Who pays your airfares?

I visited a meeting of the North-West Chapter of the PSA in the SAS Radission Hotel at Manchester airport last night. I received a warm welcome from Chapter President Chris Davidson , along with a group of members from around the region. PSA Chapters are the lifeblood of our organisation, and provide members with regular doses of encouragement and support. I aim to visit the chapters as often as I can, since I believe that it is important to be accountable and available.

The two main speakers, Elaine Hanzak and Sue Tonks had both overcome setbacks in their personal or business lives, and had turned the experiences into positive messages. There was also a remarkable session where every member of the audience was asked to report their recent successes, showing what a hardworking and talented bunch they are round there. Of course I knew that. My paternal grandfather's family hailed from Ashton under Lyne, and my great-great grandfather, John Kerrison, was chief reporter for the Oldham Evening Chronicle in the mid-1800s. Journalism is in my veins.

I spoke briefly at the end of the meeting, and mentioned my commitment to international travel, to visit other speaker conventions. When I called for questions, I was asked "Who pays for your airfares?" A good point, since a year of international travel could be quite an expense for a small organisation to bear. I was happy to reply "I pay for it all, personally". I don't claim a penny from the PSA, since it's my choice to travel, and I feel that members' subscriptions should not be used to subsidise my activities as President. That's a view shared by members and officers of all speaking organisations around the world. I'm always humbled by speakers from overseas who we invite to speak at our conventions. They pay not only their fares and accommodation, but also their conference fees. I know of no other organisation with this level of generosity from its members. But, as they say, "givers gain".