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2008 Annual Meeting Highlights
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| Captain John Kielty and Richard L Hess, CAE. Capt. Kielty motivated us to make it an OSAE Day! |
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| There were many opportunities to network and team build. |
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| The changing of the guard: Stan Sweeney, RN, becomes OSAE past-president as Greta Shepherd Stewart, CAE, takes office as OSAE president. |
The patriotic-themed meeting was a perfect backdrop for sessions that offered us new tools about how to do our jobs more effectively.
Capt. John Kielty was the opening speaker. He completed a 26-year career with the US Navy and currently is a coach and teacher in Oklahoma City. As motivational as he was eloquent, Capt. Kielty encouraged us all to have “a great OSAE day” everyday.
He shared several bootcamp buzzwords and applied them to our theme: expectation, teamwork, commitment, honor, courage, goals, motivation, discipline and service.
“If you are the boss, be the boss,” he said. “If you are not the boss, serve him (or her).”
He also encouraged us as leaders to not have an “on or off switch” style when it comes to the way we interact with our staffs, members or clients.
Capt. Keilty said if we approach everyone with a “what can I do to make your day better” attitude, it will help boost the productivity and attitude of those with whom you work, and will make your organization stronger.
Wayne Mitchell, IOM, founder of Prodcomm based in Augusta, Maine, was a luncheon keynote speaker and also taught a general session. He shared several anecdotes and experiences from his 30-year career working with the businesses and organizations.
Mitchell said that too many associations base their activities and practices on tradition rather than what matters to members.
When it comes to boards, Mitchell said there are four types of persons he always wants on his team: the warrior, who wants something done NOW; the thinker, who is creative and thinks of different ways to do things; the analyzer, who will keep things like finances on the table and the peacemaker, who will make sure the other three don’t argue all of the time and stay united.
Mitchell encouraged organizations to have collective goals and build a team environment so that everyone will step up to the plate.
He said that organizations do not celebrate enough. “Make heroes out of the superstars in your organization and appropriately recognize them.”
He illustrated that point by applauding OSAE.
“This conference is darned impressive! Hats off to PDC and your annual meeting team. Looking in from the outside, this is flawless. You all knew your roles and you did it!”
The changing of the guard: g. The OSAE virtual tradeshow remains online so you may visit our sponsors again.
Members of the 2008 Conference Committee were Sheila Smith, co-chair, Brian Farrell, CMP, co-chair, Tawni Phelan, CAE, CMP, Mark Bledsoe, Shannon Brown, Amanda Burks, Vicki Burnett, Deanna Fields, Koby Fleck, Betsy Fry, Jeanine Fuller, Judy Grant, Roberta Helsely, Angela Holden, Kari Hood, Robin Mickel, CMP, Brendan Murphy, Paula Neal, John Pedigo, John Roe, Alan Sims, Charlie Swinton, Ginger Thompson, Sue THurston, D’Lese Travis and Kris Sanders.
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| Stan Sweeney presents the George Nigh Association Executive of the Year Award to Lyle Kelsey, CAE, CMBE. |
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| Craig Buford, CAE, was named the Professional of the Year. |
Oklahoma City (July 21, 2008)-The Oklahoma Society of Association Executives honored outstanding members during its recent annual meeting. The meeting, “Association Boot Camp,” was held at the Reed Center in Midwest City.
The group’s highest honor, The George Nigh Association Executive of the Year Award, was presented to Lyle Kelsey, CAE, CMBE. Kelsey has more than 35 years experience in the healthcare field with the majority of time spent in professional association management. Currently, he serves as the executive director of the Oklahoma State Board of Medical Licensure and Supervision. Prior to that, he was with the Oklahoma State Medical Association.
Kelsey served as OSAE’s president in 1994 - 1995 and previously received the OSAE Professional of the Year Award and a Key Award, honoring his career achievements and service to OSAE. The award is named for former Governor Nigh who served as OSAE’s first president in 1963.
Other award recipients were Craig Buford, CAE, as the Professional of the Year. Buford is the president and CEO of the Community Bankers Association of Oklahoma.
Robin Mickel, CMP, received the Affiliate of the Year Award. Mickel serves as director of operations for PDC Productions, a Norman-based company that offers production services for meetings and events.
Tracy Boyd, CHSP, received the Key Award. She is the senior sales manager with the Holiday Inn-Oklahoma City Airport.
The “boot camp” theme of the annual meeting emphasized moving associations forward. In addition to outstanding speakers and an amazing tradeshow, the highlight of the meeting was the annual awards program where we honor those who mean so much to our organization and profession.
June 6, 2008, Cole's Garden, Oklahoma City-With chants of “hope and change,” and a dig about another year without tort reform in our state, Pat Hall and Jim Dunlap kept OSAE members on their toes as much as they kept them laughing in their seats at the June luncheon at Coles Garden.
