Business Meeting | 2025 Page Up Annual Conference

The Page Up Business Meeting highlighted strong growth to 314 members, expanded global reach, and new digital tools like Artie, Page’s AI assistant. Outgoing Chair Umayma Abubakar reflected on two years of progress in community building and closer Page–Page Up alignment, before passing leadership to incoming Chair Ethan McCarty, with Alyssa Gilmore and Laura Laub joining as Vice Chairs for 2026.

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Transcript

AI-Generated, some errors may appear

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Hello.

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Good afternoon.

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Welcome to the future of Page Up.

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So we're going to spend

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a couple of a couple of minutes
talking about where we're going.

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But before we do
so very quick introductions

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for those of you who I haven't
had the pleasure of meeting just yet.

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My name is Umayma Abubakar.

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I have been the chair of Page Up
for the past two years.

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Hopefully you know that.

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And I've been supported by two amazing
vice chairs.

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Peter McDermott.

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If you're in the room. Hand up.

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Maybe coming back.

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And Stacy Bailey,
who couldn't be here today.

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So we are supported by an amazing
operating committee.

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And I think it's important
to call that out

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just because not everyone in the room
may understand

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how we pull all of this stuff together
and the work that we do together.

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So could I please ask the operating
committee to just stand up for me?

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Thank you.

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Ladies and gentlemen,
the people that you saw standing just now,

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those are your go to for any comments
or suggestions of feedback

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in terms of what should you be thinking
about as a membership, as a community?

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If you've got ideas about what
we should be doing in terms

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of as we move forward, that's
that's the group that you should turn to.

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In addition to myself
and in addition to the Page Up staff.

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All right.

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So, as I thought about this
section of the agenda,

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we're going to do a couple of things.

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We are going to talk about what
great progress we've done as a community.

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A lot of the time, some of the feedback
I hear from other members

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that I bump into is like,
we do so much great work,

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but then we don't put a bow around it
and we don't wrap it and people do it for

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don't get it.

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So this part of the agenda
basically looks exactly that.

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We share the progress
that we've done as a committee.

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We share what we're doing in terms
of how we go forward.

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And we give you the governance update.

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So that's what we're going to
do over the next 40 minutes.

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A couple of highlights I want to call out.

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So this year alone
we have grown to around 314 members.

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That's super impressive.

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I think 12 years ago,
what I hear is there were around

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28 people that kind of made up the Page Up
community.

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So from going from 12 years to
this number is super impressive.

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59 of those members are outside of the US,

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and 74 alone have been recruited
and onboarded this year.

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That's super impressive.

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And why am I making the point
of calling that out

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is because that community is made up of
corporate,

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is made up of
agencies, is made up of academia.

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And then if you think about everything
that we're going

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through, that's
a huge amount of perspective in the room.

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So I've been stuck this year about like
what is everyone talking about?

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LMM and ChatGPT and all this stuff
that everyone's talking about.

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What I found is
the answers are with this group.

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So when I attend forums like this one,
and I tend to think Thursdays,

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this is where I've come to
to get all the answers.

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So if I say nothing else
about what else you should be doing

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is to continue to lean into this group,
because nine out of ten,

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this is where the answers are as we try
to figure out what next step looks like.

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So with

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that, I would like to take a few minutes
to kind of, talk about,

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if you'll allow me talk about the progress
that we're making as a group.

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I was thinking about the journey
that we're having

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and what would be important to share.

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One of the things that we've done
really great this year has been onboarding

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and not that I take any credit for it,

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but I know a few of the members
of the team do,

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onboarding our CEO, Doctor Rochelle Ford,

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as a group, we've sat and worked
and talked about some of the progress

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we wanted to make as a community,

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and she's only been on board
for about, what, nine months?

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And she's done a huge amount of progress.

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And rather than me taking all the credit,

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if you'd allow me, I'd like you
to welcome back onto stage doctor

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Rachelle for it to share with you
what we've done from a Page perspective.

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A. Real

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strategic partner and a voice on the Page
trustees.

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To make sure that the Page community,
Page Up

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community is, definitely well represented.

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When I began my, my,
my tenure here as the CEO of Page,

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I set out on a listening tour and spoke
with many members around the world, across

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industries and regions and levels,
including many of you in this room.

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And what I heard was clear
you want it stronger.

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Peer to peer connections
and more personalized experiences.

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You want resources that can help you
leave with confidence amid rapid change,

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and you want to see Page and Page Up
working

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even more closely together
to support one another.

