Tuesday Morning Insurance Tidbit - El Presidente

[InsuranceMan]

GOOOOOOOOOD Morning ADI!!!!!!!!!!

     Where do I begin this TMIT?!?!?!?!  I guess with a flashback - wavy - movie type - memory sequence.  Que the music and fog machine ...

     Many, many years ago I had the privileged of attending my first ADI convention after being involved on the forums.  Back in the day, being a rookie to the convention, it was overwhelming walking into the expo area and finding my booth.  All of the delicious copper stills set up, bottle sales people with grandiose displays, all the different barrel char wheels and stave samples, and on and on it went.  And that was back when the amount of vendors were only about 1/8th of what they are now.  

     It was a grand convention and I was fortunate enough to take the expo by storm.  I had something that no one else really had, and the line in front of my booth was as long as the lines to get on "Its a Small World" in Disney during Spring Break.  Toward the end of the day I noticed a gentleman hanging back that had come by several times throughout the day.  As I wrapped up a conversation it was his turn to come up to me.  He introduced himself as Bill Owens, the president of ADI.  He said that he had come by several times to see what all the interest was and we struck up an amazing conversation.

     Year after year at the conventions, Bill and I would always find time to visit, go for a few drinks, and even several dinners over the years.  Bill would call me and ask for input on this or that, or tell me about his last road trip and where all he had been.  It is truly something that I cherish and look back on fondly.  

     Fast-forward several years up to about a year and a half or two years ago.  I recall right where I was, and what I was doing (and if you have read past posts and replies, I have this weird photographic memory thing ... SUPERHERO, duh!!!!), when the phone rang.  The voice on the other end started off by introducing himself as Erik Owens, Bill's son.  From that moment and that conversation on, we became fast friends.  Much like the relationship that Bill and I started, Erik and I picked up right up and ran with it.  Just like with his wonderful father, Erik and I would catch up at conventions, chat away, grab drinks, and get dinners.  Talk about a personable father and son combo, these guys are it.  Erik and I would speak via phone, shoot texts back and forth, and work on always thinking of new ways to help improve the ADI family and offerings.  Heck, we just talked last week about the potential of a very big idea that I will not divulge here, but Erik and I are working on something that could turn out to be very cool.

     Now that we are caught up to modern times and "today", it is with a very joyous and resounding "HUZZAH!!!" that I congratulate Erik as the new President of ADI!!!!  Bill is undoubtedly an incredible asset to us all, has done so much to further the industry, is a fantastic person, and is till the life of the party.  With that, I could think of no one else fit enough to take his place as El Presidente besides his son, Erik.  Although I hate to see bill step down, I am so excited to see Erik step up into this roll and I can barely wait to see where he takes the industry and this organization.  He is always thinking, creating new ideas, and is so knowledgeable, and I am not just blowing smoke here, folks.  That is not Insuranceman 2.0!!!'s style.  I say it like it is and if I like something, I say so, emphatically.  If I don't like something, well I will either say so or I won't say nothin'!  And I like this A LOT! 

     Erik, congratulations on the new role.  You have some seriously big shoes to fill, but I know you can do it and are up to the task.  You know why????  Because I have already seen it, first hand.  I would encourage all the ADI'ers out there to either shoot Erik an email, give him a call, or post something here to congratulate him.  The future of ADI is exciting and I am glad that he is going to be at the helm.  Until next time, dear readers ...

 

Stay Vigilant,

Aaron Linden

a.k.a. InsuranceMan 2.0!!!

307-752-5961

aaron@roaringforkins.com              or             insuranceman2.0@yahoo.com