The final preparations have been made for our fall convention in Reno. I hope you are all planning on attending; it will be a great weekend. Sign-up brochures have been mailed out. Please sign up early and get your rooms booked, it really helps the convention chair to plan appropriately.
I want to take this opportunity to thank our hard working board members, committee chairs, and everyone else who contributes in any way to the success of AADMRT. I know there are many of you. I especially want to focus on one person who has been, and in my opinion continues to be invaluable!
Merry Hampton our Executive Secretary, has held her volunteer position for 18 years now and has a wealth of knowledge about almost every aspect of our organization. Guess this is why everyone goes to her for answers about anything AADMRT. She knows what each board member and chair person's responsibilities are, and in what time frame they need to be accomplished. Thus she coaxes, sometimes prods, but always helps each of us to stay on track.
Merry helps arrange board meetings with regard to when and where, etc. She sends off multiple e-mails to advise everyone, shows up with the agenda printed and ready to go. She takes minutes of the meeting, publishes them in the newsletter, pays the hotel and submits receipts to our Treasurer. She creates the brochures for conventions, including the printing and mailing. She keeps convention chairs apprised of their responsibilities, and sees that these tasks are taken care of in a timely fashion. She also prints and mails our annual membership certificates, as well as printing and distributing our CE certificates. She has chaired conventions and also spoken at them. She helps keep our website updated and current by making changes when she can, or advising MME to make the changes when she can't.
Most recently she has taken on the role of editor of our Currents newsletter. I'm sure Craig and Camille will attest to the enormity of this undertaking. It involves things such as finding professionals to write the feature article, working closely with the advertisers to gather their material , and making sure all pertinent information regarding our upcoming events is accurate and available for us, just to name a few. Then everything needs to be formatted, proofed, sent to print, mailing labels prepared and affixed, then sent.
Merry does all this and more without seeking recognition, all while running a business and taking care of a family and home. I'm sure that anyone who has worked with her in the past would agree, that all you need to do is ask, and you can count on it being done. She has been, and continues to be, a great asset for AADMRT. I would venture to say that we probably wouldn't be the same organization that we are, without her generous contributions. Here's hoping she sticks around for many more years.