Sharp-witted and experienced in the ways of Oklahoma politics and also savvy about the national scene, Pat Hall, CAE, ASAE Fellow, and Jim Dunlap are always an OSAE favorite. As a bonus, this appearance coincided with lots of political happenings in the headlines. It was the week for filing for the 2008 Oklahoma general election, the week Sen. Barack Obama sewed up the delegate count to be the democratic nominee for president and it was soon after the state legislature adjourned for the year.
Hall is a former OSAE president, and the first recipient of OSAE’s highest honor, The George Nigh Association Executive of the Year Award (1992). He led the Oklahoma Public Employees Association for 16 years, the State Democratic Party and has had his consulting firm since 1999.Dunlap was the Republican Floor Leader in the Oklahoma State Senate and also served in the house. He was nominated to the Senior Advisory Council for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and was the 2002 chairman of the American Legislative Exchange Council.
Together, Hall and Dunlap are the owners of Majority Plus, LLC, a bipartisan political consulting and lobbying firm with a wide array of clients.
Neither of them gave high marks to the just ended legislative session. Hall pointed out the lack of raises for state employees for teachers. Dunlap said the session hit a record for passing the least amount of bills.
Both gentlemen acknowledged that certain reform measures to the Oklahoma Ethics Commission were justified, but others will vastly change the way lobbyists do their jobs.
As of July 1, lobbyists will not be able to spend more than $100 on a legislator per calendar year. However, state political groups may have unlimited fund-raising receptions and pacs will not have fund-raising limits.
The pair agreed that this year’s political filing did not bring any surprises. Both Dunlap and Hall predict a tied state senate again for the next legislative session and a probable republican majority in the house.
On the presidential election, Hall, a longtime Obama supporter beamed about “hope and change,” although both acknowledged that Oklahoma remains a solid “red” state that will go for Sen. John McCain.
As for vice presidential candidates, Dunlap mentioned that McCain should look for a running mate in a key swing state in the north east such as Pennsylvania and Ohio. He said another possibility is Florida Governor Charlie Crist.
Hall speculated that Obama could come out with a surprise veep with Caroline Kennedy, daughter of former President John F. Kennedy
With lots of laughs and always good-natured ribbing of each other and their OSAE friends, Hall and Dunlap encouraged their association friends to get involved and get their members involved in the political process.
Forming PACS, calling town meetings and participating in political campaigns helps the process. And following up with our elected leaders when they’re on the job is every citizen’s responsibility.
Informative and entertaining, Hall and Dunlap are always a big hit. Find out more at majorityplus.com.
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| Oklahoma Psychological Association Past President Dr. Stewart Beasley, Congresswoman Mary Fallin and OSAE Executive Director Richard L. Hess, CAE, at the luncheon. Dr. Beasley was scheduled to be on the morning education program, Effective Board Leadership. |
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| We had a great crowd of guests and members at the meeting hosted by the Renaissance Hotel. |
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| Danna Fowble broke out of her Boot Camp Drill Sergeant role just long enough to pose with the Congresswoman. Fowble was in character to promote our July (14 - 16) Annual Meeting, OSAE BOOT CAMP. |
April 4 , 2008, Cox Convention Center, Oklahoma City -“Thank you for all you do for Oklahoma,” said Oklahoma Congresswoman Mary Fallin to OSAE members at the April Meeting. Before she arrived at the Cox Convention Center, Fallin’s morning had been filled with three media interviews and a speech. She had at least a few more speeches to give that afternoon during her Friday back home.
In the midst of her busy day, she said it was good to see friendly faces, and to be among friends at OSAE. She recalled that she first attended OSAE meetings early in her career and even before she was in politics, and was thankful to be invited back over the years to speak when she has served our state in the legislature, as Lt. Governor and now as a US Representative.
“You all represent the top associations in Oklahoma. I have a great appreciation for association executives. You are fine leaders,” she said.
She also praised OSAE members for using our association’s monthly meetings as a great networking tool, and for taking advantage of education sessions such as the one held that morning, Effective Board Leadership, led by Ed Kelsay, JD, CAE, ASAE Fellow.
Fallin has been in Washington for almost 16 months. As exciting and “not boring” as she said it is in D.C., she also didn’t hold back any punches when she shared with us how disheartening the political process really is. She said despite a clear mandate from the people during the 2006 election to “get things done” in Congress on important topics such as immigration, gas prices, the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and health care, nothing substantial has been accomplished.
She pointed to the controversial immigration law passed in Oklahoma, and to other states passing immigration reform, and says the resulting patchwork of laws from one state to the next should have been avoided had Congress been doing its job.
