Greetings!
What an honor it has been to be a part of the Host City chapter that put on Forum 2011!
For those of you unable to attend, here's a quick summary:
Thursday Night's president's dinner was a Smashing Success thanks to the efforts of Lorene Flewellen and her team. We busted out the china, silver, and crystal (only one officially "busted!) for out guests who gorged on fabulous African kebabs prepared by "chef Jim" (Lorene's husband), delicious dips (by Lorene ... and others??), veges and cheeses (from Judy), and desserts (that June only had to stop by Twice to deliver!). The dinner set the tone for the weekend of fun and friendship amongst the chapters.
Friday we kicked off meetings for the presidents and members of the national board, all whom gathered for a joint session at 1pm before officially opening the Forum at 2. All the while Sherrie Wenzel was both overseeing the registration desk (who started working on Thursday to ensure badges, gifts, and literature were all ready for attendees' arrival) and figuring out the audio/visual with Tom Trowbridge from the PNW chapter. Thanks to all who manned the desk, and to Sherrie and Tom for giving us sound and vision throughout the Forum.
Kathy Summers and Patti Voras came up with awesome gifts for attendees (luggage scales), as well as the board and speakers (these were generously donated by Micato Safaris).
Saturday we enjoyed several interesting programs, learned the new direction National would like to take the organization (more on that at the next meeting), and FINALLY got to figure out Who Dun It, compliments of Ron and Joni Cohen. The Murder Mystery Dinner was a huge success and people were very nearly rolling on the floor with laughter!
For photos of the forum visit APTA.Shutterfly.com (http://apta.shutterfly.com/pictures/244). All photos are the work of ineshaustable Joni Cohen who zoomed around the entire Forum, shooting meetings, people, chapters, suspects, and occasionally a few guilty people :)
Finally, the last name to be mentioned is the person who has put in hours and hours of effort from the moment National asked for bids from the various chapters: Lynda Garrison-Carlton. Lynda: I hope you had a good rest on Sunday -- it was well-deserved!
For those with a Snapfish account, Joni has also uploaded the photos [ click here for Snapfish ] :
Thanks again to all who made this Forum a success! If I've failed to mention you by name, my apologies... there are no intentional exclusions. I look forward to seeing everyone at our upcoming Fall / Winter presentations!
Lisa
2011 APTA National Forum Declared a Success!