OPINION Whats in a name? Theres still much value to be had from the word moving, says Jesse van Sas, Secretary General of FIDI Global Alliance T JESSE VAN SAS, SECRETARY GENERAL OF FIDI GLOBAL ALLIANCE here are plenty of fancy terms in our industry such as mobility but the truth of the matter is, it all boils down to one simple word: moving. Within our business jargon we tend to speak about mobility, because this ties in nicely with some of the key stakeholders in expat management, and global mobility professionals in particular. For the general and global audience, however, mobility means a variety of things from telecommunications to assistance for the disabled. So the term is great when communicating within our industry space, but confusing when reaching out to the world. Ask any new or existing expat, preparing their next career step overseas, what their plan is, and they will not tell you they are relocating or forwarding their household goods. Nor will they say they are being globally mobile. The chances are they will simply state they are moving abroad. The same goes for when they do an internet search: they will type in moving when looking for 16 FF289FebMar19 pp16-17 Jesse opinion.indd 16 online guidance. Any service offered by movers, DSPs, relocation companies, immigration service providers or RMCs is somehow related to the fact that people are moving their home. It is the basis of this industry and, by some luck, it is a word that movers own. In the past two decades, movers have made a very deliberate attempt to modernise their business propositions by changing their company branding, and removing the move aspect from their wording. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as many of them have indeed expanded their service portfolio and adapted their business development approach to Any service offered by movers... is somehow related to the fact that people are moving their home. It is the basis of this industry and, by some luck, it is a word that movers own WWW. F I D I . OR G 23/01/2019 16:26