The leftovers are finally gone, the tree put on the curb and the holiday party season is now complete. Time to get back to work as we all pray for a continued recovery (I guess that's what we're calling it) to a prosperous 2015. I find myself amidst all this excitement and now the proud president of your Greater Hartford BOMA local. I have been on the board for over seven years and have hopefully learned from my predecessors the art of leading this group. I hope I can do half as well as them. I've had a few roles in my past, including as the owner at a multi-hopsital network, but currently as the healthcare principal and leader of the Hartford office for Fletcher Thompson Architects. You'll find my perspective may be slightly different than some of recent presidents, but I hope my experience will certainly help to guide and facilitate great things in the near future. If you know me at all, you'll know that one of my favorite phrases is "apathy sucks." I think I've even said it at one of the golf tournaments or a TOBY event. I won't be afraid to ask for your help, and I hope you'll find it compelling enough to join me in the fun. I know its been said a hundred times by a hundred people, but it is so true: "you only get out of it what you put into it." Why are you involved in BOMA? * Your boss made you do it? * It looks good on your resume? * You wanted to make connections that could help your business? * You enjoy information sharing and the commradere? If your answer was one of the first two, we'll continue of course to take your dues, but it does nobody any good. If it was one of the last two, to really make a difference, please consider becoming more involved. I'll admit, I first started years ago because my boss made me do it. But now that I'm the boss, I see the benefits ten fold on what my involvement has brought to me personally. As I now jump off my soap box (thanks for indulging the rookie), I want to thank and welcome our new board members Cindy Huevldt from CBRE (secretary) and Edward Riccio from Hines (director) for joining us on our journey. The rest of the existing board members and committee members, also fantastic, can be found on our website www.bomahartford.com. Also found on our website are all the upcoming programs we'll be offering this year. We're starting this month with a tour of the revamped Civic Center before cheering on the newest big league offering of the UConn sports program, as the hockey team takes on Merrimack. The preeminent golf tournament of the industry will again be hosted at Avon CC on July 7th and the fall will see the TOBY awards back. The months in between will be filled with tours and other highly educational networking events. Speaking of education, the highly anticipated High Performance classes will be offered this spring. It appears some scholarships will be available to help offset the costs (thanks to the aforementioned golf tournament), especially if your employer does not cover them. As Wes Nicoll, the immediate past president has previously mentioned, you can find information on this web page http://www.bomi.org/Students/high-performance-management.aspx Of course all these exciting programs would be difficult to offer if not for our continued benefactors support. I would like to thank all of our great 2014 sponsors for their ongoing support and I hope they will continue in 2015. Gold Sponsors - Griffin Land and EMCOR Services/ New England Mechanical Services. Silver Sponsors - Premier Maintenance, Siemens Industries and Otis Elevator. Bronze Sponsors - ACRE Group, Apollo International, Belfor, Fletcher Thompson, KS Partners, OFS Corporation, Pullman & Comely, ServPro of Hartford County, Simplex Grinnell, Starwood Retail Partners/ Blue Back Square, and Wattsaver Lighting Products. We appreciate everything that they do for us. I would also like to encourage anyone else who is interested to please consider becoming an annual sponsor for BOMA Greater Hartford this year. It is the best opportunity to highlight your company to the other members, receive free passes to monthly meetings, and to financially support your organization. We have many different sponsorship opportunities, including monthly program sponsorship, and of course, the major events. Happy 2015, please join a committee, get involved and make your Greater Hartford BOMA as strong as it can be. BOMA Strong. Ron Goodin is the president of BOMA Greater Hartford, and is with Fletcher Thompson Architects, Hartford, Conn.