Well, it’s now been just a little over a month since the
Performance Awards evening at Telford when our Immediate Past President, Gordon
Heath, handed over the Presidential duties to yours truly. Gordon, as with all
Past Presidents, set the bar high in terms of how they have served the
Institute in their year and it’s quite a daunting task taking over,despite
having 2 years to prepare for stepping into the role.
My first official duty was to attend the Association
Representatives meeting at 10am the following morning. After a typically late
night in the bar catching up with friends and colleagues from the world of revenues
and benefits it’s probably fair to say that I was there in body if not necessarily
totally in spirit. However, the work of Associations is something which I
wholeheartedly support, particularly as a means of keeping members informed,
attracting new members and providing vital opportunities for people of all ages
and abilities to become more involved with the Institute. If it hadn’t been for
a speaker dropping out of an Association meeting, I would not have been asked
to fill the slot and wouldn’t have met the then President (Carol Cutler), subsequently
asked to speak at the national conference and probably wouldn’t be the
President today.
Following that duty it was a relatively quiet few weeks
until the first regional dinner i.e. the Yorkshire dinner. I’d like to record
my thanks to the Association president, Matthew, and the Executive Committee
for their hospitality during the evening. Never have I seen quite so much
cheese on one plate nor have I heard so many cheese related jokes!
Yesterday saw the second Association dinner in Chesterfield
for the East Midlands Association. It’s good to see how differently each
Association organises their dinner. Yes, there are the usual thank you’s,
particularly to our very generous Sponsors, but whereas the Yorkshire dinner
saw a turn from a French singer (actually from Skipton), the East Midlands saw Institute
members and guests schooled in the art of Saturday night bingo! Sadly, I didn’t win but I did have a most
enjoyable evening and would like to thank the Association President, Claire,
and the Exec, particularly Andrew who did a stirling job as the resident bingo
caller.
I must say I was looking forward to a little rest and
relaxation after recently spending 3 days teaching students on the Autumn
Revision Course and a further day on the Day Release course not to mention
fitting in the day job and an excellent dinner hosted by the President of the
Rating Surveyor’s Association – Mr Tom Emlyn-Jones.
There are a number of themes emerging during my first weeks
as President, including a Celtic Connection, with Tom’s grandmother hailing
from the same part of South Wales as myself. However, it’s the Celts north of
the border that I will be visiting shortly as I’m attending the Scottish
Benefits conference in Grangemouth next week.
So, until next time ……
