By Dave Mahoney NWSA President, 1999-2000 | Noble Gas Solutions
Becoming involved in GAWDA was one of the smartest decisions I ever made. It is surely one of the significant highlights of my career. In the Spring of 1980, I attended my first Spring Management Conference. I will never forget Bill Sturgeon running up the center aisle and jumping onto the stage in a Canadian hockey jersey. He was excited and immediately got my attention. I loved it! From that point on, all Presidents would sit in the front row and, when introduced, they would walk to the stage to give their address. When I became President in 1999, I swore that I would be different.
When I was announced as the next GAWDA President in New Orleans, I walked up the center aisle to the theme from Rocky, dressed in a boxing robe, and I was escorted by the Past Presidents all wearing boxing corner towels. At the Spring Management Conferences of 2000, I came in as Darth Vader informing members that the dot.com era had arrived. At my Convention in Maui, I debuted “Dave in Therapy,” a short comedy film highlighting my type A personality. Although my goal was to have fun and get the crowd fired up, I equally wanted to provide valuable content when speaking to our members. As you can tell, I really enjoyed my year as President.
I believe every President wants to have a meaningful impact on the organization. To that end, I believe we accomplished much during my term. For example, prior to my year as President, our members paid their dues in the month they joined. Headquarters would often forget to send out invoices. As a consequence, oftentimes some members would miss paying dues while maintaining the benefits of membership. To that end, we changed dues collections to January of every year for everyone. We also changed our fiscal year, which previously went from July to June. Prior to my term, the President could have his or her Convention during the next President’s year. That just was not fair to the incoming President (lol!). To right that ship, we changed the fiscal year to November – October. In that way, the current President was responsible for all expenses during their term.
Next, we wanted to make certain that every Spring Management Conference and National Convention stood on its own two feet. The goal was to ensure that we did not lose money at any event. In addition, we also went from a cash basis of accounting to an accrual-based accounting system. I felt good about all that we had accomplished. Little did I know that none of the above would end up becoming my legacy.
You see, at my Convention planning committee meeting in Maui, I floated the idea of Gives Back, which was Donna’s idea. We adopted the idea and the rest is history. In 2009, I received the Award of Excellence for starting Gives Back. It was a great honor. Donna and I still get excited every year watching when the check is given to the charity of choice. I am so proud of this program and amazed that our members continue to support it every year.
When my term was over, several more opportunities to serve GAWDA came my way. In 2005, Bob Thornton asked me to perform a Caddy Shack skit at his Convention. Then, in 2010, I received a call from Jenny McCall asking me to be the Master of Ceremonies at her Convention. In 2013, Craig Wood asked me to be a keynote speaker at his Convention in Orlando. Just think, Scott O’Grady (who was shot down over Sarajevo), Oliver North and me! How cool is that?!
There is no doubt that you get way more from volunteering than what you give. I have so many great memories and great friends that I would never have made if it were not for my involvement in GAWDA. I had the opportunity to meet Chip Valentine during his year as President. We immediately became great friends. We get together at least four times a year to play golf and talk on the phone frequently. Randy Squibb also joins us on these golf trips. We have also become close friends and keep in touch often. The three of us always enjoy playing together and taking each other’s money on the course. We also enjoy catching up with Terry Hall and Bill Higley, who I also met through GAWDA.
I still cannot believe that it has been 25 years since my Presidency. Donna and I continue to enjoy attending the annual conventions, and now I could not be more proud and more excited to see that my daughter, Colleen Kohler, will be moving through the chairs. Ours is a great industry and I would not have changed a thing. If you are considering getting involved, all I can say is that “You GAWDA do it!”
