I hope that everyone was able to attend our April event at Power Design. It is so great that we can have local companies like them host us and share about their business with our members. While I would love to be able to highlight some of the key moments of the event, unfortunately I was not able to attend.
For those of you who don’t know, I have left the Tampa Bay area. While it was time, it was certainly a bittersweet decision. My wife and I met and lived in the Tampa Bay area for over 13 years and have many wonderful memories that we will be taking with us as we embark on our next chapter. While living in the area, I became a US citizen, Lesa and I got married, and I changed jobs several times. The one thing that didn’t change is the Tampa Bay chapter of FEI. It has been a constant presence during my time in the area, so moving to a state where there are no FEI chapters means that this part of my life is ending.
As a bit of background, I moved to Tampa in early in 2010 to start a new position as the VP of Financial Planning and Analysis for TriNet, who had recently purchased Gevity in Bradenton. Other than a few people in the office, I didn’t know a soul outside of work. That was, until Jim Parker ‘cold called’ me with a lunch invitation to let me know about Vaco’s services. During lunch, Jim also introduced me to FEI and suggested that I come to the next meeting to check it out.
Although I had never participated in a group like FEI, I took Jim up on the offer. I figured since I didn’t know anyone outside of work, it might be worth checking out. Right off the bat, everything was great. With the help of my trusty old Garmin GPS, I was able to find the Hilton St. Petersburg Carillon Park and found my way to the conference room where the event was held. Once there, Denise greeted me warmly and then Jim took me around and introduced me to many of our members who are still active in the chapter today.
While I don’t specifically remember what the topic of what my first FEI meeting was, I do remember that it was interesting, and I felt that attending events like that regularly could be valuable to my career. I was able to slip into a couple more events, including what used to be our annual event at Lazydays back when Randy Lay was their CFO and our Chapter President. It was at that event that Jim let me know if I wanted to come to future events, I would have to become a member. I joined the next day and have been a member ever since.
My time in the Tampa Bay area has coincided with some of the most tumultuous times our country has ever had. I moved to the area in 2010, as the Great Recession was raging. At the time, a drive down Central Avenue in St. Petersburg revealed one closed shop after another, and I remember feeling very uncertain if we were ever going to come out of it. Spoiler alert, we did, but the hangover effect always left me wondering if it could happen again. And then just when the hangover seemed to be abating, COVID-19 hit and it was déjà vu. It dawned on me that my life was starting to rhyme with my grandmother’s. While she was alive, she would tell me stories about living through the influenza pandemic at the end of World War I, the roaring ‘20’s and then the Great Depression.
As mentioned above, FEI was constant throughout my time in the Tampa Bay area. Through the hard work of the Chapter’s Program Committee over the years, we were able to have meaningful meetings that helped explain the turmoil that the country was going through. While driving home after attending a meeting, I always seemed to feel more hopeful than I had when I was driving to the meeting. Even if the topic of the meeting didn’t address a challenge the country was going through, the fact that I was able to spend time with my fellow members, many of whom had become friends, always left me feeling better.
I have always believed that you only get out of an organization what you put into it. After several attempts to get me to join the board, I finally joined the Board four years ago and became President two years ago. It has been my pleasure to serve on the board and as the President during that time.
It is my sincere hope that everyone who reads this message is getting the same benefit from their membership. If you are, then it is also my sincere hope that you will also consider joining the board. We can always use the help because as the old saying goes, “many hands make light work”. It is also my sincere hope that all our members will help recruit new members to join the chapter. The more members we have, the better speakers we will attract and the more valuable the meetings will become both for yourselves and for your fellow members.
It is also my great pleasure to announce that Joanne Dempster will be taking over as the Chapter President for the 2023 - 2025 chapter years. Those of you who are long-term members will remember that Joanne was the President before I took over, but her term was greatly impacted by COVID-19 and so she is going to do it again. Hopefully her upcoming term will not be as tumultuous as her first one!
Please plan on joining us for the upcoming meeting on May 30 when we will be hosting a panel discussion about the Banking changes in 2023 at Brio Tuscan Grille. I know it will be a great event!
Sincerely,
Rob Taylor
President
FEI Tampa Bay Chapter