Message from the EMFA President

MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT OF EFMA Chuck Morris

Being bound by the Societies Act, we cannot allow much time to elapse without holding our AGM (should be held every 12 months). Normally, this is not an issue as we meet for our annual conference in Penticton each June and hold our AGM during this time frame. Enter COVID-19.

We were running out of time, so we decided to hold our AGM and elections on September 25 via Zoom. There was a lot of preparation for the event. It was decided that eight of us would attend on site at the Penticton Conference Centre because they offered up a room with ample space for physical distancing. The Conference Centre also supplied a large screen and projector to allow the Executive to see the Zoom participants in a controlled environment.

We met on Thursday afternoon after an Executive meeting so we could do a dry run. It turned out to be several dry runs as we found a number of glitches that had to be sorted out. That helped because during the AGM we only had one, a sound issue on our end which was rectified within 10 minutes.

Voting was carried out with the software tallying votes and motions as we moved through the meeting. The short version is that the AGM and all Executive meetings we held went well. Thank you to those who managed to Zoom in (we had a quorum!) to help us carry this out.

In the Conference Centre, we needed to ensure we wore our masks, sanitized our hands, and practiced physical distancing as much as possible. Thanks to those present who recognized the importance of this and allowed us to move forward.

A short byte of history for our newer members: I am not a newcomer to the Association or the Executive. I spent seven years serving on the Executive culminating with my Presidency in 2007/2008.

I have always said that I like challenges and yes, this next year will be a challenge as we deal with COVID-19. Not to worry. We have a number of things on the go including some education through webinars that will not eat up a huge amount of your time, a new website with a Members Only section, and a blog with other features on the new site.

I am excited and look forward to moving us along through these uncertain times. We are strong and, with all of you, we can move mountains. Our goal is to support our members (you!), share information, and bring innovative ideas forward as we all work to support the districts we work in.

If you have an idea about something, send it to me. Let’s talk about it and maybe bring it to fruition!

I am your President and, simply stated, I will work for and communicate to you. I am excited about this coming year and the challenges it holds for all of us. Let’s work together and move this Association forward with all of our ideas and suggestions. We have a great executive team and they will shine!

Thank you. n

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