It's been a busy summer for the board, staff
and members as we prepared to travel to our nation's capital for Summit 2019. Now
that Summit is over, we're back home, unpacked and ready to get "back to
reality." We know you have your own
highlight reel, but we'd like to share ours with you and hope to see you next
year in Orlando!
Thursday, July 18, 2019
Registration - Early Deep Dive Sessions -
Networking & much more!
IAAP Leadership and Staff Meet & Greet
We hope you had the chance to stop by and say
hello to an IAAP Board member, IAAP Foundation Board member, Regional Director
or HQ staff member! For those who stopped by, it was GREAT to see you! For
those we didn't get a chance to see - we'll be looking for you next year!
Connections & Cocktails
Opening Celebration! Members were invited to
join fellow attendees for this celebration! This C&C was held in
Marketplace for the first time this year and gave attendees another opportunity
to meet and network with vendors - and get free stuff!
Friday, July 19, 2019
Opening General Session
We had 40 countries represented in the Parade
of Nations!
2018 - 19 Chair, Nora Onishi, CAP, MEP, OM,
PM addressed the attendees, sharing her story and 'ohana (family) and how we
all interact and impact each other. She spoke about the importance of W.O.W -
the world of we, where everyone thinks, feels, executes and behaves with the ‘we’
in mind. ”The principles of ‘we’ produce open, transparent communication,
drive collaboration, cultivate innovation, develop strategic foresight,
manifest themselves in inclusion and embrace diversity.” Nora spoke of the board and their language
of we, spoken by collaborating with other like-minded associations, confident
that combining resources and exchanging best practices will catapult IAAP to a
level of excellence that will elevate the visibility and value of the
profession. This increased IAAP's footprint in the global community. We worked
on leadership profiles, franchising our brand, and identifying and measuring
Key Performance Indicators and deliverables for every leadership level from the
CEO to the board and to regional and branch directors. “We have been
building momentum around the world - momentum in leadership, momentum for IAAP
and momentum for the administrative profession. Let's continue building this
momentum, always mindful that we lead up, we lead together, and we are one
'ohana - we are IAAP.”
We honored the previous leaders in
attendance: Dawn Becker, 2017-18
President & Chair; Kristi Rotvold, 2016-17 Chair; Karlena Rannals, 2012-13
President; Tamra Goodall, 2011-12 President; Sandra P. Chandler, 2006-07
President; Jo A. Peay, 2004-05 President; Shelia Brownfield, 2003-04 President;
Ollie Jo Bozeman, 2002-03 President and Frances B. Jakes, 1975-76 President. We celebrated two of these past leaders for
their attendance at our annual conference: This was Sandy's 30th consecutive year and
Frances' 56th consecutive year! AWESOME!
If you haven't had a chance to meet these past leaders, please plan to do so
next year, they are an amazing group!
Nora left us with this final thought: "I am living proof that our
association - our IAAP 'ohana - provides opportunities for each of you to
achieve what you desire and strive for. Be courageous - don’t be afraid to meet
and discover the best and truest version of yourself. If you need a helping
hand, reach out and your IAAP 'ohana will be there with open arms. We - you and
I - are IAAP; we live, breathe and embody IAAP's missions, values and future. We
lead up, we lead together, and we are one 'ohana!"
Laura Schwartz, Speaker, Author and Commentator was our
first Keynote Speaker. If you missed it, you missed a lot and should check her
out online! I will leave you with this final thought to ponder "It's
Showtime!" To learn the meaning behind this saying, pick up a copy of
Laura's book - Eat, Drink & Succeed!
Networking Lunch & Town Hall
After attendees enjoyed lunch and networking
with their table mates, the IAAP board, the Foundation Chair and IAAP CEO
Veronica Cochran opened the floor for questions, comments and conversation.
IMA Chair, Chantal Sneijkers, addressed the
attendees to describe what their association offers our counterparts in Europe
and stated how happy they are to once again be partnering with IAAP. We have so
much to gain from partnering with each other - to benefit our profession! We
are looking forward to a bright future!
Veronica provided a welcome, discussed some
of the projects the board and staff are working on - the continued work on our
Certified Administrative Professional credential through the Certification
Administration Committee and the global partnerships we are building. The rest
of the event was responding to questions and comments from the floor.
