Reflections on my year as Vice President

I hope you all have read the most recent editions of WesternITE and the Western District E-Newsletters.  I’m a positive person, so I’ll assume you have!  This past year you read about our various Committee Chairs and what they do.  Now it’s my turn, as your Vice President, to share my thoughts.

Vice Presidents throughout history have yearned to insert themselves into the process, but typically to no avail.  Aaron Burr shot Alexander Hamilton, and look which one got a hit Broadway musical?  But unlike Dick Cheney, I am a student of history.  The only thing I shot this past year were pictures and hockey pucks.  I understood my position was to help the Secretary Treasurer get up to speed on their tasks, and be a sounding board for the President.

First, the obvious – the role of Vice President bridges the gap between the Secretary Treasurer and the President.  It’s foremost a support position, with three major tasks:  filing taxes; managing Committee Chair travel expenses; and ordering awards for deserving members to be presented at the Annual Meeting.  But the real challenge, however, is what happens behind the scenes.  That is what I will share with you now.

This past year we worked hard on behalf of the District to complete several initiatives, including establishing Articles of Incorporation, updating the District’s bylaws and travel policy documents, restoring financial reserves, supporting LeadershipITE, and initiating the campaign to “close the gap” and fully fund the District’s Student Endowment Fund.  That’s a lot of work for one year, with only two in-person meetings but countless e-mails, texts, and conference calls.  I give full credit to our District President Cathy Leong for her stewardship of the Board and perseverance in seeing these tasks through.  Not that she gave us a choice in the matter…

So what’s next?  I’m looking forward to the 2016 Annual Meeting in Albuquerque!  There’s a robust technical program, vendor exhibits, networking functions, a couple of Traffic Bowls, and of course the highlight event – the MiteY Race (as defending champion thanks to my daughter and racing partner that does all the work).  Assuming no massive write-in campaign, I will begin my term as President upon the conclusion of this year’s Annual Meeting.

This is my 28^th year as a member of ITE, which is amazing since I still consider myself a young member under 35.  Like most of my fellow Board Members and Committee Chairs, I came up through the ranks, starting with my Student Chapter.  My first introduction to ITE at the District and International level came in 1989 at the Annual Meeting in San Diego. Thus, it is serendipitous that I will come full circle and return to San Diego next year as your District President.  I look forward to a year of engagement, collaboration, and support of ITE programs of behalf of the Western District!