Howdy TAGITM fam!
Welp folks, it’s the Sunday after the conference and ya boy is recuperating. My goodness y’all, what a week it was. I so hope y’all enjoyed it as much as I did! It’s true I was burning the candle on both ends as some of you could attest, but no matter, it was worth it to maximize the time spent and take in as much as possible. No regrets, y’all! As per custom, the end of the annual conference signifies the conclusion of my term as president. Obviously TAGITM has an amazing Board of Directors, Executive Board, and management team as evidenced by all the magic that came to fruition this past year. TAGITM is clearly in excellent hands moving forward, and no doubt my great friend James O’Brien will make an outstanding president taking this incredible org to new heights. TAGITM’s future is indeed bright y’all, and I’m all about it.
Let’s get a little mushy, y’all. Before I do just know regardless of what spills out of me, I’m still a BA (lol). Ok, in all seriousness I am so grateful for the entire experience. WHAT AN HONOR it was to serve as your president this past year. I literally do not have the words to properly put into context how meaningful it was. Anyone that knows me is aware I’m overtly bullish on all things Texas, and that manifests in many ways when it comes to my life. Y’all can ask GMIS about that, I gave them hell as we were working towards our partnership even though I grew to be a fan (love ya Brenda!). I’m certainly glad we established that partnership. I got at least one friend out of it, and don’t tell anyone but the successful vendor speed dating and trivia night we did last week was taken straight from their playbook (ssshhhhhh!!!!!).
When I recollect on the past year it feels like a blur. I swear time is speeding up as I age. My first TAGITM conference was in 2017, the year Beth Ann was president. I recall feeling so enthralled about the org I approached her and had a great conversation about how to serve the community. Fast forward 8 years, seemingly in the blink of an eye, and so much has changed. Last week I had the amazing honor to participate in handing out scholarships and an award in Beth Ann’s name. All these years later I am still enthralled with TAGITM, and I hope that showed. A native Texan serving my fellow Texans as I like to say, it means more to me than anyone can imagine.
So, what’s next? I’ll be serving as past president over the next year in an advisory role for continuity. Maybe I’ll continue to serve the board as the TML affiliate after that, maybe not. Time will tell. I think everyone knows you have to be careful where you send me, not sure those capital folks want my Texas country boy smoke y’all! :P I’m also looking forward to getting time back to keep my incredible city moving forward innovation wise. It hasn’t been difficult to manage over the past year, but a little more time will be greatly appreciated.
I have so many dang people to thank y’all. To the BOD, James, Fay, Chris, Kat, Kevin C, Kevin 2.0, Lana, Angie, Gonzo, Jose, Sunny, Scott, William, Justin, Lindy, I straight up love and appreciate you guys! Thank you SO MUCH for your patience and continued support. Good lord everyone knows y’all needed it. A big shout out and thank you goes out to CMP. We cannot do this without y’all (hi Evelen!). I must also thank the City of Seguin for allowing me to take the time away from our day to day. Obviously, I’m biased, but I have the best team, boss, coworkers, council, and mayor that supports and condones all my crazy. Thank y’all for signing up for this ride. I must also thank Mrs. Mc for her continued support as well. I mean she did get an AWESOME Spazmatics concert out of all this so maybe that was a push (lol). Y’all do me a favor and don’t tell her I said that.
Last, but certainly not least, I must thank membership. TAGITM cannot exist without all our government and partner organizations. I do hope y’all know I served this amazing org with pride and did so my way. I wanted this to be an authentic experience, and I would like y’all to know the past year was just that. From the bottom of my heart thank you for allowing me to be me. That’s all I got folks, time to ride off into the sunset…sort of! James, you got this, let’s get it homie! Here’s to making 2026 the best TAGITM year yet. One last thing though, and all my friends from this experience can expect to hear this annually moving forward….we crossed 1k attendee’s baby! THANK YOU ALL!!!
PS – Hey Scott….did you know we broke an all-time attendance record?!?!? :P
Shane McDaniel