Dear Chapter Members,
I am advised by our Membership Chair, Mike Eckhardt from Wawa, that the Greater Philadelphia Chapter’s membership is now at over 1,600 members. Not only is the number of our Chapter members outstanding, but the level of your involvement and commitment to the Chapter is extraordinary as well. This year we will have put on over 80 programs ranging from our Meet your Counterparts Programs to our In-House Counsel Conference (where over 600 of you attended and participated in CLE programs running on four separate tracks for the entire day). Thank you for attending the Chapter’s events. We work very hard to make sure they are relevant to what you do.
As my term as President nears an end, I am thankful for everything that makes this Chapter run so well. As I mentioned above, it all starts with you, our members. You are the reason that our Board and all our Committee members work so hard to develop and present interesting programming. I also am so thankful for our sponsors who continue to provide the financial support for the programming, as well as the intellectual support by virtue of the many speaking opportunities our sponsors have. Finally, I want to thank all our Chapter members who involve themselves in Chapter activities from participating on the Board to participating on our various committees (where the real work of our Chapter takes place) or simply by attending our many events. There is so much value to be obtained and fun to be had that I am hopeful that each and every one of our Chapter members commit to increasing their involvement with the Chapter for 2020.
Speaking of 2020, I’m thrilled to report that we have had an overwhelming response to our 2020 sponsorship opportunities. Like last year, we have been oversubscribed in virtually all sponsorship levels. Despite being oversubscribed, we continue to work hard to find opportunities for our sponsors to “squeeze them in” so that they can enjoy the benefit of sponsorship of this fine Chapter.
In 2020, we will welcome a new Diamond sponsor, Akin Gump. Drinker Biddle was our Diamond sponsor for many years and will remain an Emerald sponsor, along with our other Emerald sponsor, Cozen O’Connor. I want to personally thank Drinker Biddle for remaining in the Diamond sponsor slot for so long. Their commitment to the Chapter and efforts to put on truly exceptional programming has been greatly appreciated by all and most importantly, by our members who attended their fine events. I have every reason to believe that Akin Gump will have a similar approach toward their Diamond membership sponsorship opportunities for 2020.
As the end of the year arrives, the number of programs reduce. Nonetheless, a few highlights to look out for would include the premier Chapter showing of Ethics Follies® on December 3rd at the new AMC Theatre on Market Street in Philadelphia (a movie developed by the South Texas Chapter that offers two ethics CLE credits). This is followed by the GC/CLO Lunch on December 6th at Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse in Radnor, the Contracts and Commercial Law CLE Institute on December 10th, Morgan Lewis’ sponsorship of Pro Bono efforts with Philadelphia VIP on December 11th and culminating with our Annual Holiday Party and Board Installation on December 12th at the Racquet Club of Philadelphia.
I am truly humbled to have been your President for 2019. For 2020, the Chapter will be served by its new President, Jackie Meredith-Batchelor, who is the Senior Associate General Counsel at Amtrak, who will take the reins on January 1st. Jackie has the experience, the know-how and the capability to shepherd this fine Chapter far better than I could have ever hoped to do. I’m thrilled to stay on the Board as the Immediate Past President for one year to be able to watch how this Chapter continues to evolve and better serve the needs of our members.
I will end this letter the same way I have ended all prior letters to the membership and that is by asking for your feedback on ways to make our programming better and more relevant for our members. If any of you have any suggestions to achieve that goal, please send an email to me at pprinsen@grahamco.com or send an email to our Administrator – Chris Stewart at chrisstewart@accglobal.com.
I look forward to seeing you at an upcoming Chapter event.
Very truly yours,
A. PETER PRINSEN
President, ACC Greater Philadelphia