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Those conversations have shaped

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much of what we're doing today,
and I want to share a few examples.

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So let's lean into the innovation
and digital connection.

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First, we're using technology
to strengthen how our members

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connect and learn.

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We've launched already.

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We've been talking about AI.

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It is our new AI agent, a virtual team
member available on the Page website

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already is in training, so be bear with.

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He's alert.

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They are learning.

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But, Artie can really help you as members

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to access resources,
locate expertise, and connect to peers.

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So you have to log in to the Page website

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and you can ask Artie,
hey, I'm going to Columbus, Ohio.

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Are there any Page or Page Up members?

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I really want to learn about Geo,
and then Artie can give you resources

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from our podcasts or our blogs
and other information.

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In addition to that,
we are piloting WhatsApp groups

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in select regions and affinity areas
to give members a faster

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and more informative way to share insights
and ideas.

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These are small but important steps
that we're taking to make

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the Page community more global,
more digital and more connected,

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ensuring
that our community meets your needs.

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The next part is elevating the profession
through research and programs.

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Beyond connection,
we're focused on equipping members

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to lean into the future of our profession
and to lead.

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This year, we launched a Page Navigator
benchmarking system,

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giving members the free.

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Did you hear that? What did I say?

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Free? Yes.

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Free data on how communication functions
are structured and resources.

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This has over
157 Page organizations represented.

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That is larger when they think
about the scale and size of our

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of our member companies and organizations
than what you will pay for.

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If you go to Gartner and you get it, how

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how many of you have downloaded it?

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Okay.

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We should have all 300 hands of the Page
community raised virtually and here.

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So Page and Page Up
members are already beginning.

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Are already using it to advocate
for budgets,

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for redesigning their functions
and benchmarking for their teams.

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So again, Alyssa Gilmore,
thank you yesterday

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for your presentation
on the benchmarking research.

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And this tool will continue to expand
with affinity groups that you can join,

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to help discuss and discuss
how you can apply this, as well

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as a functional framework

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that will have additional resources that
will help us to make better decisions,

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dashboards and organizational charts
and and other type of information.

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But this was made for us, by us.

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So what do we need you to do?

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Contribute the resources.

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They will be protected for Page member
use only.

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And so if you'd like to make a submission

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you can send an email
to research@Page.org.

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Alongside our benchmarking report, we
launch the Confidence and Business Index.

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Earlier this year in partnership
with the Harris Poll.

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This index measures
how confident consumers

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are in about 14 countries, how they feel

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about the role of corporations in society,
and it shines light on the impact

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of corporate character
and trust in driving business success.

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It sparked meaningful dialog
throughout the year about how businesses,

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business and communication
leaders can rebuild confidence

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amid a polarized, global environment.

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And the key here, the key
finding to increase confidence in business

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is proving it with action
and explaining the context.

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So for Page and Page Up members,
the index isn't just a data point, it's

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a conversation starter, a resource
for you to use to engage your CEOs

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and your teams
on how to lead with purpose and clarity.

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We are also deepening
our professional development programs.

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First is the Future Leaders experience,
which remains

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one of our most impactful programs
this year.

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You can actually sign up yourself.

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You can sign up a team member
or maybe even nominate a colleague

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that you have that might be working over
in Europe or the Middle East or in Africa

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to participate in our new cohort
beginning in 2026, in the EMEA region.

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Our Yale partnership continues
to grow and provide senior communicators

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with the framework and skills
to navigate multi-stakeholder leadership.

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This program will be launched again
in the US

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this winter, and you'll be able to sign up
very, very soon on the website.

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So let's lean

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into our global events
and why these matter.

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We are also really ensuring
that Page becomes

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the voice of our profession,
and that people will actually hear it.

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So we're taking it on to the global stage.

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Page has increased our presence at events
like Davos and for the World

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Economic Forum in con at the Festival
of Creativity at the Cannes Lions.

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We will be next week at
COP down in Brazil.

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We were in, back here in LA at the
Milken Institute Conference

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that happened,
as well as South by Southwest.

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If you're attending one of these
global events, we want to know

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because we're having events
just for our Page and Page Up members.

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In addition to that, in these arenas.

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We are with these

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with additional business leaders
and policy makers that set agendas.

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And Page is trying to make sure
that the voice of the

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CEO is heard among these conversations.

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This global visibility
doesn't just amplify Page.

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It also elevates our entire profession

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and creates opportunities for our members
to connect,

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to share insights,
and to strengthen their own influence.

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So finally,
I want to say thank you to Amanda

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for all of your leadership
over the last two years.

