Update from the Board
To my GPSEG colleagues--It is my privilege to write to you as the newly elected Chair of the Board of GPSEG. Your Board elected officers for the coming year at an overnight planning meeting this past Friday night and Saturday. The results are:
Rip Tilden - Chair;
Tom Aiken - Vice Chair;
Paul Mitchell - Treasurer;
and Jane Frankel - Secretary.
We spent Friday night and Saturday getting to know each other and discussing a number of key issues and opportunities that GPSEG has before it. This note contains an update on the meeting. We will continue to write you at regular intervals as we go forward so that you remain well informed about GPSEG activities and can take full advantage of all that it has to offer.
We are blessed with a very strong board: Syd Weinstein, Tom Aiken, Paul Mitchell, Jane Frankel, Bill Borton, Richard Marcus, Tony Wojciechowski, Tom Schultz, Anne Robson, Dorothy Stubblebine, Larry Buchwalter and Rip Tilden. You can learn more about each of us by reviewing our backgrounds on the GPSEG website. This group's passion and commitment to the long-term success and importance of GPSEG was evident throughout the weekend. We also benefit from the continuing steady hand, administrative acumen, and common sense of Maureen Waddington, who serves as our administrator and guide. It is incredibly energizing to work with all of them.
In January, Syd Weinstein wrote to you about a number of key topics: The board and elected officers, dues, executive director, and by-laws. We discussed all of these topics, and others, at our meeting. Here are the headlines from our discussion.
Dues -- We are in the midst of a careful examination of the budget for this year, which we expect to finish in the next two weeks. We have the benefit of very helpful input from a newly formed finance committee, formed last month under Syd’s direction, comprised of 15 experienced senior level finance executives who are GPSEG members. A huge thanks to Tom Aiken and Paul Mitchell for their leadership in forming the committee and in guiding us through the details of the budget review. As our treasurer, Paul now chairs that committee, and benefits from the experience of our previous treasurer, Jim Vincenzo, who serves on the committee.
As you know, one of the decisions we must make in finalizing the budget is our level of dues for this coming year. We are sensitive to your concerns about a dues increase, while at the same time ensuring that we meet our fiduciary obligations to sustain the financial health and success of GPSEG. We expect we will increase the dues this year, in part to strengthen our ability to manage the large number of events GPSEG holds annually (last year’s total was about 185). However, please know that your board will keep the level of the increase as low as possible while ensuring that we have adequate financial resources to make this a great year for all of us.
Executive Director – We remain convinced that we need to engage dedicated, professional staff leadership to run the organization, which now includes 1500 members and hosts hundreds of events annually. We are exploring alternative ways to bring that skill and capacity on board. We should have more to say about how we will achieve this objective later this month.
By-laws-- Larry Buchwalter has formed the by-laws committee, as promised, and that team has had its first meeting and begun its work. He has done a terrific job bringing together a group of knowledgeable people from within the GPSEG membership and from outside our organization. Given the importance of its mission, that team needs some time to do its work, and we will keep you informed on its progress in the coming weeks. We remain committed to meeting our objective of delivering the by-laws revisions within the time frame we specified (our target is to have by-laws in place that you have approved by the end of April). You will have the opportunity to fully review the by-laws that the committee proposes and have the final say in their approval or rejection.
Governance – During our weekend meeting, we spent time with Laura Otten, Director of the Non-Profit Center at LaSalle University. She guided us through a very productive discussion about best practices for non-profit boards and we came away with a number of key lessons we will embrace.
Before I close, I want to take this opportunity to thank Syd Weinstein for his leadership and remarkable contributions to GPSEG over many years. Syd has held a wide range of leadership roles, including chairing several key committees, and is one of the visionaries who has helped chart our course from the earliest days of GPSEG's life. In addition to his long service as a committee and sub-group chair, he served as the Vice Chair of the board last year and as Interim Chair of the board in January. We are blessed that he will continue as a board member for all of 2012. His graciousness and passion for GPSEG are assets which benefit all of us.
Finally, lets remember that the real power of GPSEG is the commitment we make to each other -- to help as some of us search for new career opportunities and navigate through the daunting, and sometimes exhausting, job identification and interview process, and to enrich other members as they seek to grow in their current roles. The touches we have with each other daily make a profound difference in hundreds of lives every month. Thanks to you all for bringing that spirit to life every day.
