The First General Membership Meeting was held at Pavilion Hotel on March 8, 2002. The main objective, aside from promoting camaraderie among members, was to gather a fairly reasonable number of PICPANs and Associate Members who will collectively exert efforts to make all the planned activities for this year come true.
We did not expect a huge turnout but attendance was beyond our conservative expectations. Old reliable PICPANs led by four former PICPA presidents (Don Cruz, Emil Dungca, Xavier Puno and George de Leon) were there; sharing their past experiences with the newly recruited PICPANs and Associate Members.
The affair was informal (it was done on purpose) and more personal in nature. The attendees really shed off their inhibitions and reservations, and were very open in engaging into conversations with everyone around. What set the tone, perhaps, of the relaxed atmosphere was the “line dancing” prior to the program proper. Almost everyone participated - probably an indication that the planned “ballroom dancing” activity later this year will also be well attended.
The program went on smoothly. George de Leon and Jarsel Longakit were co-emcees of the affair. Don Cruz did the invocation. George reported on the activities last year. Emil Dungca introduced the new officers and committee chairpersons while George enumerated and explained the duties and responsibilities of the committees. Current year president, Redd Valdehueza, delivered the closing remarks. One of the highlights of the program was the awarding of certificates for the Peachtree Seminar participants by the outgoing Vice President for Professional Development, Ed Soriano. Another important point of the proceedings was when everyone was asked to briefly introduce himself/herself. Jarsel and Carlo de Pablo presented a dance number while George’s daughter, Anali, rendered a song number.
By the time the parlor games were conducted, many of the participants were already well acquainted with one another. There were also raffle draws towards the end of the event. Some encouraging feedbacks from the newcomers include wishes and hopes that many activities of this kind will regularly be held in the future.
