        |
Message from the President June 2008 I am very honored and excited to be your new President for the 2008-2009 year. We have a lot of exciting things planned for this year, starting off with not one but two events in June. Our annual Bottle Auction will be on June 12th at the Holiday Inn NW and is sure to be an exciting event. The theme this year is “Hooray for Hollywood” and I expect it to be a fun and fabulous evening. We have some great auction items, prizes and food and this is also our Employer Appreciation and VIP Night where we will present our annual awards, so please join us. We are also planning the first of several education seminars on June 10th. You won’t want to miss this seminar on the changes Fannie Mae is rolling out on June 1st with DU 7.0. We are excited to have Nadia Najera joining us and are also offering 2 hours of continuing education credit from TDSML. This event is free to NAPMW members and $15 for future members. I just returned from New Orleans for our 44th Annual National Education Conference and Convention. What an experience; I had such a great time! There were such wonderful speakers, among them Grammy Award winner, Irma Thomas, Sue Woodward and New Orleans Councilwoman Jacqueline Brechtel Clarkson who told us about the harrowing experience during Hurricane Katrina and all the wonderful efforts to rebuild and make the city better than ever. One of the highlights for me was the election of Candace Smith, CMI and our local’s Charter President and a past President to the position of National Vice President for the Central Region. Way to go Candace! The Central Region also won a number of awards, including Education Innovator of the Year, Scott Hilton NAPMW-Houston, Leader of the Year, Jean Wiles NAPMW Tulsa Green County and Rising Star of the Year, Melissa Binsbacher NAPMW St Louis. They represent the best of the best. Of course you can’t mention New Orleans without mentioning the music and the food. To think, just three short years after Hurricane Katrina, the city is vibrant and rebuilding. The Greater New Orleans Association did a fantastic job coordinating the event and I am sure that Jeanne Evans our 2010 National Education Conference Chair got a lot of ideas for when NAPMW-Austin will be hosting this event. It’s the start of a new year for your Board and we have a lot of wonderful things planned, of course the Annual Bottle Auction and Wine Tasting, but keep on the lookout for a new event we are planning for the fall. I already mentioned that the Fannie Mae Seminar on June 10th will be just the first of such events we are planning. I am also excited to announce that our Community Involvement project will be to support the Capital Area Food Bank. More than ever this fantastic organization needs the communities help. I am working with our liaison to organize a challenge to get all the associations in the Austin area involved. I would like to thank the Board in advance for their support and hard work, they have already demonstrated outstanding teamwork and professionalism organizing our first event. I am so fortunate to have such a talented Board. As for all our members and future members, thank you for your faith in me to lead this association for the next year. I look forward to growing and meeting the challenges of the current economic environment. We’re going to have a great time. Connie Smith "What we most vividly imagine, ardently desire, enthusiastically act upon, must inevitably come to pass." Past Messages: |