The Registry’s 25th Annual Seminar

Article by: Amy Miller

As always, preparing for The Registry Annual Seminar is a task like no other. And as this was our 25th anniversary, and because we were hosting the event in our hometown of Boston, the task felt all the more daunting. So many of our members ask me what it’s like to plan the Seminar every year; how we keep it new, fresh, and interesting; and how we come up with so many of the ideas in the first place. The truth is, I really don’t know how to answer that question…

Throughout the year small ideas start emerging, and in time they turn into bigger ideas. The bigger ideas wake me up at 3:00AM and they turn into even bigger ideas—better ideas. In that sense, the process just sort of happens organically. And boy did it “happen” this past October!

For the 2017 Annual Seminar, the timing seemed appropriate for us to highlight some of the most significant achievements of Registry Interims over the last quarter-century. Truthfully, I felt that hosting the 25th anniversary seminar was a milestone in and of itself. From the outset, it was very challenging to identify only a small number of the many benchmark achievements of Registry Interims over the last 25 years. In the end, we were able to feature a manageable number of case studies that we felt accurately represented the strength and quality of work that our members have come to represent. We are so grateful to all of our members who put in the extra work to prepare and present their case studies. Thank you!

On Saturday, we rode the Old Town Boston Trolleys to lunch at the Harvard Club where we were greeted by the Lexington Minutemen. The Minutemen featured a Color Guard, Honor Guard, and Fife & Drum Corps who played during our arrival. They even gave us a musket salute! It was a very memorable experience!

To open the Saturday luncheon, Registry Chairman Tom Langevin spoke about how personally important it was for him to be present—at 95 years of age—for The Registry’s 25th anniversary celebration. That was one of my favorite moments of the entire weekend—let’s just say there were many without a dry eye.

I can remember Tom and his late-wife Pearl flying to Boston to review The Registry operation with us so many years ago. I can remember the original contracts, the members, and the clients; it all seemed so confusing to me at the time. Now, 15 years later, it is remarkable to reflect on the phenomenal growth of this organization. Each and every day we strive to uphold and respect the business model that Tom laid out when he founded The Registry. Watching Tom speak, and listening to how proud and honored he was to attend the Seminar, made the entire event worth it.

And then there was the fun! It would be impossible for me to talk about the highlights of the 25th Annual Seminar without mentioning all of the fun that we had. Taking advantage of our Beantown locale, our Seminar featured a Boston and Red Sox theme (much to the bitter amusement of some rival sports fans!) Over the course of the Seminar, Registry members and staff: explored the city on a duck tour through Boston at sunset; enjoyed a beautiful evening at the Fogg Museum at Harvard University, which featured an A Cappella group and portrait-silhouette artist; and took a private tour of Fenway Park (yes, there was even had a Yankee fan in attendance!), followed by an evening at Game On.

For those of you who were not able to attend the Seminar, I am sorry that you had to miss such a wonderful event. I encourage all of our members to try to attend at least one of The Registry Annual Seminars. We believe—and I’m sure many of our members would agree—that the seminar is a great way for you to get to know The Registry better. It is an outstanding opportunity for you to meet the staff, to meet the other members, and to become familiar with The Registry’s culture—this is truly a special organization. Below you will find a slider of some of the pictures from the event, and I hope you will make time to go through them.

For those of you who were able to attend, we thank you. We can do all of the planning in the world, but we need our members in attendance to make the whole event work. Your attendance and your participation is always so appreciated. Around the office we like to say that the Seminar is “for the members and by the members!”—we hope that you would agree.

We will soon send out the report from the 2017 Annual Seminar, and I encourage you to stay tuned for that. Until then, rest assured that the planning for the 2018 event is already underway. We’ll look forward to seeing you in St. Augustine, Florida!

~Amy