It is hard to believe that 2012 is already coming to an end. It has been a great privilege to serve as your CCIM chapter president. We will be in great hands in 2013 as Fred Petrella makes his return as chapter president. I would like to thank the entire 2012 board of directors for their unwavering support, and a special thank you to Shelley Dorsio and Lilly Duka. You have no idea how much they do for this chapter until you have the pleasure of working with them directly.
Since the September newsletter, we attended the annual meetings in Las Vegas. After spending a great deal of time making the necessary changes, we were able to have our revised chapter bylaws approved by the institute. When you see your CCIM renewal application, you will notice that we initiated unified dues billing, which will allow you to pay one check for both your national and chapter dues. We hope you find value in our chapter and encourage you to respond to the survey that was sent out recently. Please let us know if you need it sent to you again. We want to make sure that we are delivering programs that you find beneficial to your business.
Our chapter held our annual meeting and inauguration dinner at Il Palio in Shelton last month. We had about 25 designees, candidates, affiliates and guests join us. The 2013 slate of chapter officers were sworn in by 2013 CCIM Institute president Wayne D'Amico. Joining the board for the first time are Gary Bellard, Joel Witkiewicz, Mike Guidicelli, Dave Almeida and Gus Ryer. We are very fortunate to have this group join us.
We also had our holiday reception in November at Billy T's in Cromwell. Not only was Wayne able to join us, but our 2012 CCIM Institute president Leil Koch also came. Leil toured the northeast for a few days before he made his way to New York for the ICSC conference the following week. We were very pleased with the event and recommend you keep your eyes out for next year's reception.
Joel Witkiewicz will continue as our chapter legislative liaison for 2013. If you hear of any news that you think Joel should track, please contact him atjoel.l.witkiewicz@snet.net.
In closing, if you have any ideas for programs or events you'd like to help us plan, let any of us on the board know. We are always looking for new volunteers and new ideas for the chapter members to truly make this a benefit for you and your business.

Thank you for the opportunity to lead this wonderful organization over the past year. I encourage all of you to become involved. It really is an incredible opportunity to grow both professionally and personally.


Steve Patten, CCIM, is the 2012 president of CCIM.