We welcome your continuing participation in GPSEG events, your individual support for each other, and your willingness to volunteer in leadership roles.
Sincerely,
Rip Tilden
Chair, GPSEG
A set of notes from the Interim Chair - January 2012
January 30, 2012
Dear Fellow GPSEG Members:
Continuing our commitment to better communicate with you, I’d like to finish this series of notes by bringing you up to date with what the Board is doing in regards to bylaws and governance. The past notes are all available in the Chairman’s Corner section of the GPSEG web site. The “Chairman’s Corner” is located under the menu’s “About Us” tab.
By-Laws: We want to ensure that as we embark on the path of addressing and reformulating the foundational and governing documents of GPSEG, we do so with the clear intent to have them reflect best practices in the non-profit environment relative to organizations similar to GPSEG and to address valid concerns raised by the membership over the last few months.
To accomplish this, we have become a member of, and retained, The Non-Profit Center of LaSalle University (NPC) to guide us through this process and the best practices in non-profit governance, while taking due consideration of GPSEG’s mission, values and membership. A By-Laws Committee has been formed, chaired by Larry Buchwalter, and additionally manned by Rip Tilden, Bob Madonna, Carolyn Picciotti, Taylor Fernley and Gary Smith. Please review their profiles on the GPSEG web site so you can garner the same comfort from having them on the committee as your Board did.
A lot of thought has been given to committee members, their qualifications and the concomitant potential to develop the best possible outcome. We have also retained Richard Jaffe, Esq. of the law firm Duane Morris (DM) to validate the appropriateness and legality of the documentation. Richard was one of a select group of outside attorneys recommended by Richard Bendis, a member of GPSEG’s Board of Advisors.
Both NPC and DM are providing their services at a fair price that is well within GPSEG’s budget. These services are necessary to ensure that there is not, nor will there be, any hidden agenda or breach of fiduciary duty at any stage during this process. GPSEG’s best interests will be served.
Once the Committee, with the guidance of NPC and DM, has drafted the applicable documents, they will present it to the entire Board for approval. After that occurs we will distribute the proposed By-Laws to all and then hold one or more meetings with as much of the entire GPSEG membership as wishes to attend to answer any questions.
As required in the current by-laws we then will then put them up for a membership vote before implementation. The Committee’s goal is to have approved By-Laws in place by April 30, 2012. This is an aggressive goal, but achievable given the expertise at our disposal and our will to succeed. We will keep membership advised of where we stand in the process at regular intervals.
This is the fourth in a series of notes to you to keep you well informed about developments within GPSEG. The next will appear after our Strategic Planning Session on February 4th. We welcome your feedback, your suggestions for improvement, and your time and talent in helping us to strengthen our organization to make it the premier networking organization in the country.
Looking forward to seeing all of you at a future event,
Syd Weinstein, Interim Chair
GPSEG
January 26, 2012
Dear Fellow GPSEG Members:
Continuing our commitment to better communicate with you, I’d like to bring you up to date on what the Board is doing in regards to the Executive Director decision process. Last time I discussed dues and finances, and next time it will be bylaws and governance.
Executive Director: While we are completing our financial review, we are taking a deep breath on the ED hiring process. We still believe, based upon the prior analysis by the Board, the findings of various strategic planning panels, and repeated feedback from the Leadership Team and membership, that GPSEG will be best served — and poised for future sustained growth and viability — by bringing a professional manager on board.
We intend to examine a variety of alternatives to achieve the most effective management for the organization. As such, we will continue to search for the best ED candidate, but will not commit to a hire until the Board reassures itself and the membership that funding is in place and/or planned for this ongoing financial commitment for at least two years.
We must recognize that the longer we delay in concluding our review and deciding upon a course of action, the more likely it is that current candidates will opt for other positions. So what is the moral of this story? We must act quickly and do the right thing for GPSEG, first and foremost, and for the candidates.
We are working to complete our review of options for dues and professional management by March 31, and will be back in touch with our thinking once we have done that work.
This is the third in a series of notes to you to keep you well informed about developments within GPSEG. As always, we welcome your feedback, your suggestions for improvement, and your time and talent in helping us to strengthen our organization to make it the premier networking organization in the country.
But while you’re waiting, please, stay involved. Volunteer to help a committee or a subgroup.
