By Zon-Wei Cheng
At the July Leadership Retreat, I along with many Board members, committee chairs, and volunteers were re-energized by the inspiring words from NYSAE Chairman of the Board, Michael Weamer, President & CEO of the Marfan Foundation: "Don't lose sight of the fact that this is your organization. It can be anything you want it to be." He then asked us to think outside of the-box, experiment, and plan upcoming programs for both seasoned and young professionals in the association and nonprofit communities.
Luckily, the seeds had already been planted for what would ultimately become the Fall Open House Reception. While the original concept has changed since Beverly Daniel, Chair of NYSAE's Professional Development Workshops and President of Career Growth Group, and I discussed last year, the core concept remained the same. Networking done right can open up a world of opportunities; if you make it fun and accessible, people will come. When I became Chair of the NYSAE Education Committee, it seemed like a wonderful opportunity to launch this idea and to kick-off our programs, but also to re-engage our membership and invite new professionals to join us.
Creating a new and innovative event usually comes with some challenges, and this was no exception. But who could have predicted that the Pope would visit New York on the same day of the event? Despite this travel challenge, more than 65 attendees came to this sold-out event at the American Management Association on September 24. A special shout-out goes to NYSAE NextGen member Melissa Serres, CMP, Account Executive of the Harrington Co., who made it for the last five minutes of the reception. Sorry Bob, she definitely earned this honor! However, I'm glad you managed to make it through New York City's gridlock. If you didn't get a chance to meet Robert (Bob) Spangler, email him at rspangler@njsba.com. Bob is Chair of NYSAE's Membership Committee, and Senior Managing Director, Marketing & Information Technology, New Jersey State Bar Association. He'd love to hear from you.
Click image to enlarge
My long-time NYSAE friend and mentor, Linda Ferm, CAE, President of Ferm Strategies, and I even got to see the Pope! Okay I confess. It's actually a life-size cardboard cutout of the Pontiff, but how cool is that?
Since the focus was to have fun and mingle we decided to go with one icebreaker activity: to group people together based on their musical inclinations. To continue with this fun theme, I'm giving out three Fall-Open-House-Awards:
- Click image to enlarge
The Most Engaged (Ice-Breaker Activity) Group Award goes to the classical music lovers, which was led by the facilitator, Amy Geffen, PhD, NYSAE Education Committee Member and Interim Executive Director at the Financial Women’s Association. Who knew there were so many?
- Click image to enlarge
The Best Dressed Award goes to Lillian Colson, IOM, CAE, Vice President & Secretary, Inland Marine Underwriters Association. Love the aqua blue ensemble!
The Traveler Who Came the Longest Distance Award goes to Keith Talbert, CMP, Destination Sales Manager, Visit Wichita. Thanks for taking a detour and joining us.
A special thank you goes out to my event planning volunteers from the Education Committee: Beverly Daniel (Chair); Amy Geffen; Doug Brown; and Pat Ahaesy.
I leave you with these final parting words from Mike, which sum up my vision for this year's Education Committee: "Ultimately, it's about bringing people together, enhancing their professional development skills and opportunities, and engaging them. That's what we're all about."
NYSAE Fall Open House Gallery
It is my hope this past networking party is the start/continuation of a beautiful friendship. See you at our next event!
Zon-Wei Cheng is Program Manager of When Work Works at Families and Work Institute, where she recognizes top employers with effective and flexible workplaces through the When Work Works Award program and initiatives. Zon-Wei is Chair of NYSAE Education Committee and can be reached via email at zcheng@familiesandwork.org.