I'd like to start out today with some updates from our recent Annual Meeting. First, on behalf of the membership, I would like to express my thanks and gratitude to departing BOD members, Jason Elias and Laura LaBine. I thank them for their service and commitment to NPAworldwide and also thank them for their gift of friendship.
Jason is our most recent past Chairman and served on the Board of Directors two separate times. Laura recently completed two terms as the Practice Group director. Both are high-energy leaders who know how to work hard and play hard. Thank you for your service!
Members elected new representatives to the Board of Directors during the same meeting. Please join me in congratulating Pam Robison, who is now Chair-Elect and will automatically become Chair next year when my term expires. Patti Steen moves into a two-year term as Secretary/Treasurer and two former Practice Group leaders, Phil Chappel and Patrick Long, are the newest directors in the group. I am looking forward to working with all of them this year and again, offer my thanks for their volunteer leadership. I would also like to give a special shout-out to Julia Tupchiy from Skillers in Kiev, Ukraine who made a point of attending the Annual Meeting during a time of great duress (and a very late night for all of our European partners). Julia, thank you for your commitment to NPAworldwide!
Small meetings between NPA members are a great way to share best practices, new ideas, and of course renew old friendships and make new ones. And sharing some favorite NPAworldwide stories is always enjoyable too. This is precisely what happened recently at the historic Sturbridge Village in southern Massachusetts. I had the pleasure to sit down for lunch with two NPA icons, Pat Sisti of Perfect Fit Placement, NPA# 1398 and Steve Morris of Van Grace Associates, NPA# 1118.
Pat’s firm has been a Top 10 firm for years, and a strong support of NPAworldwide. Steve Morris has been an active splitter in the network for years. He has also served on the NPA Board and is a past Chairman’s Award Winner. During our two-hour lunch meeting, many humorous stories were shared, along with some great operational ideas and best practices. Fond memories of past and long-gone members were endearingly discussed with the reverence they deserve. I could see—and I hope you can envision—the smiles on the faces of these two NPAworlwide veterans. What resonated most for me was not only the wisdom of NPA’s past, but also the promise of the future.
So, my friends, when you can, meet up with a member or two. You don’t have to wait for a Global Conference or networking meeting, to have a great meeting. Pick up the phone and make it happen!! Please, when you do have that small NPA sit down, send me a picture and a note; I would welcome the opportunity to share your meeting story. Think about it: whenever two or more members of NPA get together, we carry on a tradition and practice that goes back 68+ years. That is pretty special, and all of you are pretty special, too.
I'm looking forward to seeing as many of you as possible in a few weeks in Atlanta for our 2023 Global Conference. Please register in the next few days—there is a lot of planning to be done, and accurate attendance numbers are needed!