Hey Band,
In case you missed it, the Annual Business Meeting was held on Saturday, December 11, which was filled primarily with elections and a few updates and reports. Thank you to everybody who joined in virtually on your Saturday afternoon! Jen Isaacs sent out minutes yesterday afternoon if you're so inclined to read that sort of thing.

For everybody here, I would like to provide my final report...
Back in October I informed the Board that I would not be seeking another term on the GTBAA Executive Board. I have served on the Board for 11 years, the last 6 as Executive Director. That's a long time for anybody to be doing anything and have known nothing else since I got out of Tech. Now married with two children, it became pretty obvious to me over the last year and a half that I'm not able to dedicate the amount of time and energy to this role that it deserves. It's time for me to step away.

For the last six years, I was entrusted with the responsibility of leading GTBAA. It is a job that I took great pride in and did my best to deliver for you all. I'll be the first to tell you that things were not always perfect and I had swings and misses to go along with all of the successes, but I believe I can say, and I hope you'll agree that I left things better than how I found them.

By far, the accomplishment of the Board that I'm most proud of is surfacing the spirit of giving among our Band alumni, both to the Georgia Tech Band and Ma Tech herself. The band alumni helped with the Band's expenses for the Ireland trip to the tune of $10,000 in 2016, won the Alumni Association's last Roll Call Challenge among all Affinity Groups in the 2017-2018 giving year, and endowed the Georgia Tech Band Alumni Association Student Leadership Scholarship, exceeding the minimum gift required of $25,000 to fully endow a scholarship. This scholarship will be awarded in the near future this academic year.

Serving on the GTBAA Executive Board is oftentimes a thankless job, but is still very rewarding. There are highs, lows, and everything in between, but there are always fellow band alumni there to support you however they can. It is now my honor and privilege to introduce to you the 2021-2022 GTBAA Executive Board:

Bridget Neukum, Executive Director
Emily Jackson, Secretary
John Kelley, Treasurer
Sam "Fireball' Feuer, Member at Large
Heidy Lopez, Member at Large
Wes Hunt, Member at Large
Ben Simon, Member at Large
Matthew Zilvetti, Member at Large

There are some familiar faces in new roles and new members on the board. All of the folks who stepped up to serve are fantastic people and, in my opinion, will do a great job leading GTBAA for the next year and beyond! Congratulations to all!

I would also like to thank Jen Isaacs for her 9 years of service on the Board as Secretary and Jason Morcos for his 2 years of service as Treasurer. Jen was Secretary through all of my terms as Executive Director and I can't thank her enough for her work and giving me a steer when I needed it. I would like to thank Jason for his outstanding stewardship and thoughtful insights.

On a personal note, I would like to say "thank you" to everybody who has reached out and offered their support, thoughts, feedback, insight, everything over the years. There are far too many people to name individually, but I hope to be able to catch each one of you personally as we run into each other in the future.

I wish nothing but the best of luck to the new Board. I know they will all do well. They will also have my full support as we work through our transition and anytime you need anything at all!

Ramble This Way, Ramble That Way, Ramble Off the Field!
John

John Gorta
Immediate Past Executive Director
GTBAA