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And I look forward to getting to know
each of you a little bit better through

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the next day and a half.

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Thank you.

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Thank you, doctor Rochelle.

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So that was a lot of progress,
but we didn't stop there.

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Same time last year.

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For those of you who were here last year,
you remember

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we shared with you a number of areas
that we wanted to focus on.

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We focused on those areas
for a particular reason.

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We heard feedback from each of you.

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Is, this is the kind of information
that you want more of

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in order to be effective as a group.

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So what we've done as a group
is that we had asked

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each of the operating committees
to lead a task force.

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And that task force was made up
of the composition of some of the members

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within the operating committee.

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But we also solicited, solicited, members
from outside of the group on

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the committee as well.

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Where we are today is we want

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to give you progress update about
what has been done in each of those areas.

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So with that, I'd like to start off
with maybe asking Steve to kick us off

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with the activating brand, task force.

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Hi. Good afternoon.

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Everybody.

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Quite amazing discussions
that we've had so far.

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What I love about these is it's
almost like a sense of cathartic catharsis

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where you think you're the only one
in the world grappling with something,

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and then you sit in a room and everybody's
like, well,

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not only this,
but what about the existential crisis

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we're facing in education
and the next generation?

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That is what makes Page Up so special.

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And what makes it such a good community.

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So I'm Steve Halsey, I'm

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a principal of the GM's integrated
marketing communications group.

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I've been a member of Page Up for 11 years.

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I wasn't part of the original founders,
which was about 12 years ago,

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but I've had the privilege of serving
on the operating committee for a couple of

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terms, had the extreme privilege
of serving as the chair, as well.

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And I think what's important about all of
that is Page really has evolved.

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You know,
it really started as an organization

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that was really serving
at the Page members discretion.

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It was really positioned as,

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hey, this is a place to learn, meet,
get ready to move up for that next thing.

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But over the last 12 years,
something special happened.

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We became a community.

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But not only that, we became a community
that was driving innovation,

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that was driving leadership, that was
contributing to thought leadership.

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And that really helped us evolve,
particularly coming out of the pandemic,

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to not just being a community of Page Up,

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but really playing a much larger role
in the overall community of Page.

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And so one of the things we did,

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in 2023

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was made a shift where, with the exception
of this annual conference,

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two Page annual conference,
our think Thursday and a

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co only coffee chat,
everything is available

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to all the members,
really expanding us to be one community.

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And if you're fortunate to be in a market
like I am in New York,

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we host almost monthly events

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where it doesn't matter if you're Page
or Page Up, it's really about

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who you are as a leader
and all of those things that are involved.

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And so as part of that process,
a couple of years ago, we went through

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and we really thought about
what was the narrative of Page Up.

00:13:54:22 - 00:13:56:38
How do we evolve as that's coming?

00:13:56:38 - 00:14:00:07
We're also in the process
from part of Doctor Ford's listening

00:14:00:09 - 00:14:04:34
tour of doing kind of a blue sky process
to basically say, hey, what's next?

00:14:04:35 - 00:14:06:35
What's next for our community?

00:14:06:35 - 00:14:09:35
But I did want to share
for some of our newer members

00:14:09:53 - 00:14:13:34
one of the big shifts
that we really did a couple of years ago,

00:14:13:52 - 00:14:16:36
which was thinking about that foundation

00:14:16:36 - 00:14:21:16
moving from really, how do you develop
that next generation of leaders?

00:14:21:16 - 00:14:24:20
What's involved with that
to really being that

00:14:24:47 - 00:14:27:47
this is a place
where we're driving innovation?

00:14:27:48 - 00:14:33:00
It is both a destination and for some it's
a step for their way to go to CC0.

00:14:33:19 - 00:14:35:02
But I think this is a very important

00:14:35:02 - 00:14:39:46
part of our DNA as we continue to evolve
and think about and then also think

00:14:39:46 - 00:14:43:24
about what that brand personality is,
we don't want to lose those things.

00:14:43:41 - 00:14:46:49
As you're seeing from the discussions
we're having today,

00:14:46:49 - 00:14:49:38
there's a lot of agility,
a lot of collaboration,

00:14:49:38 - 00:14:52:37
but a lot of innovation is being driven
from here.

00:14:52:43 - 00:14:55:30
A lot of transformation,
and I think that's important.

00:14:55:30 - 00:15:00:01
So my update was a little bit to say
we're kind of keeping on keeping on for

00:15:00:02 - 00:15:04:15
how do we do that dual track of making
sure we're building the community.

