Dear GTC IFMA members,

This is the last President’s Message that I’ll be writing to you…my term ends on July 1 and the GTC IFMA President-Elect, Justin Barber, will be writing his own President’s Message to you next month.  Thank you for the opportunity to serve you as GTC IFMA President this year…I’ve learned so much and met so many people; it’s been a great experience!

We’ve accomplished a lot!  Our theme this past year was “Extreme Engagement” and I feel our Chapter represented it very well.  We have more people involved in a wider variety of ways…all toward the same purpose: making IFMA and the Greater Triangle Chapter, the best that it can be.  We’ve added philanthropic events, we’ve toured, we’ve changed our meeting venue, we’ve had an awesome variety of speakers, and we’ve gotten “stuff” done.  We gave over $15,000 in scholarships, we hosted a golf tournament, added a fundraiser for the SPCA, and we assisted the Charlotte IFMA Chapter with their hosting of World Workplace, proving to the rest of the USA that North Carolina is a great place to live and work.

Keep up the good work!  Let the GTC IFMA Board know what it takes to keep you extremely engaged.  If you’re a Professional Member who has gone temporarily inactive, come back!   There are lots of new initiatives that are in the nascent stages of organization, especially pertaining to the education of future Facility Managers.  Your expertise in the field is needed!

I’d like to thank our current Board Members: Vice President, Justin Barber; Treasurer, Angel Bond; Secretary, Haley Hough and Immediate Past President, Robert Sunukjian.  Special thanks to Connie Drake, Past President, for being there whenever we had a question and for spearheading our WWP efforts in Charlotte.  Kudos to our Committee Chairs and Co-Chairs for doing a fantastic job in keeping our activities fresh and timely.  Our IFMA “jobs” are made so much easier due to the support we get from our Administrators, Candi McDowell and Tamara Tinker; a great big thank you to them as well!

In my first President’s Message I said we were going to have a great year, and we certainly did!  Here’s hoping that next year will be even better!

Cris Karasek
President 2018-2019