Ladies and Gentlemen,

Over the past few months, there have been some excellent training opportunities in the Western Regional Chapter. I was able to attend two of the seminars, and heard excellent reports about the third.

I'd like to personally thank AATIA President J.D. Hough and AATIA Past President Joe Brosius for the fantastic job they did, along with a long list of AATIA committee members, in putting on the annual IAATI Training Seminar. They did a great job in helping to promote the Western Regional Chapter as well.

I'd like to thank WSATI Southern Chapter President Bud Hood, along with the WSATI seminar committee members, for hosting the annual WSATI Training Seminar. IAATI 2007-2008 President Tommy Southard attended the seminar, as well as speaking on opening day about NMVTIS and IAATI. WSATI has always been the host for the annual IAATI WRC General Meeting and Elections and this year was no exception.

I'd like to thank CATI President Steve Bellinger, along with the CATI seminar committee members, for hosting the annual CATI Training Seminar. IAATI WRC 4th VP Jim Kautz represented the IAATI WRC Executive Board at the Seminar due to a conflict in my schedule.

The last two seminars were also completely supported by IAATI, with IAATI providing a free year's membership in IAATI for all attendees. This has provided the IAATI WRC with membership figures now close to 900 members for 2008. We have expanded our membership almost two-fold in the past couple of years. Our goal is to keep the IAATI WRC active and involved for all of our members so they will want to renew their membership prior to its expiration.

At the WSATI Training Seminar, the IAATI WRC held its combined annual general meeting and elections of 2008 calendar year officers. IAATI President Bobby Southard was in attendance for both. During elections, Skip Davidson was elected as the 2008 President, Rick Greenwood as the 2008 1st VP, J.D. Hough as the 2008 2nd VP, Jim Kautz as the 2008 3rd VP, and Frank Graber as the 2008 4th VP. It appears that the newly elected IAATI WRC Executive Board will be following the new "Communications" doctrine set by 2006-2007 IAATI President Tommy Hansen and 2007-2008 IAATI President Bobby Southard. The WRC is in the process of centralizing one encrypted roster that can be accessed for all members of organizations within the WRC, such as WSATI, AATIA, CATI, and BCAATI (and any others who'd like to get involved). In this way you can quickly find someone to "network" with in another area of the WRC.

We are continuing in our goal of trying to bring in member states Alaska, Montana, and Wyoming, and province Saskatchewan that have only one or two active IAATI members (if that). We need presidents of local auto theft associations to step up to the plate in these states and province and to let the board know that they wish to step into a director role in the WRC. The WRC was chartered by IAATI to assist the localized associations with training needs and the director position allows the local associations to contact their state/province director, who in turn can contact the WRC Executive Board to express their needs/concerns. Right now these three states and one province have no representation within the IAATI WRC. We would like to assist these states and province not only with training needs, but assist with establishing auto theft associations if needed. We recently added a new Director, Todd Bilbo, from Idaho, as well as an "active" new Director, Bill Larocque, from Alberta. If you would like to be a Director in your area, please contact the Executive Board, eboard@wrciaati.org, to let us know you have an interest.

Communications... Please sign up for the "Members Only" section of the IAATI.org website. With a "mass mailing" feature of the website, the IAATI President Bobby Southard, and the IAATI Executive Director John Abounader, can send messages to all IAATI "members only" recipients. I can send messages to all IAATI WRC "members only" recipients. This makes it easy to share information provided to me by IAATI President Bobby Southard, to update WRC members regarding the current status of the chapter, and to send informational messages important to WRC members. May I strongly suggest that you take the time to go to the iaati.org website and register for the "Members Only" section. It is the best way to keep you fully informed and involved in IAATI.

The easiest way to do this is to pull out your IAATI membership card and fill in the information exactly as you see it on your card. Go to https://www.iaati.org/Members_only_registration.asp and then fill in your IAATI Chapter Number IN-XXXXX-WE and then your first name and last name and hit Submit Entry. If you are unsure of your IAATI WRC Chapter Number (IN-XXXXX-WE) contact me and I can supply you with the number.

Please take the time to also go to http://www.wrciaati.org for information, training opportunities, photos, and to find out more about your Western Regional Chapter Officers and Directors. We are here to try to help you.

Both the Lee S. Cole Officer of the Year Award and the Gerald "Jerry" Boyer Memorial Award were presented at the WSATI Training Seminar in San Diego. Please check on the information regarding these awards on the main IAATI WRC page.

In closing, I want you to know that these past ten months have gone by quickly and I have enjoyed the new "cooperation" between IAATI and the IAATI WRC. Let's continue in this "new tradition" and continue to move forward.

Sincerely,
Gary Labb
2007 Western Regional Chapter President

Click Here to view the President's October 7, 2008 Message

Click Here to view the Past President's October 7, 2008 Message

Click Here to view the Past President's September 8, 2008 Message

Click Here to view the President's July 1, 2008 Message

Click Here to view the President's May 28, 2008 Message