“We have had not one vote on immigration in 16 months, despite it being a top issue with the people who are concerned about national security, our workforce and broken borders,” she said.
Fallin said of the thousands of bills that have been presented on the House floor, only 188 pieces of legislation had been passed, and 74 of those bills were to name post offices, federal buildings and bridges.
Despite those frustrations about working on The Hill, Fallin remains optimistic about our nation’s future, and especially about Oklahoma’s future. She said this presidential election is very historic in nature with the three top candidates each distinctive – as the first female, the first African-American and a former POW all battling for our votes in November.
She encouraged everyone to be involved, and of course, to vote. She also joked that she wasn’t telling us how to vote, but that she would be voting for the Republican nominee.
“Voting is one of our greatest freedoms, and I sometimes think we take it for granted in our country.
“I believe we do live in the greatest nation in the world, but it is only great if we protect her and our democracy,” she said.
OSAE members gave Fallin a standing ovation at the close of her talk. Following the meeting, she stayed and visited with many of her friends, before having to rush off to her next speech.
OSAE thanks the Renaissance Hotel for hosting our April meeting. The next OSAE meeting is May 2, 2008, at the NCED Conference Center Hotel by Marriott in Norman.
March 7, 2008, Oklahoma Heritage Museum, Oklahoma City -Telling Oklahoma’s story through its people is how the Oklahoma Heritage Association fulfills its mission. And the same could be said about Oklahoma’s association industry – each association is only as good as each individual member, and every member has a story.
Chancellor Glenn Johnson’s talk to OSAE at our March meeting served as a refresher course of some of the highlights of our state’s great history. The inventors such as Sylvan Goldman, athletes such as Jim Thorpe and Shannon Miller, astronauts such as Tom Stafford and entertainers such as Will Rogers, Gene Autry and Vince Gill, along with many other famous Oklahomans, tell our state’s story to the rest of the world, and bring us notoriety.
Johnson spoke to OSAE in his capacity as chairman of the Oklahoma Heritage Association. He also serves as chief executive officer for the Oklahoma State System of Higher Education where he leads a state system comprised of 25 state colleges and universities and related entities and oversees a budget in excess of $1.4 billion.
Chancellor Johnson told the OSAE audience that most of his friendships with OSAE members began when he served in the state legislature. Indeed, some OSAE members still tend to address Johnson as Mr. Speaker, as he served as the powerful Speaker of the House from 1990 - 1996.
As chairman of the Oklahoma Heritage Association, Johnson has been closely involved in the museum’s recent move to its present location in the former Mid-
Continent Life Insurance building that opened in 1927. OHA acquired the building in 2001 through a gift from Mr. Edward L. Gaylord. In 2004, another gift
from Boone Pickens funded the renovation of the building into a museum that has preserved its beautiful art deco design and detail while incorporating 21st century interactive museum exhibits.
“We have combined the best of the old and the new,” Johnson said as he pointed out many of the features of the museum to the OSAE guests who were seated on the main floor of the gallery.
He invited OSAE members to use the facility.
“It gives us a chance to tell our story as a state,” he said. “As we ambitiously plan our next 100 years, those living now will do things to further our state’s great heritage.”
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| OSAE Pres. Stan Sweeney & Lt. Gov. Jari Askins |
February 1, 2008, Holiday Inn & Suites, Oklahoma City - "It’s good to be among friends." That’s what Lt. Governor Jari Askins told the audience at the February OSAE meeting. “I don’t get to see as many of you as I used to,” she said explaining that her second floor State Capitol office does not see as much activity as the fourth and fifth floors where she spent 12 years in the Legislature.
“As I pondered what I would say to you who are my friends, and for those who do not know me, I wanted to tell you about what I anticipate for the next legislative session,” she said.
Askins was elected as the first democratic female Lieutenant Governor in 2006. Previously she represented her home district of Duncan in the House of Representatives. She told OSAE she foresees five areas of emphasis for this legislative session: education, economic development, energy, environment and ethics. She briefly touched on each issue, and also took questions from the crowd that was made up of more than 100 OSAE members and guests, including many OSAE past presidents.She said educational issues range from expanding early childhood education and enhancing career tech centers to making higher education more accessible and affordable to Oklahomans. She said all of those issues are tied to economic development.
“We know industries look at us, but our state's high school drop out rate and low college graduation rate put us at a disadvantage as we recruit for those higher paying jobs,” she said.
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| H.J. Reed, government relations, Conoco Phillips, was honored by OSAE for his work on ethics rules reform. He is pictured with OSAE Liaison to the Oklahoma Ethics Commission, Pat Hall, CAE, ASAE Fellow. |
According to Askins, the state has had dramatic growth in two important industries – aerospace and biomedical research. Askins said that the aviation, avionics and aerospace industries are among the state's top employers, and the growing biomedical research park near the capitol was only a dream just a decade ago.
