Saving the Best for Last
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President John F. Kennedy once said, “As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them.” When I took over as president of MPI Greater New York almost two years ago, I made a commitment to do everything I could to leave this chapter in a better place than I found it. It was not lost on me how important it was to back up words, thoughts and ideas with action that, when the dust settled, left each one of you with a positive experience in being affiliated with this chapter. We have a rich history that dates back to 1977 and to take on a volunteer role of this magnitude was something that I did not take lightly. That said, a successful leader is only as good as the people he (or she) is surrounded by, and, fortunately for me, I had the privilege to work with some pretty incredible meeting professionals. The opportunity to serve our chapter over these last few years has been one of the major highlights of my professional career. You learn so much about yourself when taking on a role like this, and I am eternally grateful to everyone involved for this opportunity.
We accomplished quite a bit over the last few years, and I hope many of you have been able to share in the experience. A few highlights I am especially proud of include creating the MPIGNY Diversity & Inclusion Committee and The Power of Two Mentorship Program, significantly enhancing our educational programming and stepping up our marketing and communications across all facets of the organization. Through it all, our board of directors has remained focused on improving our overall brand. We also made significant strides in our CSR footprint, created the MPIGNY Community Support Fund to financially assist our members through COVID-19, and we increased our collaboration with other associations and fellow MPI chapters to work more cohesively on positively impacting our industry as a whole. There is much more to highlight, but what really sums up the success of this chapter over the last few years is the recognition we received from MPI Global earlier this year as a RISE Award recipient for our efforts on the MPIGNY EdX & The Genies program we produced live from Broadway last October. In many ways, that event is a microcosm of our recent success as it touched so many facets of our organization in just one afternoon. It was a true team effort across the entire board and something that many of us will never forget.
Everything that we have accomplished these last two years would not have been possible without the unwavering commitment by so many of our fellow members. It truly takes a village when you are trying to move the needle in a volunteer nonprofit association. With that said, we have four members of this year's board of directors whose time has come to an end. Carly Roncaglio-Marotta is leaving the board as our immediate past president. She has dedicated literally hundreds of hours of her personal time to enhance each of our experiences within MPIGNY. She started out on the Genies Committee several years ago and her ascension to office of the president transpired rapidly. Carly is a thoughtful and compassionate person who accomplished so much in her time on this board. She is a highly effective leader with a talent for keeping us motivated to go the extra mile in enhancing the product we put out to all of you. Her legacy in this chapter is secure, and we all owe her a significant amount of gratitude for all that she has done in helping our chapter succeed. Next, we have the living legend, Judi McLaughlin, finishing her time on the board this month as well. I do not think I have ever met someone who is more universally loved than Judi. She started on our board as director of CSR, where she led numerous efforts in getting our chapter engaged in the community time and time again. In her current role as director of leadership development, Judi created our mentorship program and the popular MPIGNY Grub Club afternoon events while also assisting in her main duties of building a pipeline for future MPIGNY leaders. Judi is a trusted confidante to so many, and we are all better off for having her in our lives. It is impossible for me to overstate how impactful her time has been on this board. She helped our chapter in countless ways over the years, and I am just fortunate to be able to call her a dear friend.
Michelle Marie Adams and I started out in this chapter at the exact same time. We have grown up together — though I have to admit she has aged much better than this guy. Michelle Marie (or "MMA" as she is affectionately known on the board) has held multiple positions over several years including her most recent role as our vice president of finance. She has been an instrumental figure in planning our Annual Auction event for many years, and as many of you know, that is one of our largest events each year, and our success is directly tied to that program. Michelle Marie is another great human who always brought a positive attitude and a head full of great ideas for new ways to succeed in positively impacting the member experience. Finally, Geri Richlin's time on our board has come to an end as well. Geri brought that Brooklyn swagger to the board and was always creative in trying to find new ways to do things. As one of the younger members of our board, she quickly earned everyone's respect and ascended to the role of vice president of membership. She always had a positive attitude and implemented some really effective strategies to help us grow and retain members even during a global pandemic. She is one of those people who you feel fortunate to work with because you know she is someone you can always depend on. As you can see, all four of these ladies committed an unbelievable amount of time to their volunteer roles under the guise of enhancing our chapter and your experience. Each and every one of us are indebted to them for their service and commitment to MPIGNY. We thank them for their dedication and appreciate everything they have done for our chapter.
Turning to our last few events of the year, you could say that we saved the best for last. We are FINALLY returning to live and in-person events! As we have seen over the last several weeks, we seem to be turning a corner with COVID-19, and I think we are all very bullish about what the future holds for New York City. And what better way to kick off summer in The Big Apple than to head to where it all began for so many — historic Ellis Island. Originally scheduled for this Thursday, June 3, unfortunately we have had to postpone due to expected inclement weather and have rescheduled for next Thursday, June 10. We will head down to Battery Park and hop the ferry over to Ellis Island to kick off the summer in grand NYC fashion. This is purely a networking event in which lunch will be served. The event is scheduled from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. so block your calendar and tell your boss that you need to support our industry by participating in the first live event MPIGNY is producing since the start of the pandemic. All details and registration are outlined below.
If you are not able to join us on Thursday, please be sure to mark your calendar for the last event of the year. The MPIGNY Annual Genie Awards are taking place on Tuesday, June 22 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the iconic Tribeca Rooftop. This event is incredibly important to our chapter in so many ways. We have all gone through an unbelievably difficult 15 months, and we are finally in a position to celebrate the return of live events. If you are comfortable participating, I would look upon it as a personal favor to me if you attended. We are offering all MPIGNY members registration for only $25. If anyone has any challenges paying the registration fee, please reach out to me directly, and we will find a solution. Tribeca Rooftop will have all health and safety protocols in place, so we ensure that this event is compliant and successful. The MPIGNY Genies Committee is putting in a heck of a lot of time and effort to ensure that this program encompasses everything that you would want to see in one of your first live events since COVID-19 began. Did someone say three-hour open bar? In all seriousness, please do your best to make it that night. This event honors you, our members, and all of your hard work in all that we have accomplished over this challenging year. If you have not yet nominated anyone for a Genie Award, PLEASE do so. We all know at least one person who has made a significant contribution to our chapter this year. So please take five minutes and nominate them here.
Finally, I want to recognize my successor who will be taking over the reins on July 1. Laura Mulholland is the right person to take over as president of this chapter next month. She has paid her dues and then some for an exceedingly long time, holding several key roles within MPIGNY over the years, and she knows the inner workings of our chapter as well as anyone. Our time together goes way back, and she will do an excellent job leading all of us next year. The future is unquestionably bright for MPIGNY as Andrew Barnes will take the keys to the castle in 2022-2023, as well. Our chapter is in great hands with these two individuals leading us, and I hope all of you continue to stay engaged as your participation is absolutely vital to our continued success.
Thank you to everyone who has helped me in my role these last two years. There are honestly too many people to thank, but you all know who you are. I will not be going anywhere and will remain active on the board as immediate past president, so you will still have to put up with me for a little while longer. I hope to see each and every one of you at The Genies where we can celebrate live events coming back to New York City!
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Best,
Patrick Colomer
MPIGNY President
patrick.colomer1@gmail.com
