What a busy month May was. First it was New York at the Association of Wall-Ceiling & Carpentry Industries’ Annual Awards Dinner. It was a fantastic event, made more so because one of the honorees was Michael Weber, a past president of AWCI and a very good friend of mine. Congratulations, Michael.
Next I was off to Palm Springs, Calif., for the Northwest Wall & Ceiling Contractors’ Association convention and trade show at the beautiful Ranch Las Palmas Resort in Rancho Mirage, Calif. This is truly a magical place of palm trees and perfect weather with a backdrop of the San Jacinto Mountains. And the streets are named after movie stars!
The final trip in May was a visit with the Architectural Contractors Trade Association in Michigan for their annual awards presentation—another great event.
Since this is my last President’s Message I would like to take a moment to express my gratitude to the following: the membership for allowing me the privilege of serving as your 80th president; the board of directors, which has diligently served and contributed so much time; the committee chairmen and their members who are such an important part of the AWCI; the dedicated AWCI staff and AWCI Executive Vice President/CEO Steven Etkin, all of whom have done a remarkable job guiding this association through these difficult times; and, last but not least, the officers of AWCI’s executive committee, who all have become close friends I have enjoyed working with.
Just when you start becoming comfortable with this position, you begin to realize that the journey is about to end. I am sure I am not the first to feel this way, nor will I be the last. This is probably a common thought for all the 79 presidents who preceded me. So, when French composer Michel Legrand composed the song “How Do You Keep the Music Playing?,” he was obviously talking about keeping a relationship going. Well, in my mind that will be easily accomplished by staying engaged with the AWCI and all the friends and business associates that Nancy and I have made along the way. And we will look forward to the new relationships in the future. Remember, as the song goes, “try every day to make it better”—because construction will never end.
Thank you all for making this past year a sincere pleasure and forever memorable!
Warmest regards,
Jeff
In addition to being the 2012–2013 president of the Association of the Wall and Ceiling Industry, Burley is president of B&B Interior Systems, Inc. in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
