Today we bring you another episode of Exec Direct, postings by STC Executive Director Susan Burton. Exec Direct presents a more personal, informal, and direct discussion with Susan Burton on a variety of topics, STC-related and not.
The P-4 Comes to Fairfax
A week and a half ago, the STC office hosted what I refer to as the “P-4”—that’s the presidential line of succession: Immediate Past President Mark Clifford, President Cindy Currie, First Vice President Mike Hughes, and Second Vice President Hillary Hart. Now that I think about it, I guess I’m going to have to get used to calling it the P-3 soon, as the Second Vice President position ends when Hillary becomes Vice President in May. (That’s right, just “Vice President,” as we’re dropping the “First” from the title.)
The purpose of the daylong event was primarily to discuss the lineup for STC’s upcoming Summit. With the Board meeting, business meeting, Leadership Day, and so much more going on, these four are going to be busy. To make sure things run as smoothly as possible, we wanted to meet in person and get everybody on the same page.
At the same time, I thought it was good to have some face time between the staff and STC’s leaders. I’m extremely proud of our staff and I know the Board of Directors is as well. But it’s different hearing from me how much the Board appreciates the staff versus hearing it directly from them. In fact, four members of our staff received special recognition from the Board for their hard work in the first quarter of this year: Elaine Gilliam, Julia O’Connor, Stacey O’Donnell, and Marta Sokol all received a certificate from the Board in a small ceremony presided over by Cindy Currie. Congratulations to the four of them!
We also had an informal happy hour at the end of the day, where the staff and the P-4 (minus Mike Hughes, who had to leave early) had a chance to get to know each other a bit. That was an important part of the day. We got to relax, tell stories and jokes, and add a genuine friendly tone to our working relationship. We have a close-knit staff that works very well together, and getting to know the leadership a little bit on a personal level really helps enhance our working relationships with them.
I encourage any of you attending the Summit—taking place 2-5 May in Dallas, Texas; register now if you haven’t already!—to take some time to talk to our staff a little bit. Understand that we’re going to be extremely busy putting on what we hope will be the best Summit yet, but especially if you’ve received some assistance from the staff in the past, make a point to find them and say a quick thanks. Say hello, introduce yourself, or just give a friendly wave. The days are long, so even a smile or a word of appreciation will go a long way.
Thanks to the P-4 for taking the time to visit us, and for taking some extra time at the end of a busy week to meet with the staff. We’ll see y’all again in Dallas!