on another day. When we do, we will offer solutions for getting things right again within the government and management of the association. Today we are faced with the specter of a unification that we believe is an error at this time. Rosa Parks said, "Stand for something, or you will stand for anything." We stand with Rosa. We have decided that rather than sit on our butts and collect laurels for past services, we will stand up and say what we believe to be right; That SCAA MEMBERS SHOULD VOTE NO ON UNIFICATION. The response from some has been to brand us isolationist, anti-globalization, ignorant, fear mongers, and liars. That's a lot of heat, but we are still here, speaking truth to power.

11 PRESIDENTS ALL VOTE NO SHOULD MAKE YOU THINK
SAVE SCAA - VOTE NO

Eleven SCAA Presidents, pioneers in this trade, and volunteers with great dreams who at personal sacrifice, and significant risk created and then raised SCAA to prominence, have each chosen to face criticism and derision, because they are raising their voices in protest to the process with which this idea has been promulgated, and the very real possibility that we and you may lose our SCAA.

We keep asking for caution and the leadership keeps pushing forward, we think incautiously. Past SCAA President Ted Lingle (with me, co-founder of SCAA) is in favor of unification, but even Ted says governance, "could be an issue," as could "revenue sharing." But the leadership ignores all intelligent ideas about restraint. Wearing blinders it speeds forward. It's reckless behavior.

We believe too much was hidden for too long by those who want this merger to happen, and that raises many questions. And, please remember, we do not object to international outreach. We applaud it, and we believe that we can continue to accomplish great things abroad, and in fact expand our international activities while maintaining the primary focus of the organization on its core membership at home. Giving up control of our own trade association is in error unless there are overwhelming benefits to our individual members, and right now, the way this deal has been presented, they just aren't there. We oppose the sinking of the American trade association in favor of an international world coffee collective. As a history student, the words of the valiant Lt. Lawrence come to mind, "Don't give up the ship!"

JOIN US - SAVE THE WORLD - VOTE NO
SAVE SCAA - VOTE NO

5% of the Membership is a "Quorum" for the Vote. 50% PLUS 1 VOTE WINS. That means 53 YES Votes can carry this election if you don't vote. You don't often get the chance to save the world. Here's your chance. Each of you holds the destiny of your trade group in your personal hands. So vote. Vote your conscience, and we will be satisfied. We believe in you, as we always have, and we will celebrate your decision, whatever it is. We wish each of you the best of good luck, and good coffee.



Donald Schoenholt
Founding Father SCAA & Roasters Guild
SCAA Lifetime Achievement Laureate

And in Alphabetic Order:

Steve Colten
SCAA President 2002-2003

Dan Cox
SCAA President 1984, 1985, 1986
SCAA Lifetime Achievement Laureate

David Dallis
SCAA President 1994-1995

Leonor Gavina-Valls
SCAA President 1985
SCAA Lifetime Achievement Laureate

Paul Katzeff
SCAA President 1984, 2000-2001
SCAA Lifetime Achievement Laureate

Becky McKinnon
SCAA President 1998-1999

Danny O'Neill
SCAA President 2001-2002

Grady Saunders
SCAA President 1993-1994

Linda Smithers
SCAA President 1997-1998

Gary Talboy
SCAA President 1987-1988




Further Reading:
Cui Bono?, Coffeeman's Diary
https://coffeegillies.wordpress.com/

Globalization Blues Part 2. T& CTJ 04.16, P38
http://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/673312-tc-april-2016

Dear all, Although I am not yet a voting member nor the SCAA member. Yet, I like SCAA's causes. Yes, I think I will take the SCAA Causes one day( maybe NEXT year ) and Yes, I love SCAA

And in the spirit of information exchange, here's Nick Cho's response to Donald: https://medium.com/@nickcho/10-reasons- ... .ei8pmf5y9

It seems like the coffeepot version of the globalization versus localism debate.

Much as I hate to disagree with Don; I think the idea that we somehow lose personal control as organizations become larger and more global is a myth. We don't have much control either way; when we are ignorant of what's out there, we just have the illusion of control.

In any case, in the last decade or so, when there's news of cafes or roasters, it's just as often from Europe or the Far East as it is from the US. Moreover, this internationalism is a return to what has been great in the history of coffee. Coffee and cafes were arguably one of the very first global institutions of the modern era -- it's where the revolutions started, heck it's even where the first insurance companies and stock exchanges started.

In other words, coffee is the official beverage of globalization; If you're a globosceptic, maybe you should drink mead instead.

Like all things in life some globalization is good and some globalization is bad and on balance the combination of the SCAA and SCAE appears to be a good idea with no serious drawbacks.

Results are in: http://www.scaaunification.org/
with 62% voting yes.

+1

Thank you for sharing the result.