If you haven’t already participated in our
current engagement survey, it’s not too late – click here.
Marketplace & Education all afternoon!
Saturday, July 20, 2019
Education all day!
Connections & Cocktails
All dressed up and looking awesome! What an
awesome opportunity to meet up with friends and enjoy a cocktail before heading
into dinner and dancing!
Closing Celebration: Dinner & Party
This event is all about celebrating! Is there
a better way to get the party started than by presenting very special awards?
Chair Onishi presented the IAAP Achievement Award along with two brand
new awards, the Employer Award and the Partnership Award. The
winners were:
Employer Award: Given to an employer who has developed and
demonstrated a workplace culture that supports and maximizes the full potential
of their administrative professionals. The inaugural award winner is Lee
Health headquartered in Fort Myers, FL.
Partnership Award: Given to an administrative professional and
the executive they support, who as a team, exemplify strategic alignment and
shared accountability. The inaugural winners exceeded all the criteria of this
award - Kendra Adams, CAP, OM, Executive Assistant and her executive, Tammira
Philippe, CFA, President and CEO.
Achievement Award: Given to an administrative professional who
demonstrates excellence in their workplace, in IAAP and in the community. This
year's recipient, Sharon Taylor, CAP, PM, embodies what this award is
all about. She is the sixth winner of this prestigious award.
The IAAP Foundation also presented an award
during this event, their Philanthropist of the Year Award. This
year's recipient, Joyce Hawkins, has
been a supporter of the IAAP Foundation since its inception. She is a leader in
philanthropy and a true example of what it means to be a giver – of time and
treasure.
Congratulations to all the award
winners!
One final presentation to Chair Onishi,
presented by Chair-Elect Juanita Mort, was the traditional presentation of the
gavel and accomplishments plaque. Three of the accomplishments the board wanted
to highlight while presenting the plaque were:
Nora led the first Virtual Town Hall Meeting with IAAP Branch and Region
Directors during the spring board meeting in San Diego, CA; Nora, along with
her husband Roy, created the first endowment for the IAAP Foundation. This
endowment provides scholarships for admins, with preference given to those
living in Hawaii. This generous gift will leave a lasting legacy of the love
and passion the Onishi’s have for our association; and Nora represented IAAP at
four international events: The World
Administrators Summit in Frankfurt, Germany (October 2018); Executive Secretary
Live in London, England (March 2019); International Management Assistants in
Frankfurt, Germany (March 2019) and the Japanese Secretaries Association in Tokyo,
Japan (May 2019).
We ended the evening as we always do….with
the smiling faces video!
Sunday, July 21, 2019
Closing General Session
Chair Onishi introduced John J.
"Ski" Sygielski, President, HACC, Central Pennsylvania's Community
College, who in turn introduced incoming 2019-20 President & Chair, Juanita
Mort, CAP, OM, PM, who addressed the attendees. Chair Mort spoke to the crowd
about her leadership journey, the importance of investing in yourself and
stepping outside of your comfort zone. Chair Mort's speech will be featured in an future blog posting.
Chair Mort recognized the volunteer groups
who helped the association get closer to reaching our goals in the past year.
The groups recognized were: 2018-19
Regional Directors, 2018-19 Branch Directors, 2018-19 Governance and Leadership
Committee, 2018-19 Certification Administration Committee, 2018-19 CAP Exam
Panel, 2018-19 Conference Education Committee, 2018-19 Employer Award Selection
Committee, 2018-19 Achievement and Partnership Awards Selection Committee,
2018-19 Certification in Training Working Group, 2018-19 International Focus
Group, and the 2018-19 Male Focus Group. Thank you all for all you do to make
our IAAP community the best it can be.
Anne Grady, entrepreneur, best-selling author and
truth bomb dropper was our closing keynote speaker. Anne's life is a living
testament that you can overcome any obstacle and rise stronger as a result.
Check out her book, Strong Enough: Choosing
Courage, Resilience, and Triumph
Summit 2020 - Lake Buena Vista, FL at Walt Disney World Swan & Dolphin resort. If you are
planning to make this a vacation and go for the full Disney experience, you
should plan to register as soon as registration opens on August 1.
Until next post…
