Building Leaders: Building Communities

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The 2011 IBAT Leadership Conference, Building Leaders: Building Communities, was held June 16-18 at the Hyatt Hill Country Resort, San Antonio, TX.  This year's conference had a strong attendance that opened with a preconference workshop on Thursday, delivered by Phillip Van Hooser, Van Hooser Associates, Inc., on Commandments for Leadership.  Van Hooser’s number one message was that “Leadership is the ability to offer service and the willingness to take action.”

All of the sessions were likewise structured to build awareness and encourage lessons in leadership.  Phillip Van Hooser also opened the full conference general session on Thursday afternoon with a discussion on Transformational Leadership.  Immediately following Van Hooser's presentation, everyone moved into the exhibit hall for speed dating and the opening reception that evening, including over 40 exhibit booths displaying products and services important to our industry.    We also held the 5th Annual Purse & Toy Auction, raising a grand total of $2,865.00 for the IBAT Education Foundation. 

On Friday morning, the general session opened with a Bankers Perspective Panel Q&A, discussing new ideas around bank technology, marketing in the new economy and innovative ways to generate non-interest income.  The panel was followed by Derik Sutton, of McCoy Myers & Associates, who covered a wide range of emerging technology issues in his Bank Technology Today: Internet, Mobile and Social Media session.

Friday Morning closed with a discussion on Awesome/Awful Leadership: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly, led by J. Keith Hughey, of the J. Keith Hughey Company, and IBAT’s own Chris Williston.

Also on Friday, Matt Doyle, Vice-Chairman & CEO of Texas First Bank in Texas City, and Texas City mayor, was presented with the Leadership Division’s 2011 Excellence in Leadership award.

During the Friday afternoon break Linda Talley, of Linda Talley & Associates, Inc., led a very well attended optional session titled Lead on Purpose: Create the Emotional Connection with Employees, Customers and Shareholders.

Friday night, conference goers gathered for Family Fun Night around the Luckenbach Pavilion, which featured fun and games for the whole family and live music from the cover band Old Dog Tray. 

On Saturday, the IBAT Leadership Board served a pancake breakfast to all families in attendance.  Following pancakes, five time Olympic medalist Josh Davis shared his principles of leadership and how to achieve maximum effectiveness for a group striving for peak performance.

Click here to see a few pictures from the Conference.  We’ll have a whole lot more up in the next couple of weeks.  And don’t forget to mark your calendars for next year’s Leadership Division Conference, June 14-16, 2012 in The Woodlands, Texas.