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ACE Update – March 2017

    Message from the President
    RFP Available for Future Management of ACE
    Upcoming Webinars

Message from the President

Twenty-three months ago, conference planner Debbie Hagenmaier and ACE executive director Holly Young stepped through the glass doors, held open by an extroverted doorman, into the Hotel Monteleone in New Orleans.

One of the hotel’s marketing personnel would take them through the marbled halls, with shiny floors that dared visitors to take off their shoes and slide like actor Tom Cruise in whatever movie that was (to my knowledge, Hagenmaier and Young did not).

They were shown guest rooms, dining areas, and facilities available for conferences. Two distinct areas are rooms above, beneath each other, with large glass windows looking east, I think, providing a vista of New Orleans and the bend of the meandering Mississippi River. Rooms that look perfect for networking, relaxing after a day of sessions, or for hosting a couple of those sessions. I want to enjoy those at some point during the conference.      

They were told during Hurricane Katrina electrical service was nonexistent at times, and with no street lights under a moonless sky and with nothing visible to the eye after a few feet, armed hotel personnel guarded the Monteleone against looting.

The structure was a 64-room hotel in 1886 when Sicilian immigrant and shoemaker Antonio Monteleone bought it at the corner of Royal and Iberville streets. The family is into its fifth generation of ownership, and Katrina with all its force didn’t inflict ownership change. 

The ACE board approved the location for the 2017 conference in 2015. Since then, Jennifer Alexander of Oregon State University and Tobie Blanchard of Louisiana State University have led a committee that has, element by element, built the conference, the committee meeting monthly, with subcommittees also meeting month by month.  They’ve worked diligently and hard to provide membership with a conference they hope, and the theme suggests, renews in whatever sense of the word you may need.        

The conference is June 13-16. I hope you are able to join others across ACE Nation to enjoy the setting created for you.  Registration begins this month.

If you have comments or questions about anything ACE, please don’t hesitate to contact me or any board member. Individual contact information is here.

 - Steve Miller, ACE President

RFP available for future management of ACE

Earlier this month, the Request for Proposals (RFP) developed by the ACE board for future management of ACE was distributed broadly to management associations, individuals and land-grant institutions that might be interested in providing management services to ACE starting in June 2018.

The RFP is quite extensive, seeking to consolidate many of the organization’s current support services into one contract agreement. The RFP also outlines some of the goals for ACE, such as the need to continue to grow the membership and begin a new strategic planning process for the organization.

Proposals for management will be accepted until April 3, 2017.  After that time a committee consisting of Suzanne Steel, Elizabeth Gregory North, Mary Wirth, Beth Forbes, Becky Koch, and LaRochelle Smith will review the proposals and make recommendations to the ACE board regarding submissions that should receive further consideration.

You can see the complete RFP at the ACE website. For those who may have more questions or would simply like to let the committee know your thoughts on the future management of ACE, you may direct questions or comments to Suzanne Steel at steel.7@osu.edu

 - Beth Forbes, Membership Director

Upcoming Webinars

How to Become a Leader and Influencer, No Matter Your Title
Thursday, March 23 at 3pm EDT / 2pm CDT / 12noon PDT
https://learn.extension.org/events/3039

VidIQ: YouTube Video Analytics
Tuesday, March 28 at 3pm EDT / 2pm CDT / 12noon PDT
https://learn.extension.org/events/3040

- Victor Villegas, Professional Development Director

Send submissions, upcoming webinars and ideas to forbes@purdue.edu.

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