September always reminds me of new beginnings.  Traditionally, this is when the new school year began. In my day the first day of school was always after the Labor Day holiday.  These days it seems as if school begins in the middle of the summer.

There was such excitement for me – opening up the fresh new supplies of notebook paper, pens, and pencils.  My mother and I would take the bus downtown Houston to shop for new clothes.  What fun!  There was the anticipation of the new teacher, new classes, reacquainting with former friends and relaying our summer stories, and the expectation of making new friends.  I tended to make some resolutions too – keeping the grades up, making a commitment to be truly interested in my studies that year, and getting more involved with school activities. 

Our NAPM meeting year begins in September too.   We welcome back our colleagues from last year.  We look forward to seeing new faces.  Not surprisingly, most of us anticipate what the new Board will be like too.   What happened during the summer months?   What do we have ahead of us in the next few months?    To what extent can I participate this year?

Here’s something we haven’t done before.  How about a bowling event?  Lucky Strike Bowling is an upscale, downtown venue that is not your run-of-the-mill bowling alley.  This place is swanky and very sophisticated.  What a great opportunity to meet your board, mingle, network and perhaps join a committee.   Remember, you will get so much more out of your membership if you get involved.   Our Special Activities committee is working through details and will have date secured – some time late October - and will announce it at our September general meeting.

We are still working diligently on getting our name change finalized.  There’s quite a bit of paperwork involved, but in the next few months, we will have authority to use the ISM-Houston designation.  I know we are excited to get this done, but we’ll try to be patient as the Name Change Committee pulls it all together.   Until then, we are still NAPM-Houston. 

Thanks to all to attended the June installation.  I appreciate the kind words of support and welcome any suggestions to make this association work better for you.  We want to continue to live up to our status as Affiliate of the Year and we have a group of dedicated board members and committee chairs that will do everything possible to bring you the most value for your money and time.


Regards
 

Jo Ann Prazak, C.P.M.
President
NAPM - Houston Inc
281-423-0343
JoAnn.Prazak@SwiftEnergy.com