Even though summer doesn’t technically start until June 21, I, like many of you, count all of June and sometimes May in this season. And by that measure, HARDI has had a busy summer so far.

Cooling season is starting to heat up, baseball season is in full swing, and I don’t have another pun off the top of my head. But, I tell you what, I could not be prouder of the direction of our industry and HARDI so far this year.

Shortly after assuming the HARDI presidency in December, I sent copies of the book “The Ideal Team Player” by Patrick Lencioni to all of HARDI’s staff members at the organization’s headquarters in Columbus, Ohio. I had asked everyone on the team to read the book before I visited the HARDI office in early February for the new board member orientation and meeting.

Last year, HARDI hit new milestones across the board. We saw record-breaking attendance at the annual Congressional Fly-in, Marketing & Sales Focus Conference, and, of course, the biggest HARDI event ever in the Annual Conference: NOVA 2017. These are fantastic indicators of the growing engagement by HARDI members with the organization, the valuable resources available to them, and their peers in the industry. I am proud to take the helm at HARDI and lead us on this continued trajectory of growth toward new heights in 2018.