OWA Membership
Why should I join/renew my membership with OWA?
-
Without a doubt, OWA is the “go-to” source for the viewpoint of our industry. We have been directly contacted by the Governor, the Mayor, several City Council leaders, the Hawaii Tourism Authority, the Japanese Consulate General, the Department of Economic Business Development and Tourism, and the Chamber of Commerce when they need insight and reactions on behalf of our industry.
-
We are in constant contact with local and national media outlets in order to voice the current conditions and ever changing needs of our wedding industry. We’re speaking on behalf of our industry, and each and every OWA member.
-
As the only trade organization in the wedding industry, having a large membership base shows our state and city leaders that we are unified and committed to our industry. Take funding, for example. The Office of Economic Revitalization uses our membership as the gauge - how many businesses are there in the wedding industry, and how much help do they need? The larger our membership, the better change we have for funding.
-
Times are changing, and you’re doing your best to keep your business going. No one has time to keep up with all the City and State guidelines, or the bills that are trying to be snuck through the City Council. We’re committed to (1) constant communication of all the changes happening on Oahu, and (2) keeping up to date with all the current Bills in front of the City Council that could affect our businesses, like Bill 38, banning commercial activity on Waimanalo beach.
-
Being a part of OWA ensures that your business is part of a professional wedding industry - connected with the best, most trusted vendors on Oahu.
What have we been working on this past year? (More like what haven't we been working on...)
- We’ve always believed that when things get tough, our industry gets tougher. We pull together, we support each other, and we come out together, stronger. To say the least, things have been tough these last years, and we’re thrilled to say that OWA is stronger than ever.
- We’ve improved communication to our membership through newsletters, social media, and specialized committees to serve our membership needs.
- Our Board of Directors has grown to eight diverse individuals, and we’re stronger than ever.
- We’ve lobbied (very hard) to reopen weddings through letter writing, meeting with elected officials, and informational protests. We authored a “COVID-19 Guidelines and Best Practices” document for our industry which was recognized and used to create the guidelines for reopening weddings.
- We’ve lobbied for funding through a variety of channels. As this is a new grant that the City would offer, we’ve worked closely with the Office of Economic Revitalization, adding our input to ensure smaller, home-based businesses don’t get passed over.
Where do my membership fees go?
To accommodate everyone’s financial sensitivities in past years, we carefully managed our fiannces and only spent money on absolute “must haves” such as:
