2008 President’s Award

By Gregory D. Hyland, CPM, AACPM Past President
Greg.Hyland@yumaaz.gov

During our conference in Columbus, Ohio, it was my great pleasure to present the 2008 President’s Award to two outstanding members of our Academy. One of the biggest coups for this award was that I was able to keep it a secret from the winners. Up until I called their names, the award winners did not know who they were.

There are many, many, people that helped me during my term. If I could have, I would have presented the President’s Award to at least five Academy members. However, as we all know, that just wasn’t possible.

Two people were there for me during my entire term as your President. Two people that I could call, no matter what the hour or the day, were Bill Herman, Academy Past President, and Larry Gordon, Academy Treasurer and fellow Arizonan.

Bill Herman, CPM

Bill had been there before and understood what it took to lead our organization. Bill and I had served together on the Academy Board during his terms as President Elect, President, and Past President. I had the honor of following his lead as Member at Large, then President Elect, and finally as President. Bill and I had many long conversations about the future of the Academy, whether it was during one of his personal trips out west, or one of my travels to the east coast for the City of Yuma. There were some trying times for the Academy during these years. At times we even wondered if the Academy as we knew it would continue to exist. Bill never turned me down when asked to chair a committee, write an article, draft a bylaws change, review the SOP, or tell me where in the SOP a certain item was referenced. Even after he completed his duties as an Academy board member, Bill always put the Academy first, before his personal and professional life, putting in as many hours for the Academy as he did in his workplace.

Larry Gordon, CPM

Larry had served with me on the Arizona Society Board, through the 2001 conference, and through my term as Member at Large for Conferences and Communications. As Academy Treasurer, Larry could give me, on a moment’s notice, what our financial situation was, the past financial history, and our financial forecast. Together we brought new items to the conferences as part of the Ways and Means Committee. Larry and I often traveled together, sharing late night flights, bad food, and our rental car that made trip after trip after trip to the airport to pick up wayward CPMs on their way to a board meeting or conference. His never-ending “Greg, we have no money,” gave us the ability to bring in 2008 under budget, while still providing all the services the Academy members demanded. His calm, steady demeanor got us through some volatile times, when my emotions were running high and the urge to tell people what I really thought may have gotten the best of me. During his term as Academy Treasurer, Larry ended up pulling double duty filling in as an Arizona Society officer during its reorganization.

Together, Bill and Larry, with a lot of help from Ron Buchholz, Jeff Kramer, and many others, got the Academy through my term as President. It is because of outstanding members like Bill and Larry that our organization has the fine reputation around the world that it does. It was one of my biggest thrills to present the 2008 President’s Award to William G. “Bill” Herman and Laurence E. “Larry” Gordon, my two friends and colleagues, who will always have a special place in my heart and in the history of the Academy.

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