00:15:04:15 - 00:15:05:32
That's Page Up.

00:15:05:32 - 00:15:08:47
But how do we do that in a way
that keeps us part of Page overall?

00:15:09:14 - 00:15:14:17
And so once we know what the blue sky
strategy is, Laura Lab of KPMG is on,

00:15:15:15 - 00:15:18:02
this committee
with me is one of the one of the co-leads.

00:15:18:02 - 00:15:20:42
We'll use that to adjust everything
we need to do

00:15:20:42 - 00:15:24:23
in terms of any fine
tuning to the narrative, to messaging.

00:15:24:56 - 00:15:27:56
But you're going to see and Ethan
is going to talk about this in a minute.

00:15:27:56 - 00:15:31:44
That big shift we did with our narrative
is the reason why,

00:15:31:44 - 00:15:35:36
when the Page newsletter comes out,
it's Page and Page Up,

00:15:35:36 - 00:15:38:37
when you're on
the social channels is Page and Page Up

00:15:38:38 - 00:15:41:03
when you look at the thought leadership
that came out.

00:15:41:03 - 00:15:42:21
It's Page and it's Page Up.

00:15:42:21 - 00:15:46:50
So these are very, very important moves
and it's very exciting to be here.

00:15:47:10 - 00:15:49:38
Look forward
to catching up with everybody.

00:15:49:38 - 00:15:52:37
Thank you.

00:15:53:31 - 00:15:53:53
All right.

00:15:53:53 - 00:15:56:29
Hey, thanks for appreciate that.

00:15:56:29 - 00:15:57:48
So you can see the the,

00:15:58:53 - 00:16:00:52
the member engagement one is next.

00:16:00:52 - 00:16:03:34
And that's not the one that's not.
You follow.

00:16:03:34 - 00:16:04:53
So, where are you?

00:16:04:53 - 00:16:07:53
Okay. You have
do you need clicking action?

00:16:07:54 - 00:16:08:57
Yeah. There you go.

00:16:08:57 - 00:16:10:40
Everybody Molly Rauzi, everybody.

00:16:10:40 - 00:16:13:11
Ladies and gentlemen, warm hand.

00:16:13:11 - 00:16:15:12
I get

00:16:15:12 - 00:16:17:10
always happy to follow Ethan.

00:16:17:10 - 00:16:19:11
So I'm Molly Rauzi with Gagen MacDonald.

00:16:19:11 - 00:16:24:02
And at APCO, I'm a senior advisor on the APCO
International Advisory Council.

00:16:24:18 - 00:16:28:44
I retired my full time job in June,
so I've lots of time to work to help

00:16:28:44 - 00:16:30:09
all of you.

00:16:30:09 - 00:16:32:38
I have the pleasure
of leading the member Engagement

00:16:32:38 - 00:16:35:38
Task Force, which is something I'm
very passionate about.

00:16:35:41 - 00:16:39:23
We have Lauren, Adrian and Hillary who are
part of the task force here in the room.

00:16:39:59 - 00:16:42:10
And several folks
who couldn't make it today.

00:16:42:10 - 00:16:46:34
And our purpose is to make sure each and
every one of you achieve the full value

00:16:46:34 - 00:16:51:29
proposition of your membership with Page
that every one of you feels cared for.

00:16:52:09 - 00:16:56:15
Part of this community
and that you can give more and get more.

00:16:56:55 - 00:16:57:54
Over. Time.

00:16:57:54 - 00:17:00:54
And so if you don't know how to do that,
please reach out to us.

00:17:00:57 - 00:17:04:37
The task force is open for new members
to to be on the task force.

00:17:04:37 - 00:17:07:47
If you want to be part of this, to enrich
other people's opportunities.

00:17:07:50 - 00:17:09:15
We're we're here for that.

00:17:09:15 - 00:17:12:46
And then if there's anything that you want
to get involved with and you don't know

00:17:12:46 - 00:17:16:43
how, please reach out to one of us
and we can help you get engaged.

00:17:16:56 - 00:17:19:52
We use a lot of the member insights,

00:17:19:52 - 00:17:23:49
from the surveys and from other
conversations we're having with folks

00:17:24:02 - 00:17:28:05
to drive the programing
and the way we do outreach.

00:17:28:14 - 00:17:31:55
So if you have better ideas for how to do
that, we're open to those things as well.

00:17:32:25 - 00:17:34:02
Thank you. Thank you Molly.

00:17:35:16 - 00:17:37:49
Ethan.

