IAMC INSIDER

leven members of the IAMC Board of Directors convened in Atlanta during the third week in January. We were joined by the majority of the staff and many of the committee chairs, either in person or by telephone. As you can imagine, we all had to lobby hard to justify this trip and a commitment of two full meeting days. The near 100-percent attendance is a clear testament to the value that your Board and extended leadership team put on IAMC, and our commitment to you, the members. I think the strong participation is also indicative of the value that our companies find in IAMC.

      The January meetings are very much working meetings. The first morning was spent bringing new Board members and committee chairs up to speed through a series of Governance presentations including history, bylaws, finance and Board obligations to ensure that we are all operating on equal footing. We moved on to a lively, thoughtful and engaging Strategic Planning session.

We explored ways to promote membership and Board diversity, the value and possibilities of strategic alliances with other associations and academic institutions, membership growth and retention, and the concept of creating industry sub-groups within IAMC. A number of great initiatives were spawned out of these discussions. We look forward to sharing them with you either in Asheville or later this year.

      During the formal board meeting the second day, we spent time reviewing IAMC financial statements and budgets. I am extremely proud of the fact that your association is in very solid shape given the current economic environment. Our strong financial position could not have been achieved without the spectacular support we have received from our many sponsors over the years – let me take this opportunity on behalf of the Board and the entire IAMC membership to thank each one of you!

      We moved through 10 committee reports, discussing accomplishments, opportunities for improvement and new initiatives to be approved and implemented. Sometimes heated debate resulted in the formation of a new Strategic Alliance Task Force, the approval of seed money to explore the industry sub-group proposal and proposed formal programs with a couple institutions of higher education, to highlight just a few.

      We closed the day with a presentation of software we will be using to conduct the first-ever remote, Web-enabled Board meeting in July of this year. This pilot effort is intended to show IAMC’s commitment to fiscal conservatism and to reduce our carbon footprint. This concept was proposed by staff last fall, and is another example of our willingness to innovate and improve practices.

      In these brief paragraphs, I cannot do justice to the sacrifice and dedication of your Board and committee chairs during these meetings. Their creative thinking and passion for IAMC continually results in new, innovative initiatives that make this association more valuable to each one of its members.

      I look forward to unveiling more of these initiatives in Asheville, and ask each of you to thank your leadership and the IAMC staff for their hard work the next time you get the chance. And never hesitate to contact me directly with any thoughts, comments or suggestions you might have for your association. Hope to see y’all in North Carolina!

Rick Little

IAMC Chair