Looking forward to seeing all of you at a future event,
Syd Weinstein, Interim Chair
GPSEG
January 23, 2012
Dear Fellow GPSEG Members:
Last week I wrote about the Board, Executive Officers and the upcoming strategic planning session. Continuing our commitment to better communicate with you, I’d like to bring you up to date on what the Board is doing in regards to dues and finances. Future letters will cover the executive director decision process, and governance and revision of the bylaws.
Dues: We have been blessed by the dedicated and effective financial leadership of Jim Vincenzo for many years. We are tremendously grateful for Jim's passionate commitment to GPSEG. As a newly elected board, we do feel it is both necessary and healthy to now take a fresh look at our budget. We have directed our interim Treasurer, Tom Aiken, to constitute a Finance Committee comprised of the best available financial minds within GPSEG’s membership to re-review the budget, determine what our finances would permit the organization to do and provide suggestions for improving of GPSEG’s financial status. Of course, another aspect of this review will be to examine all existing and potential sources and uses of income for GPSEG and fine tune our methods for achieving realistic and rationale revenue and expense goals,
To that end, Tom Aiken and Paul Mitchell have recruited members to flesh out the Finance Committee. They intend to meet next week to discuss the treasurer function and finances. We look forward to a robust Finance Committee to assist the Treasurer and the Board.
As we have stated, the Board will clearly and regularly communicate to membership its findings before any action is taken.
This is the second in a series of notes to you to keep you well informed about developments within GPSEG. As always, we welcome your feedback, your suggestions for improvement, and your time and talent in helping us to strengthen our organization to make it the premier networking organization in the country.
But while you’re waiting, please, like those who are volunteering for the Finance committee, get involved. Volunteer to help a committee or a subgroup. We heard voices at the feedback sessions of those willing to help out. Now we need that help.
Looking forward to seeing all of you at a future event,
Syd Weinstein, Interim Chair
GPSEG
January 19, 2012
Dear Fellow GPSEG Members:
GPSEG is the living embodiment of a volunteer organization of senior level executives who, to a person, believe in the credo of “Networking For Life.” We all, including the past and present board, have nothing but the best interests of GPSEG in our hearts and minds, in everything we do and have done. Let’s put the conflagration that began in September behind us, act as the group of senior-level executives that we are, and work together so GPSEG can reach its full potential.
In fulfillment of our commitment to improve communications, I, as the Interim Chair of the Board of GPSEG, want to bring you up to date on steps the board will be taking in the coming weeks to chart the course for your organization. I will do so via a series of letters. This one is about the Board and the election of officers. Future ones will cover dues and Finances, the executive director decision process, and governance and revision of the bylaws.
The Board and Executive Officers: We have gone from a Board of 10 to a Board of 12. It’s not as simple as it sounds. Four members rotated off of the Board. Those four members possess an enormous amount of institutional memory. That leaves six of the former 10 as remaining members. Each brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and dedication to GPSEG, and each has their own areas of expertise.
Monday, January 9, 2012, six new members joined the existing six members on the Board. Going forward 1/3 will rotate off each year –providing for both continuity and progress.
What is the best method for the 12 current Board members to integrate their thought processes about GPSEG and the direction it needs to go? The answer, as in any other organization (be it for-profit or not-for-profit), is to quickly get together and spend a concentrated amount of time with each other. That will enable to Board to build trust, engage in meaningful dialogue, see “the stuff” that each of us is made of, and bring everyone up to date on the results of all of the prior strategic planning sessions of both the Leadership Team and the Board. The most important goal of this experience will be to determine what decisions and actions we must make and take to keep the organization vital and true to its purpose.
Toward this end, on February 4th the new Board will engage in a strategic planning session so that we can address all of the issues before us - intelligently, vibrantly, rationally, and, ultimately, with one voice. One of the goals the Board has set for itself at this strategic planning session is to use the knowledge we gain of each other’s abilities to elect the permanent Executive Officers of GPSEG for the 2012 calendar year.
Because almost all of the former Executive Officers rotated off of the Board, at the January 9 Board meeting, we needed to elect an interim panel of Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary and Treasurer to ensure that the business of GPSEG can continue until the entire Board felt comfortable in its ability to select the best person(s) to fulfill the duties of each position. This will occur on February 4th, with the results will be announced to membership soon after.
