January 19th Celebration Event

By Darryn Murdoch, LCSW
Membership (Recruitment) Director

On Tuesday Jan 19th at the Woodbridge Hilton, FPANJ held their annual celebration event. This year's theme was "Do 1 Thing".  The premise of the well-attended event was to show members how they could be part of something bigger than themselves, and that a little bit of effort, done together, can lead to big change.   The “Do 1 Thing” concept was pioneered by the Massachusetts chapter of FPA and we used it to help our members kick off the New Year on an active note. The point was driven home that "One Thing Leads to Another" and if we all get involved, we do make a difference and that impact does shape our profession! 

The event began with an introduction by our new chapter president, Joe Leone.  After a humorous start using a video clip from the movie “City Slickers”, brainstorming sessions were emceed by FPANJ’s former president Reed Fraasa.  Reed encouraged members to come up with, and commit to, “Do1 Thing” to help the FPANJ  achieve its goal of being a vibrant, active community devoted to bringing the benefits of financial planning to the public at large.  Members were asked to share their ideas with the group at large, and later voted for the most inspiring idea.

In addition, Bill Stratton, former FPANJ board member and winner of the FPA National 2008 Heart of Financial Planning Distinguished Service Award, presented the 2009 FPANJ Heart of Financial Planning Distinguished Service Award to local journalist Karin Price Mueller.

Members also had the opportunity to network with one another and meet with Committee Directors and other leaders in the profession over cocktails and hot hors d’oeuvres.