When you elected me president last November, many of my friends in the chapter, and in fact, Reyhan thought I was nuts to continue as an officer. After all, with over 20 years' service logged in, a person's creativity and energy should have burned out they suggested. Some asked, "How are you going to create programs enough to generate interest for such a huge and diverse membership as are enrolled today - from Boomers to the WW 11 Generation - with out turning everything into sugar candy?"
As usual, I ignored their advice, but the questions lingered. No matter how much we improved the chapter - and no matter how enthusiastically members responded to changes - the basic format of chapter leadership kept getting in the way. There had to be programs out there that would appeal to all members and interests associated with our local Rochester Chapter. I canvassed the members -- the younger professional wanted programs with a distinctly different "look" and flavor with information that is upscale and daring, programs they could call their own. Not surprisingly, the rest of the members said they weren't interested in trendy, fad oriented programs targeted primarily to the young. I determined that programs which concentrated on the culinary arts was the route to stay on for a couple of reasons. 1). We're all familiar with that "highway" and becoming lost or confused would be less apt to occur. 2). There are many creative ways to approach the culinary world.....the classical, proven over the years, andthe more bold, aggressive and trendy avenues of fad and fashion. Neither is the wrong road, although they're very different, and as diverse as the men and women who practice in either craft. Both, however, require understanding and an open minded approach.
So, for the remaining 6 months of this year, we will make some positive and new changes. We will launch a new approach to our chapter meeting programs specifically designing them to attract every member's attention. We will redesign our meetings to address everyone's interest adding features that will make attending more useful, relevant and fun. Education will be a primary focus with the entertainment added for flavor.
The key player in this initiative will be our vice president, Sam Ferreri, CEC. An expert in program development, Sam is determined to bring to our meetings programs which are primarily educational but also entertaining while teaching us what's happening in the rapidly changing industry we call ours. As good a "hunter" as he is, he can only bring in programs he can root out. If you would tell him what you'd like to learn more about, he can go into areas you may want to explore and investigate.
There are many places we could go for advise and learning just about everything - how to dress, how to look, how to get a new job, how to, how to and so on. And when you look carefully at the how to advisors, they're telling you nothing!      We'll try to change that attitude at our meetings, we'll focus on the new issues that confront us and deal with then through programs -- and give them and you new meaning with the ideas and information they offer. We will try, through innovative programs aimed specifically at our professional needs so we can more easily realize our complex dreams in this complex world.