Past President's Message December 2010

December 2010 Past President's Message:  Love, Service, and Laughter

I witnessed something rather remarkable last night.  The Potomac Chapter 2010-2011 Board members got together in person for the first time since being elected.  Our Board meetings are held virtually--which is a good thing and a bad thing.  The positive aspect is that we can participate by phone no matter where we are--using hands-free devices while driving around the beltway, if necessary.  The not-so-positive result is that we have not all met each other face-to-face, so we didn't have a face to associate with the voice on the phone.  But I digress...  
The remarkable thing I witnessed last night was love:  love for the profession, love of service, love for our chapter, and love for each other.  We also laughed at lot.  We had so much fun getting to know each other better.  It's like how we all appreciate the convenience of holding webinars for our monthly meeting presentations, but we also just love getting together for our in-person meetings.  This great enjoyment of each other's company was apparent in last month's in-person presentation led by Dr. Susan Grunin.  You could feel the buzz of excitement before, during, and after the meeting as attendees were delighted to see each other and network again or for the first time.

I really am in awe about the love and laughter shared last night.  Also, I'm so glad I finally got to meet Jim Govoni, who's been our VP of Finance for several years.  In case you don't know about Jim… he's not a member of our profession, but is so service oriented that he provides all of our accounting, banking, and financial record keeping and reporting for the chapter.  He's been doing this for years for us, and I had never met him—until last night.  And let me tell you, he's a real charmer and soooooooo funny.  He kept me in stitches all night.  Our President, Catherine Zaranis, said he's our Charlie of Charlie's Angels, the voice and hub of the organization, but never seen.

And the rest of the Board members, including our latest, Kathryn Mooney, our Extravaganza Chair, are hilarious—so quick-witted and they know so much about the latest technologies and how to use them.  I had such interesting and fun conversations with Catherine, Jim Rich, Jeffrey Jorney, Ciaran Lesikar, Doug Reed, and his girlfriend, Brittany (I hope I remembered her name correctly, my poor aging memory!).

So, if you'd like to put the passion back into your professional life, I suggest you get into service for our chapter.  I guarantee you'll have fun, and you'll learn a lot, too.  Feel free to call me (202-281-8898) or email me (mwankel4prof@gmail.com) with your thoughts of how you'd like to be of service.  One position I know we could use is a Chair of the Volunteers Committee.  This position serves as the clearinghouse between those who want to volunteer and pairing those people's talents with the needs of the chapter.

I had such a blast last night, I am excited as I've ever been about the mission and future of our chapter.

Happy Holidays everyone!  I love you,
Molly Wankel, Past President