Northwest Floodplain Management Association is a multi-state non-profit organization that promotes sound floodplain management strategies throughout the Pacific Northwest by providing training, networking opportunities, and forums for discussions of issues in the field of floodplain management. NORFMA includes Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska, and British Columbia.

The Pacific Northwest area is booming with development, but that comes with a set of challenges. Namely, protecting the fish, wildlife, and ecological balance of the area while making space for new development.

To combat that challenge, NORFMA provides education regarding the biological opinion regarding protecting fish and wildlife in the states of Washington and Oregon.

Deanna Hoton, NORFMA Conference Chair, said that the biggest challenge that the organization faces is “convincing people that development in a special flood hazard area is not always the best idea.”

Each year at their annual conference, NORFMA gives away swag to their attendees. When a board member asked Deanna to get branded socks for that year’s conference, she found Sock Club online. “We just hoped people would like them,” noted Hoton.

Before even ordering the socks, the design process was far more than the NORFMA team even expected. “Sock Club offered me better original designs and the style prompted me to offer a redesign which they accommodated easily,” said Hoton. “This redesign was the perfect thing for us and it has been a hit.”

Once the NORFMA team handed out their Sock Club conference swag at their event, they became fans for life.

“While I was not sure how the socks would be received by the members, I was simply blown away by how much they loved them and wanted more,” said Hoton. 

“We had repeated requests for extra socks from all of our members. We even gave a pair to the WA Secretary of State after they saw a pair at a high level meeting. We have gotten requests from other floodplain chapters around the country and organizations asking about our 'floodplain socks,' even before we left the conference last year.”

We at Sock Club are thrilled that Deanna and the rest of the NORFMA team are excited to work with Sock Club again in the future.

“The Sock Club team has reached out continually to help me with the design, redesign, purchase of the socks and shipment. I have already placed an additional order for the socks, but the reorder was for a heavier, sport sock so they might last longer because I was told people are wearing them so often, they are wearing out.”

Want to get your own event giveaway started? Give us a call at 1-800-618-4861 or click the link below to get free designs.