In a continuation of the short series on my 17-year AMOA Board experience, which is rapidly approaching its conclusion this October at the Expo, I want to reflect on the AMOA Board meetings. The mid-year board meetings have always been my favorite time of year. There are two board meetings every year, one a few days in advance of the AMOA show in the fall, and then another in the first quarter of each year. These are the only two times the entire board gets together each year. The meeting at the Expo in the fall is totally different than the meeting in the spring. There is so much to do just before the convention that everyone is extremely busy with show preparations. The vast majority of the AMOA's entire year's budget is generated from booth sales at the Expo so the order of the day is to run the business of the show.
The meeting in the winter is much different. When possible you want to bring your wife (or husband or friend), if not the entire family, depending on where the meeting is located. We've held them just prior to the ASI show, and we've held them at vacation destination resorts. The trend seems to be that we alternate every few years. It's technically the sitting president's decision where the meeting is held, but Lord help the AMOA President that doesn't listen to the input from his board of directors. Most people in the industry know about the AMOA winter meetings, but what most don't know is that each director is responsible for his own expenses. Cost is always an issue, as is the time commitment. The balance is delicate.
For better or worse, the entire board, 48 members strong are all necessary to make a major policy decision. The two meetings per year serve this purpose. The first few days are all committee meetings. They run all day, one right after another. Then, on the third day, we have the board meeting itself, which is usually four to five hours long. We have social events in the evenings where everyone gets together. Those are some of my fondest memories. The AMOA Board is comprised of some of the most successful and intelligent operators and distributors in our industry. Getting to know so many of them, and seeing them regularly twice a year for 17 years, have been career highlights for me. Some of my best friendships can be traced to my AMOA relationships. I can remember a few of the meetings where departing was tough. To be fair, not all of them were tough to leave, but most of them.
Every seven years or so the meeting would be held in Hawaii. We haven't been there for years, but that's more a reflection of the state of the industry. About 10 years ago the meeting was last held in Maui. A funny story came out of that meeting; funny unless you are me. I'll tell the story so that if you know any of the players involved, you should beware. They take no prisoners, as you will see.
I was alone at dinner with AMOA Directors Craig Johnson, R.A. Green, Jim Hayes, and their spouses. I think the restaurant name was Longhi's. A nice enough Italian restaurant on the main drag in Maui. Significant to the story is that at the time I was very recently divorced and by all rights, damaged goods. Our waitress was a very nice looking woman who was very friendly. When you're a male and you're recently divorced, and a woman is friendly to you, you're shopping for rings. She was probably just as friendly to everyone else, but I especially remember her looking at me. I can remember her saying, "What can I get you for dinner, Sir?" The thought gives me goose bumps.
Half way through dinner I excuse myself for the men's room. I returned to the table to find a neatly tucked note under my napkin from the waitress. She wanted to meet me later, after dinner. The note made some reference to finding me attractive and wanting to get to know me. Wow, was this too good to be true? I quickly looked around the table and luckily no one had noticed her slip the note to me. What luck. The general table conversation continued. The rest of the dinner it was me looking at her, smiling. She was looking at me, smiling back. What a couple we must have made that night. I had to have a conversation with her to plan the evening, I thought. How can I do that without the rest of my party noticing? My plan was to shake my married dinner companions and spend the rest of the evening with Miss Hawaiian Tropic.
No less than an hour later, I excuse myself again. This time I'm headed around the corner to the waitress station to coordinate with my new blond Hawaiian friend. Luckily, we met at the hostess station and I, with my best James Bond move, thanked her for the note, complimented her on her creativity and agreed that I too would like to do something with her after dinner. For a brief moment I though maybe she didn't speak English. A look of dismay came over her face. It was that look you get when you see someone you think you know and say hello but it turns out not to be somebody else. "Are you talking to me?" the look says. So I glance back at my table, and there are my dinner companions, my friends, on the floor laughing harder than you can imagine. You've figured it out by now. She had no idea what I was talking about and wanted absolutely nothing to do with me at all. But the authors of the note were still on the floor. I didn't talk to a woman for months after that experience.
That night was certainly a memorable experience. There are, of course,
many more memories where that one came from and many of them better for
me both personally and professionally. But it's one of those great stories
that I wouldn't have been able to share with you had it not been for my
participation in AMOA and my attendance at the winter board meeting that
year. Just think what getting involved in AMOA could do for you.