RA Board Members To Get iPads

is working towards becoming a paperless office - or at least a less paper-heavy office.

RA will be giving iPads to members of the board of directors iPads. It will cost the organization more than $10,000, but will save money in the end, RA spokeswoman Amelia Townsend says.

For more than 20 years, RA staff has copied, hand-assembled then used a courier service to deliver meeting packets/materials, recently in excess of 100 pages, to the nine members of the Board of Directors, the treasurer and legal counsel, she says.

 "As the responsibilities of the Board have broadened, the amount of information the Board is expected to review and respond to has increased as well. As the volume of materials in the packets has grown, so has the cost of printing, assembling and distributing them. That figure was  $13,690 last year for the 18 board meetings and 11 members."

Though the price tag for the Pads is $10,333, the annual cost to deliver materials to board members drops to $4,726 – an annual savings of $8,964, Townsend says.

“iPads are a versatile tool that allows Board members to review minutes and materials, communicate with members of the community and be more efficient and prepared for doing the work of the Association,” she said, pointing out that saving money and better using technology is in keeping with several of RA's 2012-2016 Strategic Plan goals.