President’s
Corner
Luanne M Johnson, CDOA, CPLTA 2020 NADOA President
Well, here we are at the end of 2020 and we made it. This is one year that we will all remember, and we will tell our future generations about. I have so many different memories and emotions that I have been through in the year both personally and professionally and both good and bad but in the end, I lived through them and survived. This being my last article as your 2020 National Association of Division Order Analysts President, I have a few people and memories I would like to share with you. In 2006 I went to my first Institute. Luckily, I had a great person with me to introduce me to many of you. That first year I went with Sarah Broyles and if you know Sarah you know she is a friend to all and boy, what a mentor. Anyway, Sarah took me along wherever she went and along the way I got introduced to new friends and what is was like to be a part of a great organization like NADOA. I’m still friends with many of the people I met that week. The following year when we were in Albuquerque, NM Linda Barry (another great friend and mentor who has been there for me so many times) convinced me to teach my first class (actually 4 hands- on classes) and it was called “Calculations from your Title Opinion to your Computer”. Back then many Division Order Analysts were still working their DOI on a calculator, but I was all about using my excel spreadsheet. I had formulated a pretty good easy one sitting with many experienced Division Order Analysts like Ernie Leuenberger and Sarah Broyles who really taught me what a burden was and how to calculate it. Then, when the current CDOA manual was started, Linda Barry asked me again to bring that first talk to chapter 6 of the manual. I was so excited and nervous, and it is funny how years later I still have people tell me they refer to that chapter or PowerPoint that I did when they work payouts. A few years later I got my first opportunity to start working on the Institute committee. It was so exciting to me to get to help make Institute great. That first year I worked on publication but since then I have done everything from goodie bags, to hotel and Co-Chairman of Institute. Along the way I’ve met many long-time great friends including Lucretia Jones, who I remember riding up to Dallas with for a committee meeting that first year I volunteered. We talked all the way there about our jobs, family and crafting (our favorite thing to talk about). That ride was with two other women, Sarah Broyles and Donna Reeves (another great friend who really knows her stuff ) who were BFFs and did so much for our organization. When we arrived in Dallas they laughed and said Lucretia and I were going to be just like them and be lifelong friends and they weren’t wrong! I have really enjoyed getting to meet so many and help with so many committees. Those times are very special to me, even the times that everything didn’t go the way we expected (toilets flooded hours before an outdoor event in Bastrop and scrambling to get everything into the hall we were given.) Those times are special because I had friends there to help and to be happy with and to cry with. Friends from Institute that I am so thankful for are Carla McCarty (I miss getting her hugs, that Midland accent and fixing her iPhone), Liz Fajen (who thank goodness Carla introduced me to!), Betty Davidson, Stephanie Moore, Brenda Pirozzolo, my domino partner in crime Vicki Danielson and WAY so many more that I can’t name but I want you all to know you are all dear to me and
I can’t thank you enough for your friendships. I’ve also been involved in the CDOA committee; I was a committee member for 6 years and did everything from approve points to becoming the CDOA chairman. During my time we moved from our original program to the current system that will be updated soon. This also was a time I met and became friends with everyone on my committees like Brenda Dickey, Eli Murray, Valerie Wible and all of the others that served with me. I can’t thank you all enough for all that you did. I started our Goto Webinars back in 2010, when Betty Davidson asked me to figure out a way to get classes online that we could broadcast across the nation so that all of our members could attend. That first couple of years we focused on the CDOA manual chapters and anything else I could get people to talk about. This was a huge success and is still something that I’m very proud of today. Finally, the board. I was on the board the first time in 2013 as a Director of HADOA and wow was that an experience! I felt like a fish out of water and I didn’t know what to do so I sat there and listened and learned. That was the year that Lisa Buffalo was President. That was a great year because that was when I knew I wanted to be President someday. So, I ran for the 2014 Board and lost but that didn’t get me down, it just made me determined to come back in a few years and try again. I did and I finally reached my goal of being President. Although I didn’t get that great Institute in Shreveport, Louisiana like we had started planning 2 years ago and I didn’t get that President’s Party that I had hoped for in the circle room that overlooked the city, that is ok because I got great memories and made lifelong friendships along the way. I want to make sure to thank the 2020 board: Lewis Box, Michele Lawton, Jennifer Kegans, Michele Harris-Fairclough, Vicki Danielson, Liz Fajen (I can’t thank you enough for stepping in as Board Advisor this year!), Valerie Wible, Stan Vargas, Kimberly Bowman, Victoria Frey, Jennifer Oden and Joe Anderson. Thank you all for knowing what was best for our organization. Also, thank you to our 2020 committee chairs: Lucretia Jones, Yoli Bazan, Stephanie Nguyen, April Luedecke, Eli Murray, Cheryl Hampton and Rona Erickson (thank you for always putting out great newsmagazines!) I want to also thank those that were involved in the Institute committee. I know there were many of you that started last November working to make it the best Institute yet! Thank you also to my family, Tim and Zachary. I know it was not always easy on them when I would leave for meetings or be gone a week for Institute. I couldn’t have done this without their support. Finally, I want to thank you, the membership and I want to challenge you to get more involved in the organization. If you don’t think you can make it to Institute, find out if there is something that you can help with from your city. We are always looking for volunteers and not just for Institute.
Thank you all, may you have a joyous holiday season and a great 2021!
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