| GWA’s staff team handles the day-to-day work of the Association. Meet your staff team. |
 Cheryl Balalong (Annual Conference Support)
Cheryl helps to ensure that everything runs smoothly at the Annual Conference, handling registrations, gift auction purchases, social events
and anything and everything else that occurs during an association conference. |
 Julie Jacinto (Bookkeeping)
Julie handles GWA’s bookkeeping duties. Julie has 22 years of bookkeeping experience including 15 years of medical office management. She handles all aspects of full-service bookkeeping and financial reporting including budget maintenance, consolidating chart of accounts, and aging reports. Julie has handled bookkeeping services for retail, construction and real estate companies as well as medical offices, property management companies and associations. She has also taught QuickBooks courses. |
 Chris Kahler (The Video Guy)
Chris is the genius behind the videos that members enjoy. He has produced the conference city promotional videos as well as the opening conference video shown at the GWA conference in Miami. His video work also included GWA’s “Cheers” and “Welcome Back Kotter” take off videos. Chris also coordinates the podcasts for the Association. |
 Mark Lukas (Web Programmer)
Mark is a professional Web Developer with 12 years of experience. Since 2003, he has served as a mentor and teacher to other professionals learning Web design, HTML, CSS, and XML. Mark has developed and maintained large corporate websites as well as small business websites, blogs, and intranet portals. He has also served as a contract Web designer on numerous projects with nearly every Web technology including XML, CMS, HTML, PHP, Perl, C, JavaScript, Ruby, and Java. Mark received a Bachelor of Arts in Media and Communications from the University of Washington. |
 Richard Meyers (Executive Director)
Richard is responsible for implementing Board policy and for the day-to-day operations of the staff team. Richard has sixteen years of association management experience.
In 2004, Richard founded Association Growth Management, an association management company, which is proud to represent GWA. His experiences also include a stint in Capitol Hill as a Legislative Director to a Member of Congress and as a lobbyist for a lobbying firm specializing in health care appropriations for non-profit associations, including the Association of Minority Health Professions Schools. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Richard has testified before Congress and state legislatures on behalf of associations and served as a national industry spokesman for several associations. He has been interviewed on National Public Radio and quoted in The New York Times, Washington Post and Wall Street Journal. He has contributed to the growth of every association with which he has been affiliated. |
 Cathy Palmateer (Annual Meeting Planner)
Cathy coordinates and helps in the site selection process and handles conference hotel negotiation for GWA’s annual conference. Cathy represents 21 years of experience in the meetings industry. An expert in meeting planning, she handles all aspects of meeting and conference logistics including: site selection and contract negotiation, on site meeting management, on-line registration and housing management, food and beverage planning and comprehensive program production. |
 Ruth Sarreal (Communications Manager)
Ruth Sarreal writes for The Office Wire. She graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with degrees in English and Communication. She has five years of experience writing for the office business center industry, having served as Communications Manager and Managing Editor of Officing Today for the Alliance Business Centers Network. |
 Esther Szasz (Lead Web Developer)
Esther Szasz has joined GWA as the lead web developer and online marketing consultant. She is currently designing the Association’s new Location List website.
In her sixteen years of experience as a web designer, innovative project coordinator, and expert in developing web programs that optimize search engine marketing tactics, she has repeatedly provided clients with sites that are practical and ‘state-of-the-art’ attractive. Her former clients include Toshiba, Chase and Bascom. |
 Tunde Vertes (Assistant Web Developer)
Tunde Vertes creates and edits The Office Wire layout every month. She maintains and updates the GWA website, the News and Blog pages as well as the Association's new Location List website.
Tunde received a Bachelor of Arts in Public Relations from the College of Economics in Budapest and she holds another BA degree in English. |
 Valerie Tomlin (Database Management and Deputy Executive Director)
Valerie is GWA’s Deputy Executive Director, available in Richard’s absence. Her primary role is to manages GWA’s member database system.
Valerie’s list of computer systems and software capabilities reads like a textbook on “what you need to know about computers to survive in the new millennium.” An expert in contact management and database software, Valerie provides our clients with quick and seamless mail merges and up-to-the-minute extensive database management – the backbone of any association. Valerie’s background includes administrative management with Stewart Title as well as operating a business management service. |
 Tanna Violi (Receptionist/Administrative)
Tanna handles receptionist and telephone answering services for GWA and always adds pleasant greetings when visiting the GWA office. |
 Rick Whittaker, CPA (Tax Preparation)
Rick Whittaker handles the Association’s tax preparation. Rick’s firm, Accounting Solutions, is a full-service Certified Public Accounting firm representing both individuals and businesses but specializing in non-profit tax management. |
