Get to Know VSAE's Incoming President

What drew you to the association industry?
My father had started our Richmond based medical association management company in the 70s. For my first 10 years out of college (1982-1992), I worked in a few different Washington DC area hotels. I was fairly well-groomed by the time I left the DC hotels to start as Director of Meetings at my father’s AMC and it seemed like the logical next step.

What goals do you have during your presidency of VSAE?
Like most presidents I’m going to say it’s all about membership. I would love to see continued progress in gaining new members outside of Richmond. I’m also a big believer in engagement. We need to give jobs to as many members as possible. I know when I wrote my first VSAE newsletter article years ago, I was hooked on remaining active in the society.

What are your top three tips for association executives?
Always try to turn problems into opportunities.
Communicate with your clients often and keep them apprised of your progress on their requests, particularly when they don’t ask. Be proactive in everything you do.
Be willing to apologize at any time. This applies not only to your clients, but also your colleagues. Apologize and then proactively provide a solution.

What are you working on that’s new and different?
In these post-COVID times, it’s definitely how to find the right blend of in-person and virtual meetings. Most of our medical societies have pushed hard to get back to live meetings and many are “Zoomed out.” On the other hand, we identified new target audiences during COVID through livestreaming and we don’t want to lose these folks who don’t want to take the time off away from their practice to attend in person anyway.

What is your greatest challenge at work?
Definitely technology. Our AMC has always had an IT department and we do all tech applications and member database in-house. Since technology is part of everything we do, at times it feels like we are a technology company masquerading as an AMC. I’m very proud of our IT staff as well as the rest of the staff for how they interact, collaborate and problem-solve their IT challenges. 

What success stories do you have about communicating with your membership?
I’m not sure it’s a “success story,” but I believe in empowering our entire staff to communicate directly with members and member leaders. If they are having communication challenges such as a difficult leader, they are surrounded by a team that can offer advice.

What do you enjoy doing in your time away from work?
I enjoy spending time with my family. My wife and two daughters mean the world to me (both daughters are engaged and their fiancés are awesome). Our family really savors our time in Maine. We spend several weeks in Kennebunkport each summer and are known to visit there and Portland anytime including the winter. 

Golf has been a staple over the years, but with recent back problems I'm still in recovery mode. A few years ago, I resumed playing the guitar after a long hiatus. The guitar has really helped me get my blood pressure down among other things, and I play 1-2 hours every day. My wife says I’m a very good guitar player, but that my singing sucks!

What have been some of your streaming binges?
It’s definitely The Office. I’ve watched it so much that I’ve memorized some of the lines. 

What’s on your music playlist?
Lots of James Taylor, Tom Petty, and Little Feat. I’m a big fan of Stephen Stills and Steve Winwood as well. I use Spotify to help my guitar playing.

What sports/teams do you root for?
I’ve always felt that Virginia basketball is one of the finer things in life. However, it certainly didn’t work out so well this year in the NCAA tournament. In addition, I was a huge Russell Wilson fan for many years when he was with Seattle as my daughters were behind him a few years at Collegiate. Finally, I enjoy watching golf, particularly some of the remaining PGA players like Scottie Scheffler who did not defect to the LIV tour.

What books have you read lately?
I recommend The Second World Wars by Victor Davis Hanson. 

What was the last great piece of advice you received?
It isn’t the last great piece of advice, but without question it is the best one: “Don’t sweat the small stuff.” – My grandmother

What are three things on your bucket list?
Well, it’s definitely NOT things like swimming with sharks or skydiving. Mine are pretty simple. Walking both daughters down the aisle, holding grandchildren, and taking my wife to Ireland and Scotland. Of course, I wouldn’t mind playing a couple of songs with James Taylor either.

What are you most proud of?
Without question, it would be working with my outstanding staff to transform our company during COVID. When the pandemic hit, we knew our medical associations would want us to find a livestream production company. Instead, we overhauled our in-house meeting app to make it a livestream delivery platform. We turned our IT office into a control room and have delivered near-flawless virtual meetings (knock on wood). I’m very proud of our team as we found a true silver lining. 

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