Season’s greetings and happy holidays to all our members! At this time of year, we all tend to look back and review the year we had and look forward to the year we expect to have. For us ‘financial types,’ the end of the year means getting ready for our year-end close and the inevitable audit (or review) that may be coming. With all our work activity combined with everything that we have to do over the holidays, it is easy to get lost in the busy-ness of the season and not take the time to reflect on what we have accomplished in the year that is ending.
As I look back over the first half of our chapter year, I am incredibly proud of everything we accomplished. We have had 4 in-person events with attendance increasing at each of them. These events were all held safely and from the feedback we received from attendees, they were appreciated. I am grateful for the companies that hosted us: Port Tampa Bay, Casa Santo Stefano and TopGolf. It was great to be able to see each other, in person, and network like we used to.
That thought leads me to our last event of 2021, our annual holiday social at the Tampa Bay Yacht Club. As always, it was a fabulous event and Bill Long did a tremendous job pulling together a menu that everyone enjoyed on a budget that was tighter than previous years. This was especially challenging at a time when food costs appear to be rising on an almost weekly basis.
With all that we have going on, it is easy to take many things for granted that others may only dream of. On that note, I am proud to state that during the holiday social our individual members, sponsors and guests contributed over $3,000 to Metropolitan Ministries, beating their fundraising goal by more than 50%. They will put that money to good use helping families who really need it. Thank you to everyone who contributed. You have helped to make a difference!
In our work life, this is also a time by which we would have typically prepared a budget which is our financial view of what we expect (or hope) will happen in the year ahead. In that vein, I want to let you know that Jim Parker and the rest of the Programs Committee have a great series of events coming up next year. We are starting with our Annual Economic Update with Dr. Sean Snaith on January 25. If you have been around the chapter for a while, you know that Dr. Snaith always draws a big crowd and is a very entertaining speaker, which is not something you can typically say about an economist.
Following that on February 24, we have a local company event at the J.C. Newman Cigar Company who have recently announced that they have purchased and will be restoring the old Sanchez y Haya hotel in Ybor. The building has a fantastic and colorful history and hopefully we will be able to get a behind the scenes initial look at their plans for the building.
I want to close by wishing everyone a happy and healthy holiday season, however you celebrate it. I look forward to sharing 2022 with you. Cheers to a healthy and prosperous year ahead for us all.
Rob Taylor
President
FEI Tampa Bay Chapter