I feel it is important to continue moving forward on the green theme. I really did give some thought to "Lean and Green" for this coming year which sounds better than "Why and I Blue About Green?" There is a movement across the country to move in a "green" direction. Austin wants to be a "green" city, and we are part of Austin. This past year was a lean year for our association. The indication for the remainder of 2009 and early part of 2010 is that growth will be slow in coming; therefore, we need to be "lean and mean" as we plan for the future.

Since we live in a world of acronyms, I have selected the initials CDF for this coming year for IFMA Austin. C is for Conservative - D is for Diversity - F is for Fun

Conservative - We must handle our financial affairs conservatively this next year. I have already had a conversation with Jim about making sure we are not frugal but we do spend wisely.

Diversity - Our source of revenue must come from more than once main source of activity. We should encourage multiple professional groups to become members and work close with vendors so we can invite select professional groups to events for networking purposes.

Fun - This is a professional group that is designed to help personal growth. We must make our time together educational, informative and enjoyable. A happy person is a good person to have around at meetings, at home and at work. It is my desire to make our time together at work or at play "FUN"!

I look forward to the coming year as we work and play together to help IFMA Austin be all it can be during this next year.

Hello all.  Kelly Quinney from The Steam Team here.  I am certainly glad to be back in IFMA and very excited to be the new editor of the chapter newsletter. A big thanks to Ted Ulmer for doing such a great job over the past two years. In designing this first edition, I truly understand the time and effort he put into this. I hope I am able to fill the big shoes he has left for me!

We had a great turnout at the Ronald McDonald House Building tour on June 18th. 22 people joined us to tour Austin's first Platinum LEED Certified Building and the new template for all of future RMHC homes. We encourage people to go to the website http://www.rmhc-austin.org/ and look at items you can donate. We would also like to collect some items at our September luncheon that we will take over to RMHC afterward. As a group we are also collecting Coke Tabs for them. Special thanks to Crystal Green for doing such a good job putting this tour together! The June luncheon was well attended with a very informative and interesting presentation on Organic "Green" Landscaping by Landscape Consultant Lance Roberson with Greater Texas Landscapes Big thanks to them for the double whammy lunch sponsorship and presentation.

The IFMA strategic planning session for board members and committee chairs was a great success this year. New President Pete Stein kicked off the meeting with words of encouragement regarding this next year! A big decision was made to branch out and discover more ways for our organization to be profitable instead of relying strictly on the golf tournament as our main source of revenue. Many exciting new ideas were brought to the table and everyone left hopeful about IFMA Austin's future success even in these tough economic times!

In the words of our old friend Kermit "It's Not Easy Being Green". Well I'm here to tell you that it is. Did you know that you can increase your fuel efficiency 23% by slowing down from 70mph to 55mph, and that by changing to compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs), you use 2/3 less energy than with traditional incandescent lights. Did you also know that heating, cooling and powering office space are responsible for 40% of the carbon dioxide emissions in the US and eat up more than 70% of total electricity usage? You can save 10% on your electric bill by adjusting the thermostat one or two degrees. This and other tips on how to green your office are available at Earth 911. Also check out Ecology Action of Texas for some useful information on green business recycling, green use, and ways to achieve zero waste.

"We will never know the worth of water until the well is dry." - Thomas Fuller, 1732.