President's Pen, Winter 2024

Time is the word I feel best describes my many emotions as I write this, my last, President’s Pen.  

I feel time is the world’s most valuable commodity. I am blown away with how fast things have flown by this year. When I stop to reflect, I am proud of all our association and committees were able to accomplish in the short amount of time that was “My year as President.” 

When this journey started, I wasn’t sure I understood the time it would take to be TAA President. Would I have enough time to give this position the justice it deserved? Would I survive trying to juggle the many hats of TAA President and my position with Ginkgo. Would I have the support of my company and my association as I took the time to learn my new role? The answer to all those questions thankfully was yes! Time is what I want more of. More time to support TAA in this position. More time to meet all the great people that support this industry. More time to shape the face of the service side of TAA. As it draws to an end, if I had one wish I would wish for more time as President and now understand one year was never going to be enough.  

Our successes were many but just to name a few. TAA raised over $5000 for the Special Olympics North Carolina (SONC) as well as volunteered with 43 members at the SONC summer games. We had a record-breaking year as TAA was 1st in the nation for supplier growth and 2nd in the nation for unit growth out of the entire country! We had a great year for After Work Networking events, having the best participation ever. Maximize your Membership was a filled room every session. We supported many local and state politicians who were elected and aligned with our industry, and we sent more than 4 pallets of relief supplies to Western NC.  

When I look back at all the time I have spent, going to committee meetings, conferences, after work networking, golf tournaments, stuffing goodies for membership drives, building an arch for the TAA tradeshow booth, lobbying, bus tours, casino nights, awards ceremonies, anniversary events, leadership training, board bonding events, spending time at food kitchens, sorting groceries and sweet potatoes for people in need, helping with Special Olympics, Christmas in July, attending panels, being a panelist, maximize your membership, earning my CAMT, graduating from Leadership of Excellence, becoming an Advanced Facilitator Trainer (AFT), going from attending PAC breakfast series to being the one introducing our local and state politicians, interviewing political candidates, interviewing board candidates and any of the many other things I have done to volunteer for TAA, one thing I can proudly say is that has been some of the best time I have spent in my life! 

The opportunities I have gained simply by showing up and putting in the work are more valuable than I may ever know. The connections I have made all over this association, from our amazing TAA staff and our many outstanding suppliers and owner operators and rock star site folks (like me), are friendships I will cherish for the rest of my life. Some of the relationships I’ve built through my time as President go much deeper than simple industry friends. I have grown to know individuals in a way that would never have been possible without TAA. If I didn’t know why I volunteered at the beginning of this journey, I can confidently say now, I volunteer to do good, to help good people and to feel good about myself and others. 

We all have a million reasons we can use to make excuses not to do something. We all have busy lives and often feel we don’t have time to eat breakfast or lunch much less volunteer at TAA. I feel every minute I spent serving this association was an investment in myself. Not just the professional Berry, not just the Regional Service Manager Berry, not just the TAA President Berry, but a true investment in the human being Berry Craven. I am better today for the time I spent at TAA. Fun fact, I have eaten more breakfast and lunches being fed by TAA than I fed myself this year.  

My question to you is how much time are you spending at TAA? How much time are you spending on yourself? How much time are you spending on your personal and professional development? If you will trust your President with nothing more than this next sentence, you and TAA will be better for your time spent. Make the time to spend volunteering any and every way you can at TAA, and it will pay you back tenfold! The relationships you will gain may just be the friends you end your days with! 

To my unbelievable TAA staff, I finally understand what makes the stars sparkle! Thank you for making us look so good!  

To “The Best Board of Directors” a President could ever ask for! You took my challenges head on and told me what I needed to hear when I needed to hear it and never shied away from the hard work!  

To my Ginkgo family, thank you for supporting me through this journey! 

I need to thank everyone who allowed me this “Opportunity” to serve as your President and to make these many “Connections” with so many amazing human beings and learn the real reason “Why I volunteer” but now the “Time” has come.  

Time to step aside and watch our president-elect Franklyn Rodriguez continue to improve on what I have grown to know as, The best association in our local/state/national industry, The Triangle Apartment Association. I can’t wait to serve as your Past President!  

Sincerely your humble servant, Berry Craven