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As I write this letter, not all of my senses have returned to normal after our phenomenal annual conference in New Orleans. It seems that all five of our senses were fully stimulated in that over-the-top city!
We had five days of thought-provoking speakers and panels who helped us focus on ease of doing business for our customers and leadership principles, combined with top-notch, fun social events. The high point of the conference speakers, in my view, was Dr. Leo Frangipane, who reminded us that we must always approach our work from the viewpoint of the customer, and try to experience things that the customer experiences. While we had many wonderful social events, including the educational and moving National D-Day Museum, and the delightful Mardi Gras World experience, the peak experience in my opinion was the unlimited energy of Rockin Dopsie Jr. and the Zydeco Twisters on closing night. In ten years of attending these events, I have never seen our AASCIF crowd so energized – we were up and moving from the very first song to the very last.
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LWCC CEO Steve Cavanaugh and his
wife Becky enjoy Mardi Gras Mania
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I want to thank Steve Cavanaugh for taking on the task of hosting the conference and lending his wonderful staff to the effort. I want to thank Robert Levy and all the LWCC staff who worked really hard to plan and execute a truly successful and memorable conference. You guys did an exceptional, first-class job!
Now we look forward to the 2006 Annual Conference in Branson, Missouri. Dennis Smith and his staff have laid out a very attractive plan for a beautiful venue and conference there next June. We are anxious to see you there.
We also had a successful annual business meeting of the association in New Orleans. After much fine work by the Executive Committee over the last year on proposed updates and amendments to the AASCIF Constitution, the membership approved the amendments, resulting in new Articles of Association for AASCIF. The old constitution was last amended in 1999, yet it still contained language dating back many years that was out of date.
We chose the new title “Articles of Association” for our governing document, because it better reflects the true nature of our organization, which after all has always been an association. The purpose of the new Articles is to provide better, more explicit guidance on governance issues for the association in the future. However, it makes few real changes to the way our organization has been run over the past ten years. You’ll be able to view the new Articles on the AASCIF web site soon.
One of the changes we made with the new Articles is to change our fiscal year to the calendar year period, beginning in 2006. We will have the current fiscal year, which runs through October 31, then a short November 1 through December 31 period, at the end of this year, then the new fiscal year will begin on January 1, 2006. With more specific language in the Articles about terms of office for AASCIF officers, this means that the officers will serve a little longer than usual this time, from now through the end of 2006.
I am pleased that most of our AASCIF officers are back to serve another term. I am in the middle of a two-year term (now two and one half years) as President. Ken Ross of New York returns as First Vice President, and Dennis Smith of Missouri, Don Smith of Arizona and Joe Solomon of Rhode Island return as Vice Presidents. Nancy MacCready-Williams of Nova Scotia is our newly elected Vice President, as Doug Sexsmith of Manitoba advised us that the demands of his day job would prevent him from continuing to serve. Terry Frakes of Texas continues to serve as Secretary/Treasurer. I am delighted to serve with this fine group of people on AASCIF’s executive committee.
It has been a busy year for many of us so far, and the rest of the year looks to be busy as well. Many of our AASCIF committees are planning interesting and informative workshops in attractive venues for various dates ranging from July through October. Please check the “News & Events” section of the ASSCIF web site for more information.
I didn’t get to talk with everyone who attended the New Orleans conference, but everyone I did visit with expressed their appreciation for the LWCC host staff’s work and for the value that our AASCIF relationships continue to bring to our work environment. Let’s keep those relationships cultivated, because we all benefit when we do. We also need to let our sponsors know how much we appreciate their continued support for our get-togethers, and the products and services they offer.
I hope you all have a great, safe summer that includes some fun vacation time, and I look forward to seeing many of you soon at various committee workshops.
Russell R. Oliver
AASCIF President
2004 - 2005
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