She said energy issues to be addressed over the next five months will advance more research and incentives into alternative fuels ranging from wind, water and biodiesel. Such efforts also will help our environment, she said.
Askins’ talk to OSAE came on the heels of the controversy at the capitol involving the resignation of the house speaker over his tax problems. That made for a timely comment regarding ethics.
“It is so important that as elected officials, we present ourselves as above reproach. Those who make mistakes are not bad people but this is a reminder that we put ourselves on the line. We don’t have to be better, but we have to follow the law better than anyone else,” she said.
She said ethics controls are in place to guide people to do the right thing. She said the Ethics Commission is not funded appropriately nor staffed adequately which affects all elected officials, lobbyists and others. She praised OSAE members for participating in and advocating for ethics rules reform.
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| OSAE Past Presidents were honored at the February luncheon. See story below. |
During the question portion of her talk, Askins answered inquiries from OSAE members on issues ranging from workers compensation, ethics reform and the biggest surprise of her first year in office.
Askins invited OSAE members to visit the first and second floors of the capitol, where she acknowledged Past President Paul Mathews as a valued volunteer tour guide who often brings visitors to her office. She said recent improvements to the visitors’ information area on the first floor and new furnishings to her office provide an image that Oklahomans will be proud of.
The Lieutenant Governor said the highlight of her first year in office was to be in Guthrie on November 16, 2007.
“I knew I would enjoy it, but I had no idea what an impact it would make on me to be present for our Centennial. I can't imagine being anywhere else,” she said. “It gave me so much hope for the next 100 years!”
The February OSAE meeting is always special. It's when we honor all of the presidents who have served our organization for the last 45 years. We are extraordinarily honored to have such an esteemed group of past presidents who represent the professional of association management with honor.
We thank them for their leadership, their mentoring, their support and their friendship.
Pictured. Back Row, Left, Jim Sullins, CAE, Matt Robison, CAE, 2007 - 2008 President Stan Sweeney, Executive Director Richard L. Hess, CAE, Jane Nelson, CAE,
Kris Sanders, Debra Bailey, CAE, Sam Blackstock, CAE, Ronn Cupp, Brian Foy. Front Row, Left, Bob Berry, CAE, Jm Hopper, Bill Moyer, CAE, Forrest Wilkins,
Lt. Gov. Jari Askins, Ben Blackstock, Paul Mathews, Ed Kelsay, CAE, Patrick J. Hall, CAE, ASAE Fellow
The Certified Association Executive (CAE) program is designed to elevate professional standards, enhance individual performance, and designate association professionals who demonstrate the knowledge essential to the practice of association management. Founded in 1960, the CAE program stands as a mark of excellence and has evolved to reflect what it takes to manage an association in today's challenging climate.
If you are interested in sitting for the CAE exam on May 2, 2008, a group study is being offered with your peers. The first meeting of the group will be Sunday, January 27, 2008 from 2:00 p.m.-5:00 p.m.
We will meet every other Sunday until the test date (we may meet more frequently as the test date gets closer) at the Oklahoma Engineering Center, 201 NE 27th St. (28th and Lincoln).
Find out more information about the CAE program and the exam on the ASAE website.
The application deadline to sit for the exam is February 8, 2008.
Please email Tawni Phelan, CMP, for more information and to RSVP for the study course.
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After more than a year in the works, the OSAE Centennial Clock project is now reality. The clock was dedicated during a November 8th ceremony held at 15th and Lincoln Blvd where the OSAE plaza is located. Many OSAE members, state officials, media and representatives from the Oklahoma Centennial Commission were on hand for the unveiling of the $25,000 clock which is one of about 100 clocks that are being dedicated all over the state. Thank you to the many OSAE members who contributed and took part in this important project to celebrate our state's 100th year! Contributing groups have their names listed on the base of the clock tower. Next on tap for OSAE is a landscape project around the new clock that is part of the corridor to the south side of our state capitol, said Kris Sanders, immediate past president and clock project coordinator.
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Craig Buford, CAE, enjoyed two tickets to the Oklahoma Centennial Gala as thanks for bringing in the most new members during our 2007 Centennial Star Memberhsip Drive. Craig, with the Community Bankers Association, is also OSAE’s vice president for membership. He bought in one new Professional Member and one new Affiliate Member. The drive garnered a total of 11 new OSAE members between July and November. Thanks to everyone who participated in this year’s membership drive and be sure to welcome our new members!
November 14, 2008, Waterford Hotel, Oklahoma City -When it comes to the economy, it’s best to keep your emotions out of it. Russ Pyle, Vice President-Senior Financial Advisor, Merrill Lynch, said he’s given that counsel to his clients countless times over the last several months.