Marymor gets Hosansky - International Association of Conference ...

SUNDAY, MARCH 30, 2008 IACC’S 27TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE Page 4
IACC honors Michele Schurk’s 20 years
IACC toasted Michele Schurk’s 20th anniversary
with the association during Saturday’s Annual
Banquet.
Executive Vice President Tom Bolman, the
only person from the IACC office in St. Louis with
a longer term of service, joined with colleagues
Jerry White, Steve Smith and Tejal Wallace in recognizing
Schurk’s two decades with IACC. Bolman’s
introduction and tribute:
“In Shakespeare’s play, Othello, Desdamona
says to Emilia, “Mine eyes do itch, doth that bode
weeping?”
“My own eyes itch right now as I prepare to
recognize someone who has been at my right
hand for 20 years – a third of my life.
“When IACC moved its headquarters to St.
Louis in 1987, we shared office space with a company
called Breckenridge Corporation. Breckenridge
was eternally short-staffed and they used the
services of a Temporary Agency – I think it may
have been Olsen. One day, I happened to look over
the shoulder of one of the temps and I noticed that
this woman’s fingers moved like lightening across
the typewriter keys. I was surprised that the keys
didn’t catch fire or implode, or that the woman
didn’t have third degree burns on her fingers. My
first thought was that I would nominate this
young woman for the Guinness Book of Records,
but I decided instead to hire her as my secretary.
After becoming Administrative Assistant, she later
moved up to Executive Assistant.
“Sometime between last year’s conference and
this year’s conference, this person completed 20
years of service to IACC: she is now in her 21st
year. I wish I know what her start date was but I
couldn’t ask her because she would have known I
was up to something.
“When this woman began with IACC, I couldn’t
give her much training because I didn’t know
what I was doing, either. We’ve learned a lot together.
She has gone from typing my longhand
minutes from Board meetings to advanced formatting
of papers, speeches and excel spreadsheets.
Rodman Marymor
with daughter
Michaela, son Miles
and wife Ann after
receiving the
conference center
industry’s highest
honor.
IACC Executive assistant Michele Schurk hugs son Josh as daughters Amanda (left) and Jaime
and husband Mike look on after she was honored for 20 years of service to the association.
She’s as adept as any Millennial on the computer
and even on a bad day – and she doesn’t have very
many of them – she can second-guess what I’m
thinking or intuit exactly what I need without my
ever saying a word.
“I suspect this woman knows more IACC members
than any other person in the world, and she’s
usually the person who answers the phone when
anyone calls our office. She also answers her cell
phone at all hours of the day and night – and
weekends – whenever I need something. She
keeps me on track with every project I undertake;
she does our bookkeeping; she acts as registrar
for the Annual Conference and all other events;
she’s our Office Manager; the list goes on and on;
but most importantly, she’s a multi-tasking, omniscient
wizard who has saved my butt on more
occasions than I care to remember!”
Marymor gets
Hosansky Award
shoe shine business.
“He then moved into Kool-Aid sales,” Pompan
reported. “Subsequently he created a plant watering
service, a house cleaning service, and eventually
wound up as a free-lance percussionist.”
In Marymor’s career as a professional musician,
he also worked as an independent music calligrapher,
teacher, accompanist and composer for
modern dancers. In 1982, he borrowed some
money and opened a recording studio, which
evolved into a music and entertainment production
company.