The WTSA’s 106th Annual Convention started off hot! The President’s Welcome reception was scheduled to take place on the Breezeway Lawn at the beautiful Fairmont Hotel in Sonoma, California. However, due to the high temperature, the event was moved indoors to take advantage of air conditioning. Luckily, during the night a cool front moved in and the remainder of the event was very comfortable.

     On Monday morning, the group of over 100 attendees gathered in the Sonoma Valley Room to listen to two very interesting speakers. The first speaker was Libby Rapin, HR Leader and Meditation Coach. She spoke about “Mindfulness In The Workplace”. Her speech concluded with her coaching the group through a meditation session. It was amazing to feel the energy in the room as all of the attendees meditated together.

     The second pair of speakers on Monday morning were Dakota Semler and Giordano Sordoni from XOS Trucking. Their company supplies electric fleet trucks across many industries. They outlined the long term advantages of converted some or all of a fleet to electric trucks. Also, they explained some of the very generous incentives the state of California is offering to accelerate electric fleet adoption.

     At the end of the Monday’s speaking session, there was a group of 24 golfers that took part in the golf tournament. There were also 10 attendees who took part in a spin class (stationary bikes). For those not participating in the afternoon exercise, there was plenty of time to relax by the Fairmont’s geothermal heated pool. Also, there was a hospitality suite sponsored by the Allied Trade that was conveniently located next to the pool.

     On Tuesday morning, the lineup of speakers had a markedly different tone from the Monday morning speakers. Fresh on the heels of the Capitol One data breach, Linda Vincent and Mark Perkins, from ID Resolutions, a company that specializes in helping people after they are the victim of Identity Theft gave a presentation that focused on the many ways an individual’s identity can be compromised.

     The final speakers were Kevin Schwab and RJ Cervantes, from TRSA. Kevin has made a tradition of warning WTSA members about impending regulations coming out of Washington D.C. To compliment his presentation of Federal regulations, Kevin was joined RJ Cervantes who is a lobbyist in the state of California. RJ had plenty to tell the attendees about regulations coming out of Sacramento.

     Tuesday night ended with the President’s dinner where Greg Rogers passed the President’s gavel to Glenn Teixeira for the next two years. Also recognized was Tom Watts, from Prudential, who is retiring after an illustrious career. It also happened to be Tom’s wedding anniversary, so Tom and his lovely wife Marcy were honored by the group. Thank you to all who attended.