Ladies and Gentlemen,

As we come to the close of another year, I'd like to extend to you my warmest wishes for this holiday season.

I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and a Happy New Year from the IAATI Western Regional Chapter Executive Board, as well as from my personal family.

Please have a safe season, and I look forward to seeing you in 2009.

For those of you who joined IAATI during 2007 and 2008, now it is up to you, as the newest IAATI WRC members, to see the benefits of continuing your membership in IAATI and "re-upping" when your memberships expire at the end of 2008. As of today, 11/29/08, we have 820 active IAATI WRC members with 345 of you signed up to the "Member's Only" section.

The biggest benefits of IAATI membership is your ability to "network" with peers throughout the world, to receive updated information via the APB and the eNEWS, and to be kept aware of current trends and information via email messages from the IAATI President, the IAATI Executive Director, and the IAATI WRC President/Past President. These email messages can only be obtained if you sign up for the "Member's Only" section at the IAATI website at http://www.iaati.org. It only takes a few minutes, and you can gain so much from being a "Member's Only" recipient.

The new 2009 IAATI WRC Executive Board takes office on January 1, 2009. The new President will be Rick Greenwood. He will be supported by an experienced IAATI WRC Executive Board made up of 1st VP J.D. Hough, 2nd VP Jim Kautz, 3rd VP Frank Graber, and the newest member, 4th VP Bud Hood.

Please thank 2008 IAATI WRC President Skip Davidson for all that he has contributed to the Association during his tenure as President.

The IAATI WRC will continue to grow in 2009, with some ideas that came up at the IAATI WRC Executive Board Meeting at the IAATI Training Seminar in Phoenix in 2007. There currently is the online ability to to find membership information for association members within the IAATI WRC jurisdiction whether they are IAATI members or not. An encrypted online WRC Contact Roster is available and linked to the IAATI WRC website at http://www.wrciaati.org. And soon there will be an IAATI WRC e-Newsletter covering activities and information provided by the associations within the IAATI WRC jurisdiction. For more information on either of these new ideas, contact 2009 IAATI WRC President Rick Greenwood at rgreenwood@wrciaati.org.

In 2009, the IAATI WRC will be co-hosting with the Colorado Auto Theft Investigators Association, the 57th Annual IAATI Training Seminar to be held in Denver, Colorado, August 9th-14th, 2009. This will be the third IAATI Training Seminar that the WRC has co-hosted in the past six years (2003 Los Angeles / 2007 Phoenix)...We must be doing something right. The 2009 seminar information is currently posted at http://www.wsati.org/iaati57.html pending CATI's website coming up at http://www.coloradoautotheft.org on or about December 17, 2008. For any questions regarding the seminar, please contact Seminar Co-chairman Jim Kautz at jkautz@wrciaati.org.

I just wish to say it was an honor to serve you as the 2007 IAATI WRC President, and to continue to serve you in 2008 as the Immediate Past President. I had the opportunity to meet a lot of people, make a lot of new friends, and to add to the size of my professional family. If any of you would like to become future Executive Officers or Regional Directors, please contact the Executive Board at eboard@wrciaati.org to let the Executive Board know of your interest.

In closing, I just wish to say it is important that we continue to communicate with one another. If you have not signed up for the “Member’s Only” section of IAATI, please think about doing so. It allows IAATI and IAATI WRC to send you email messages, including the IAATI e-News, important membership announcements, and “news items” of importance to the membership. We want to continue pushing forward in the Western Regional Chapter. If any of you have any ideas or suggestions, please contact the Executive Board at eboard@wrciaati.org.

Have a Healthy, Happy 2009.

Sincerely,
Gary Labb
2007 Western Regional Chapter Immediate Past President

Click Here to view the 2010 President's November 20, 2009 Message

Click Here to view the 2009 Past President's January 8, 2009 Message

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

Click Here to view the 2007 Past President's October 7, 2008 Message