This is the first of a series of notes to you to keep you well informed about developments within GPSEG. We welcome your feedback, your suggestions for improvement, and your time and talent in helping us to strengthen our organization to make it the country’s premier networking organization.
I will continue with the next installment next week. But while you’re waiting, please, get involved. Volunteer to help a committee or a subgroup. We heard voices at the feedback sessions of those willing to help out. Now we need that help.
Here's to a successful 2012 for each of you and for GPSEG.
Looking forward to seeing all of you at a future event,
Syd Weinstein, Interim Chair
GPSEG
GPSEG Chairman’s Update – January 2012
I would like to thank Dwayne Patterson for his leadership and thoughtfulness during a time of enormous growth and change at GPSEG. Dwayne was the membership chair throughout most of GPSEG’s history and saw the organization evolve from 200 members to more than 1,200 before turning over that committee’s reins to Dorothy Stubblebine (an incoming board member herself). His positive attitude and devotion to GPSEG is greatly appreciated.
I also wish to thank the other outgoing board members.
First, Roy Hibberd, who worked tirelessly with Chris Pavlides and the original team to define and build GPSEG. As Vice-Chair, Roy became Chair and kept not only GPSEG afloat when we lost our founder, Chris, but built a leadership development system within the board. Roy rose to the occasion and guided GPSEG not only through that transition, but planted the seeds for our future. We are now working to provide an organization-wide pipeline of leaders.
Jim Vincenzo has been the only Treasurer GPSEG has known. That is a record not likely to be equaled. He has kept us fiscally sound, amazingly frugal and compliant. His legacy is the funds we have available for projects such as the revamped Web site and the hiring of a new Executive Director.
And finally, Viktor Ohnjec, our board secretary. Viktor has championed many projects within GPSEG, starting with our co-chaired technology subgroup, as well as member services and professional development committees. For the past few years, he also kept the archives as secretary of the board and corporation.
I’m thrilled to welcome the six new board members who will help chart our future: Tom Aiken, Dorothy Stubblebine, Rip Tilden and Tony Wojciechowski, all for three-year terms; Richard Marcus for a two-year-term; and Tom Schultz for a one-year term. The Board met for the first time on Jan. 9 and, at that meeting, elected a slate of officers. As Chair of the GPSEG board, I have the pleasure of working with Tony Wojciechowski as Vice Chair, Tom Aiken as Treasurer and Jane Frankel as Secretary. Please see this announcement on the website for more information on your new board members.
I am honored to be the next Chair and to serve during this exciting time in our history. We are holding a board retreat Feb. 3rd and 4th to review the strategic plan and the results from the past two years’ planning sessions. The board has a lot of decisions to make, based on your feedback and the results of those sessions, in regards to a revision to the bylaws, hiring of an Executive Director, dues levels, sponsorships, subgroups, and the overall direction of GPSEG. In addition, given the short time frame this year from election to new board there wasn't time to allow the new board to come together, work with each other and discuss their capabilities. As such we decided at the January board meeting to elect officers to serve until we revisit the election of officers at the retreat. When the chair reports on the results of the retreat they will announce the permanent officers for the year.
Look forward to future communications from the chair in regards to progress on all of these initiatives. But while you’re waiting, please, get involved. Volunteer to help a committee or a subgroup. We heard voices at the feedback sessions of those willing to help out. Now we need that help.
Looking forward to seeing all of you at a future event,
Syd Weinstein
Chair and CEO, GPSEG
GPSEG Chairman's Update - Thanksgiving 2011
You recently received an update about the enormous growth our organization has experienced and the opportunities we all have as we celebrate GPSEG’s upcoming 10th anniversary. We’ve reached a membership size that has begun to have a significant impact on the business community in our region. Combine this level of visibility with the demographic profile of GPSEG and it’s easy to envision the continued growth and success we will achieve.
Our goal is to enable you to build the quality and effectiveness of your personal network and enhance your professional life. The hiring of a full-time Executive Director is a key element in a strategy aimed at facilitating that goal. It is also a defining step forward for GPSEG. A full time, professional leader will channel and focus the efforts and actions of the organization and carry GPSEG on to the next level. The search for our first Executive Director is well under way and we hope to have someone in the role within the next two months.
