One More Week

One week from now the 53^rd annual MASFAA Conference will be well underway.  Pre-conference board meetings, welcome speeches and the first night of conference activities will all be in the rearview mirror by this time next week.  A couple of weeks ago I received an email from a former MASFAA board member asking me how the year had gone and if I was excited, happy or sad that my term as President was coming to a close.  I hadn’t really thought much about it up until that point, but I have thought about it quite a bit since.  The answer is that I’m excited to see the hard work that several committees have done come to fruition during this conference, I’m excited to see colleagues from the nine states I only see once or twice a year and happy that I’ll be done leading meetings at the conclusion of the conference.  Sad?  As for feeling sad, I’m not sure.  Maybe I’ll get a little whimsical Tuesday evening or Wednesday morning, but I’m more likely to just be exhausted by that point!  In regards to the year we’ve had, I believe that 2015 has been a positive year for the association.  Your executive board has laid a strong foundation for the new strategic plan to be built upon between now and 2019.  The blog you are reading is just one of the many accomplishments of the group.  It is my observation that President-elect Susan Swisher and her board are ready to continue the good work as soon as the conference comes to a close.  As for me, my work is not over yet.  I am currently serving as the MASFAA representative on the NASFAA Board and will also serve as our Association Governance and Planning Chair as well as Nominations and Elections Chair, which brings me to my final point.  It takes a lot of great people to make any association run smoothly.  I would like to thank everyone who has served MASFAA this year and I would like to encourage each of you to either nominate someone for a MASFAA office or think about running yourself.  I’m already making a list, and it’s not even Christmas yet!

Best Wishes,

Aaron Steffens

MASFAA President