A big thanks to everyone who came out to the inaugural meeting of the GTA Chapter on Wednesday night. Admittedly, I was a little overwhelmed with the distances many drove to be there. I think the farthest distance was a 3 hour drive from Landsdowne, but there were many others who drove 90 minutes or more, coming from as far as London, Barrie, St. Catharines and Peterborough. It was an honour to welcome you all.
We had a great turnout (78 ) and a full itinerary with 3 key speakers: Lorne Steiner, CEO Porter Valley Software, Nick Gromicko (who needs no other introduction) and Carlos Bauta, President, IBS Worldwide. Thank you to all of our speakers, who made the night an entertaining and educational experience.
A special thanks to Maureen Wood and her husband Bob from Town & Country Home Inspections for their generous offer of help. They really helped to make the reception run smoothly.
Thank you to my wife, Danielle. Though I have very little experience talking to large groups of people, my wife kept me from hiding in the pantry! Truly, her confidence in me kept me in the room and motivated to keep going.
Here are a few of my highlights of the evening:
- Tyrone Wheeler from Guaranteed Residential Inspections, Barrie, Ontario gave an impromptu pep talk on the explosive growth he’s experiencing in his business. He’s been in business since 2004 and already he has multiple inspectors and performed over 600 inspections personally last year! Phenomenal and inspiring… especially to a newbie like me.
- Incredible comaraderie. I’ve been working for a lot of years in other lines of business, and I’ve never enjoyed being in a room with my competition so much!
- Wonderful to meet and mingle with members of other associations (ASHI, OAHI, AHIT) who came out to enjoy the evening and share best practices.
- The wonderful staff at our banquet facility. Mary and Kim made sure everyone had everything they needed in a fast and courteous way. It was truly a pleasure working with them.
In closing, I look forward to seeing everyone who came at a future chapter meeting and welcome any newcomers.
Thanks for your support,