Well, there is t-minus one month until FCCMA’s biggest event of the Program Year: the FCCMA Annual Conference. Now I know many of you are excited to get back to an in-person event for the first time in more than a year, but before we get there, I need to carry out one of my duties as President of FCCMA. Now, this is not one of those duties that are spelled out in our bylaws or charter, but it is the single most important job I have, ensuring the ongoing integrity of our association.
That can mean a lot of different things in a lot of different situations, but during this moment, it feels like I can best accomplish this with a simple reminder. Our staff and volunteer committees have worked very hard over the last several months to provide not only a fun and interesting conference, but most importantly, a safe one. But, as we have seen in many of our communities over the last year, the precautions and parameters put in place to keep us safe can only take us so far. While I know I am preaching to the choir here; I would be remiss if I did not take this opportunity to ask each of you to approach the official and unofficial events surrounding the annual conference with the same care and compassion that you do at home.
Now that said, the Conference Planning Committee is working non-stop to give you engaging conference sessions and special events. Fortunately, we were able to carry over our keynote speakers from last year due to the conference being canceled; we are once again very excited to hear the knowledge and insights they will be sharing. We will kick off with Gilbert King, who will be doing our Ethics Session during the pre-conference session on Wednesday. Tony Moore will start off the conference at the Opening General Session on Thursday morning. We will hear from Michael McConnell during Friday’s General Session, and then Dr. Romie Mushtaq will close us out on Saturday morning! The committee, led by Horace McHugh and Lori LaVerriere, has done a great job making the many necessary adjustments this year, and I am very excited to see what they have put together! Click here if you are interested in learning more about the keynote speakers and keep an eye out for profiles on the Keynote Speakers in your email inbox over the next few weeks.
As the Program Year winds down, we are also trying to ensure that our membership database is as accurate as possible. Staff will be sending out a membership update form in the next week or so. Please take the time to fill out this form as soon as you can to ensure that your membership is up to date – we greatly appreciate it!
For those who are attending the conference, be safe! And for those won’t be attending, you be safe too!! Happy April everyone!
