And the Winner Is...

We all came away winners at the Synergy Awards celebration last week at the Current at Chelsea Piers. It was an amazing event! Not only did we applaud the work of 16 of our colleagues who rose to the top with inspiring work during these long COVID months, but we also celebrated the camaraderie, family and passion expressed about being back together in-person after being isolated from each other for so long.

The message we heard loud and clear was how we learned from and leaned on each other to survive and thrive. What better spotlight on the purpose of associations and of NYSAE! For 19 months we have held each other up, cheered each other on, commiserated and pivoted, always with our members front and center.

In their acceptance remarks, our gracious award winners expressed a shared passion for what we all do and eloquently expressed gratitude for teams, associates and NYSAE colleagues.

More than that, we celebrated being in a room together for the first time, for many, if not most in the room, it was our first venture out to an event. We had all changed, but we saw the professional ghosts of who we had been before and those ghosts started to come back to life, changed for sure, but the passion for our associations and our members came shining through in individual conversations, and from the podium, where all could relate to the emotional stories the speakers shared.

With gratitude we acknowledge our three corporate sponsors, each of whom has become respected and valued members of our NYSAE family. Rita Lopez from Discover Puerto Rico, who presented the crisis innovation awards; Nicole Araujo from Mighty Citizen who presented the Excellence in Educational Programming Awards and Deb Sas from Multiview who presented the Distinguished Service Award.

Kudos to our Synergy Awards chairs Colleen Harper, MPA, CAE, executive director of the Audio Engineering Society and an NYSAE board member and Annette Homan, CAE, chief operating officer at RIMS. Working with their committee, they vetted an outstanding group of nominees this year.

The committee incorporated a professional emcee into the event for the first time and Gregory Offner, an international keynote speaker and a performing artist, elevated our event to our own version of the Academy Awards.

Speeches and passion were captured by Gather Voices, a new NYSAE strategic partner, that provides video production services, a simple to use video platform and state-of-the-art marketing. We have benefitted greatly from their talent in marketing our flagship event Meet New York, and the Synergy Awards Program. They have helped us position a new and exciting NYSAE by posting and marketing amazing videos on our social media platforms. Thank you to Chad Alger Hardt and David Frankel for sharing their creativity and talent.

Special call out to Lifetime Achievement Award winner Joseph P. Benincasa, president and CEO The Actors Fund; Chief Executive of the Year Bob Liodice, CEO of the Association of National Advertisers and to Distinguished Service Award winner James Thomashower, CAE, executive director, American Guild of Organists.

We also recognized five winners of the Crisis Innovation Awards for their actions and programs during COVID. Louis Coletti, president and CEO Building Trades Employers Association; Vijay Dandapani, president and CEO, Hotel Association of NYC; Kathleen Reilly, NYC government affairs coordinator, New York State Restaurant Association; Jerry Cito, EVP, convention development, NYC & Company; and Orin Barzilay, Local 2507 – Uniformed EMTs, Paramedics and Inspectors.

And there’s more: Melva Miller, CEO, Association for a Better New York won the NYC Impact award; Marty Brochstein, SVP, industry relations for Licensing International accepted the Excellence in Marcom award; Caitlin Sargent, senior associate, Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, won the Rising Star award; Excellence in Educational Programming award went to the American Group Psychotherapy Association accepted by Angela Stephens, CAE, CEO to the National Association of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners accepted by Laura Nelsen, director of education and learning.

As the ceremony continued, Jimmy Le, DES, senior conference planner, IEEE Communications Society, accepted the Meetings Professional of the Year award; and Partner of the Year was awarded to NYPCMA, accepted by Stacey Courtney, past president; and to Kalahari Resorts and Conventions, accepted by Lauren Katz, director of national accounts.

Check out all of our winners and their accomplishments here. You will be amazed and inspired.

But mostly, during the program, we captured the reason why NYSAE is so important to all of us. Were the feelings and passion that morning amplified by a long and tortured absence? Perhaps. But when you peel away the layers, it reveals that core of NYSAE is our members who come shining through and inspire all of us to do more and to do better. Join us at upcoming NYSAE events. Check our calendar here. Contribute to and learn from the professional association community in New York.

As one of our award winners reminded us of the lyrics of the song “New York, New York,” “if you can make it here, you can make it anywhere.” These Synergy Award winners proved they are stars in the greatest city in the world.

Happy fall!

Joanne S. Barry, CAE
CEO/Executive Director, New York State Society of CPAs