The 2010 Gathering of Eagles FAAMA Convention was a huge success. We had both a record number of attendees and a record number of vendors/sponsors. I remember when I attended my first convention and there were only three sponsors located in the hallway outside of the convention hall. We had 56 vendors this year, with 11 new ones already signed up for next year. It is never too early to plan for next year. The dates are set for October 16-20, 2011. The convention will still be in Vegas at the South Point hotel and Convention Center. We negotiated a great price for next year's rooms. They will run at $55.00 a night.
There was a lot of discussion during session about moving the convention in 2012. As the Director of Administration I have been tasked with researching future events. There are a lot of issues to consider, like entertainment, cost, size of convention hall, etc... We are currently looking at Washington D.C., New Orleans, and a couple of other locations. I would like for the FAAMA to start moving the convention from city to city, returning to Vegas about every 4th year. This would give you Vegas lovers your occasional fix and give others a chance to see cities they have never been to before. That is what I would like, but I am only your representative. I want to know what you think, so I am going to ask David Holly to build us a
quick questionnaire that I would like you to fill out. This way I know any decision I make is supported by the largest, most successful chapter in the country!
Some of the events that occurred this week:
- Ventris Gibson, Director of HR, and long time FAAMA member, announced her impending retirement and thanked us all for supporting her over the years.
- Dave Conley ran for re-election unopposed, therefore he will continue to be our President for the next two years.
- Julie Fidler ran for re-election unopposed, therefore she will be our secretary for the next two years.
There were some awards passed out:
- Hal Albert, a retired OM from ZMA received the President's Award for his development of our outstanding leadership training course which was offered at ZTL last June.
There were several Ambassador's Awards given out this year:
- The first one went to Karen Illg for her outstanding recruitment efforts during last year's training conference in Atlanta. Congratulations Karen!!!
- Laurie Zugay, the Tampa ATM, but former Area 6 FLM, is our Communications Director, and received her award for her leadership with our web site and our Managing the Skies magazine.
- Andy Taylor, FLM at ZKC, is our Convention Director, and received his award for putting on such a successful conference over the last two years.
- Art Blank, ATM of Tuscon TRACON, is our Corporate Director, and received his award for increasing our sponsorship members from 11-56 in just three short years.
- I (Jack Allen) received an Ambassadors Award for the work that Chapter 157 did last year. Our chapter is one of only a handful of chapters that even supports a charity, and last year we raised almost $20,000. I did not run that event on my own, therefore, I want to congratulate each of you for our accomplishments over the last few years.
There were also two leadership awards given for continuous recruiting efforts. The Board always recognizes the top three recruiters each year, but wanted to give out additional recognition to members who consistently have high recruitment numbers, regardless of whether they are members or a Regional Director. The three members who won this year, recruited between 5-9 members each and were recognized for their accomplishments. Dave Chappuies and I each recruited over 20 members this year and last, therefore we were awarded for our efforts with a most excellent plaque.
I cannot convey to each of you how proud I am to be a part of this chapter. We had 4 members that were a part of this year's proceedings. John Combs, from ATL, is the Lead Sergeant at Arms, and has been for as long as I can remember. Joey Medders, also a Sergeant at Arms, was recognized numerous times during the event for his tireless efforts. Jay Raymond is the Membership Director, but also acted as the Audio/Visual consultant, and had to give two speeches during the week. As the Director of Administration, I got my shorts handed to me. I had to be at a pre-event meeting everyone morning at 0600. Meet with different Chapter Presidents at 0730, and be at work at 0800. I missed most lunches because I was working with vendors that had special needs. By 1700, I was spent. I was given the task of seating all of the VIPs at the Banquet Wednesday evening, and was given the extreme honor of giving a nomination speech for Dave Conley. What a fantastic week. Our chapter was used as an example to aspire to on numerous occasions. The entire convention body was asked to raise money for FEEA this week and Chapter 157 raised more than any other chapter. Other chapters were challenged to do as well as we have for attendance, charity events, and participation. Chapter 157 is what other chapters aspire to be and you should be proud of yourselves.
We have a lot more coming up this fall. I will write to you all to remind you of the different events, but we have a dinner coming up in November. We have chapter elections coming up real soon. Our Charity Committee is working to try and put another concert together.
Keep in touch and stay involved!
Humbly,
Jack Allen
Director of Administration
FAA Managers Association
President
Chapter 157
