Wow, hard to believe it’s October already! This means leaves changing, my mom’s pumpkin pie, trips to Burt’s Pumpkin Farm, trick-or-treating with the kiddos and of course, my favorite IFMA event, World Workplace! Please be sure to stop by the Hospitality Suite, located at the Hyatt Regency (HQ Hotel). The suite will be open Wednesday through Friday beginning at 4pm. I would like to thank Dee Raya, our Hospitality Suite Coordinator, for all of her hard work in putting this together. Finally, while I can’t tell you why, I would strongly encourage each of you attending to stay for the Awards banquet on Friday night (hint, hint)!
Recently I found myself browsing through our Chapter’s history and archives of old newsletters on our Chapter’s website. I spent hours reading old articles and browsing through old pictures. It is absolutely amazing how far our Chapter has come since its inception in the early 1980’s. We started off with approximately 15 members and now we have upwards of 450. Similarly, we started off with only 4 officers and no committees! Now we have 7 officers, 8 committees, 6 subcommittees and AHQI to support us all. In 1982, the cost for members to attend the luncheon was merely $7, non-members was $8. What is even more amazing is some of the officers from the 1980’s are still members of the Chapter today! Now THAT is member retention at its finest!
Additionally, it was interesting to see the topics we spoke about 3 decades ago, topics such as Managing Telephone Systems, Computers in Facility Management & a panel discussion on Word Processing Equipment. In the early 1980’s, computers were just entering the workplace. I personally find it hard to imagine what it would be like to do my job without a computer! When you have a moment, I highly encourage you to take a few minutes to browse through the history & newsletter archive on the website (https://www.ifmaatlanta.org/newsletter-archives/). It’s interesting and we are lucky to see our Chapter’s history right there on our website!
Lastly, in case you missed the September luncheon (which, by the way, was extremely interesting & educational), then you missed the announcement & tribute regarding the late Eugene de Nijs Bik. The Atlanta Chapter of IFMA has renamed the 2015 Student Scholarship to World Workplace in memory of Eugene. Barbara de Nijs Bik was presented with a plaque in honor of the scholarship.
As always, I am here to serve you and your Chapter. I welcome your comments, feedback and suggestions. Have a fantastic October and Happy Halloween!
