As our summer comes to a close and the kids go back to school we find ourselves ready to “Fall…into Fall!” Now, we all realize our summers in central Texas last well into September but we also know that soon we’ll get a break from the days in the 90’s, feel a cool front rolling in and open the windows to enjoy a change of the seasons. September brings us football season as well and we get to see our favorite teams, and their new recruits, compete on the gridiron. It’s this process of the new recruit, and how they contribute to the success of the team, that can also be true for members of a volunteer association board, such as MPI. 

Even though the board terms start in July, we as a chapter start recruiting and putting together the next year's board in the fall in order to have the board slate ready in the new year. Considering we’re now beginning fall of 2022, this is a particular moment in time regarding our conference industry jobs, where we are all putting the quarantine behind us as we “get back out there,” and can once again start being involved in industry meetings and events. This also means taking advantage of the benefits of MPI-THCC and to consider serving on the chapter board of directors. Many times there are interested members that have unanswered questions or thoughts about what board service for your MPI Texas Hill Country Chapter might be like and I wanted to share the following points with you just to perhaps satisfy some curiosities:

• You don’t have to wait on someone to nominate you, you can nominate yourself
• Apply for as many board positions as you’re interested in
• Encourage your industry friends to apply and you can serve with someone you’d enjoy working with
• No, it's not like having an “extra” job and you will have plenty of time for your job, your family, your kids etc. It’s simply not that demanding
• With MPI any active membership type can be chapter president, we don’t discriminate!
• The nominations committee will interview you and walk you through everything regarding the board positions you’re interested in
• You might be recruited by a current or past board member – please know that this means they know you’ll be great and they want to serve with you
• You don’t have to have any previous chapter experience to serve on the board
• If you think “I don’t know anyone in the chapter”, this is a GREAT way to get involved
• You will indeed learn new skills that will help you in your job right away
• Each year’s board is unique with returning members and new members
• You will feel, witness and experience a sense of accomplishment in seeing the successes of your contributions
• You will have fun and lots of it
• You will indeed make lifelong friends with some of your fellow board members

The time is now to think about next year’s 2023-2024 board term. Just know that you will learn a lot and be very glad you did it!  Board nominations information will be coming out soon. Please contact myself or any current or past board member if you have questions, we’d love to have you involved!