Wow! It is hard to believe that we are so close to putting 2022 in the rear view mirror. As we age, it seems that the constant refrain is “I can’t believe that it is December 19th already.” At the time of this writing, we are just about to have our Holiday Party. It is always a great event at the Tampa Bay Yacht Club and a fabulous opportunity for our members and sponsors to gather as friends to look back on the year that is closing and forward to the year that is coming.
As usual this time of year, we also look back on what has taken place over the last year in our personal and business lives. In our personal lives, there were no doubt times of great happiness with new marriages and births of children or grandchildren. There were also times of immense sadness where some of our members may have lost a member of their family or friends. Hopefully the good times outweighed the bad ones and 2022 was a good year for everyone. I sincerely hope that the support of everyone’s family and friends helped them get through the tough times.
In our business lives, I think it is safe to say that we have all lived through challenges in 2022 that were unprecedented. For anyone who didn’t face these challenges, I (and no doubt several other members envy you). For those of us who did weather the storm, we learned or re-learned some lessons that will make us better in the years to come. I hope that all members of our chapter were able to take advantage of our meetings to network with fellow members who could appreciate what they were going through and offer some potential solutions that they have tried in similar situations. If nothing else, I find it extraordinarily helpful to share a challenge with a colleague. Just voicing it out loud to someone who understands can lead to a solution. Although, even if it doesn't, knowing that someone else is facing similar challenges can be freeing since you know you are not alone.
Looking back on the first half of the chapter year we were likewise faced with some challenges. Our usual ‘go to’ event space, the Carillon Hilton, raised their prices so much that it was difficult to justify the expense of holding events there. Brian Hanrahan stepped up as the Chair of the Programs Committee and scoured the Tampa Bay Area to find different, and sometimes novel event spaces. Our most recent event was just such a space. For those of you who were not able to make it, the event was held in a large private ‘garage’ with a mezzanine level event space, which is owned by the owner and CEO of a Tampa commercial construction company. This garage houses his and his wife’s car collection and they also allow others to host meetings there as long as there is a charitable purpose associated with the event. In return for the use of the space our chapter will be donating to a local charity of their choice. Brian is doing a fantastic job creating new events at new venues.
We also had another great Clay Shoot this year. We will be presenting the “big check” to Bay Area Advisors to benefit Moffitt Cancer Center at our January meeting. We will also be raising funds for Metropolitan Ministries again this year at our Holiday Party. Thanks to everyone who has and continues to support our philanthropic activities. A huge shout out to the members of our Philanthropy Committee, Brian Adamski, Joanne Dempster and Bill Long. Coming up in March we will also be doing another volunteer day at Junior Achievement. Hopefully we will have an even stronger showing than we had last year. It is a great way to give back to our community and share skills that are second nature to us with kids. It can truly help shape their lives in the future.
As always, I owe a huge debt of gratitude to you, our members. I also want to convey my personal and the Board’s wishes for a safe and happy holiday season to all our members and sponsors. You make us stronger. We are seeing higher attendance at each event and we encourage everyone to invite a guest who meets the membership requirements to help our chapter grow even more.
We look forward to a great 2023 with you. If you have ideas for future meetings, please let myself or any Board Member know. If you want to take a step further and become more involved in the Chapter, please consider joining the Board. We are always looking for additional Board Members to help us grow and evolve.
I look forward to seeing everyone at our next event on January 11 when Santiago Corrado will be giving us an overview of Visit Tampa Bay. I can’t think of a better time to have an event like this, right before we hit the heights of tourist season.
Rob Taylor
President
FEI Tampa Bay Chapter