Other elements of our strategy include expanding our geography and connecting with Northern New Jersey. We will pursue the expansion of our sub-group network in terms of both content and geography, offering more connections for all of us. Our corporate mentoring program will provide access and opportunity for members to demonstrate their leadership skills within some of the region’s major employers.
We are actively working on alliances with other groups to expand our opportunities to connect. Our long standing association with Chem-Pharma is an example of the power of linking groups to provide more touch points with other industry professionals. We are currently engaged in discussions with other groups to further broaden our reach. We hope to include the university system in this outreach as we have some of the Nation’s premier educational institutions within our territory.
We also plan to offer new services and benefits that will add value to the membership. We are negotiating subscription discounts to area business publications and are working on arrangements for free, member access to fee-based, business information and job search websites. We hope to announce some of these deals in the very near future. We envision the GPSEG website to serve as the portal to information directories and many other services that facilitate and accelerate the job search process.
Highlighting GPSEG’s 10th anniversary will be a re-branding of our organization to capture the full essence of who we are and where we are headed. We have an exciting concept that will showcase and promote this great organization. We hope to unveil these plans over the next few weeks.
To accomplish these goals, GPSEG membership dues must rise. Over the past six months, we held many meetings and discussions with Board and Leadership Team members and outside advisors. We developed numerous budget scenarios and reviewed several alternatives to increase revenue. We looked at sponsorships, tiered dues structures and other variations to raise funds. This was not a task that we took lightly and we approached it with strong sense of responsibility to all members. In the end, we concluded that a dues increase was not only important for us today, but essential to our future. Securing our financial footing today will provide for our long term viability and growth.
Beginning January 1, 2012, the dues will be moved to $300 annually, effective on each member’s next renewal date. The new member application process will include a non-refundable fee of $100, effective with applications received after December 31, 2011. There is no increase planned for sub-group meeting fees as these meetings are priced to reach break-even. This will be just the second increase in the 10 year existence of GPSEG, but one that is necessary for us to fulfill our goals.
The value that GPSEG brings to its members is high and we are confident that our strategy will provide more value to your membership and enhance your experiences in a very positive way. We remain one of the most affordable, volunteer-run organizations anywhere and with your support, we will continue on this path. Thank you for being a part of this wonderful organization.
Please see the FAQ sheet for more information. As always, your comments and thoughts are welcome and appreciated.
Sincerely,
Dwayne Patterson
Chairman and CEO, GPSEG
GPSEG Chairman's Update - Fall 2011
We’ve had an exciting and successful 2011 thus far, growing our membership and presenting high-quality networking events that provide the unique environment that can only be found in GPSEG. I hope that your individual experiences have been valuable and personally rewarding as well.
We will soon be celebrating our 10th anniversary and our once-modest organization now boasts over 1,500 members, with 18 subgroups supported by 13 committees and a Leadership Team of 52 dedicated volunteers. From modest beginnings, GPSEG has risen to become one of the premier networking organizations in the country having hosted over 180 live meetings and events in the past year alone. This is a huge number of members to serve and an equally large amount of events to organize. With the addition of members in northern New Jersey, there is significant opportunity for more sub-groups and Power Breakfast locations throughout the region.
But GPSEG has come to a crossroads. As a networking organization, our growth has been unprecedented. To address this, we began holding regular planning and feedback sessions as early as 2008, and soon after introduced an annual survey to provide every member with a voice. Our planning became more formal this year as we held a number of half-day, facilitated sessions to build a strategic plan for the organization. We began by updating the Vision Statement of the organization:
GPSEG is the premier networking organization for senior-level executives, affording members a unique environment to build trusted business relationships, expand their knowledge and advance their careers. Our members are highly regarded for their generosity and passion for serving each other and the community.
To continue building the brand and providing new and more valuable services to our membership, we have begun the search for a full-time Executive Director. This is a very exciting move forward for GPSEG, particularly when you consider the untapped potential this organization has in its grasp. A full-time Executive Director will enable us to grow the quality and impact of the organization and capitalize on the abundant opportunities that will increase the value of membership for each of us.
We are very confident that the strategy will enable you to chart your own professional development and fulfillment through the organization in a way most meaningful to you.
Please stay tuned as we will communicate more elements of the plan over the next few weeks. Thank you for your continuing support.
Sincerely,
Dwayne Patterson
Chairman and CEO, GPSEG