President’s Message – New Year and New Decade

Happy New Year and New Decade, EFBC!

Holy smokes, it’s 2020 already! I thought we were all supposed to be living in outer space and traveling the galaxy like in Star Trek or Lost in Space (Sci-Fi TV shows, for those of the younger generation) by now.

Well back here on planet EFBC things are looking good for 2020. I just received a handy dandy save-the-date letter with some of the awesome programs and events for this year. EFBC Members: you should have received one in the mail as well. There’s lots of good stuff, so take a look, pass it around in your company and give others a look at the upcoming events.

Many of your Forums have had visits from members of the Board or the Executive Committee. They’re reaching out and asking for member referrals and I hope you can please take a moment and pass along referrals. If you have someone who may be a future EFBC member, we have an upcoming panel event on Wednesday, February 12^th. This will give those prospective members an idea of the kinds of shared experience we all learn from in Forum and as a member of this organization. We also have an upcoming seminar on Relational Negotiations on Thursday, February 20 where we’ll learn effective negotiation strategies.

I am proud of the leadership and staff of EFBC for all the hard work crafting a vision for our future as we celebrate 25 years as an organization, while not losing sight of our history and mission.

I thought it would be appropriate for this newsletter’s Rock and Roll quotation to come from one of the best Drummers ever… Neil Peart from Rush. Rush was my favorite band growing up (they’re rock music legends from Canada). Neil was a world-renowned drummer, lyricist, writer and all-around great person. Neil Peart retired from drumming three years ago and lost a battle with brain cancer on January 7^th 2020 at the age of 67.

“A spirit with a vision is a dream with a mission…”

-Neil Peart