00:17:37:49 - 00:17:40:47
I'm always
happy to follow up behind you, Molly.

00:17:40:47 - 00:17:43:36
So we're going to go on to
activating, content.

00:17:43:36 - 00:17:47:41
I had the privilege of working with,
Marjorie, Caroline, Alyssa, and,

00:17:48:01 - 00:17:52:27
Jerrick to put together some thinking on
how content manifest for this community.

00:17:53:04 - 00:17:56:04
The task force
remit that we got when we were,

00:17:57:56 - 00:18:00:55
sitting around a table in Paris, France.

00:18:01:21 - 00:18:04:20
And, suddenly just by the,

00:18:05:05 - 00:18:09:28
by the luck of being at that table,
we got assigned this task force.

00:18:09:55 - 00:18:12:33
At the, at the, at the,

00:18:12:33 - 00:18:15:34
global exchange that we had there,
or the spring seminar.

00:18:15:35 - 00:18:19:02
Sorry, that we had there was to harmonize
the content distribution methods for Page

00:18:19:02 - 00:18:22:38
up members to create a unified
and engaging member experience.

00:18:22:39 - 00:18:24:59
Now, that's a pretty tall order.

00:18:24:59 - 00:18:27:59
And if you go back in your mind
two years ago, for those of you

00:18:28:01 - 00:18:31:15
who were members at that time,
you'll know that you were getting,

00:18:31:37 - 00:18:35:09
emails and pings and links and apps
and all these kind of things.

00:18:35:11 - 00:18:39:57
So as we got, gathered as a team, we
came up with this thought that we would,

00:18:41:05 - 00:18:43:45
sort of
gather around a strategic objective

00:18:43:45 - 00:18:47:03
to contribute to an enriching member
experience, build a value

00:18:47:03 - 00:18:50:15
and reputation Page Up by connecting
the community and informing Page Up

00:18:50:24 - 00:18:54:04
members of the skills, personalities
and practices of fellow members.

00:18:54:04 - 00:18:57:05
So that became our objective because,
you know,

00:18:57:05 - 00:19:00:05
fixing
the entire ocean is not always so easy.

00:19:00:14 - 00:19:03:07
We took a look at all
the places where content was appearing.

00:19:03:07 - 00:19:06:39
So, for example, on our, we had

00:19:06:53 - 00:19:09:53
we still had a Facebook, Page,

00:19:10:45 - 00:19:13:33
LinkedIn presence
that was kind of scattered.

00:19:13:33 - 00:19:15:29
There wasn't like a home there.

00:19:15:29 - 00:19:18:29
We had, newsletter knowledge base.

00:19:20:01 - 00:19:21:13
Knowledge base.

00:19:21:13 - 00:19:23:53
Has anybody ever heard of Knowledge Base
before?

00:19:23:53 - 00:19:26:31
Okay. For no one hand went up. Okay.

00:19:26:31 - 00:19:29:36
And it was Alyssa's,
And you were on the content task force.

00:19:30:12 - 00:19:32:02
Turns out knowledge base
is, like, amazing.

00:19:32:02 - 00:19:35:26
I didn't know that it even existed
on our, on the Page website.

00:19:35:27 - 00:19:36:57
It is so rich with content.

00:19:36:57 - 00:19:38:18
I use it with my students.

00:19:38:18 - 00:19:40:56
There's so much stuff
there, but, had no idea.

00:19:40:56 - 00:19:41:16
Right.

00:19:41:16 - 00:19:46:18
So, the idea here is that, like,
the whole audience is, is changing.

00:19:46:56 - 00:19:50:12
And we need to change with it, like who
we are as a group of,

00:19:50:39 - 00:19:52:16
professionals is changing.

00:19:52:16 - 00:19:55:16
And, as, Steve was just saying,

00:19:55:17 - 00:19:58:05
that's even reflected
in the mission of our organization.

00:19:58:05 - 00:20:01:30
So we started to think about, like,
who's actually looking at content that we,

00:20:02:02 - 00:20:05:18
that we, within our group
as people and Page Up.

00:20:05:29 - 00:20:08:29
And who do we want to actually deliver
content to?

00:20:09:01 - 00:20:12:01
In order to, build our reputation,

00:20:12:24 - 00:20:16:49
build the, you know, the,
brand of, of Page Up as well.

00:20:16:56 - 00:20:19:39
And it turns out
it's not just us, the current membership,

00:20:19:39 - 00:20:24:32
but also communications professionals
who aspire to be amongst us, learners

00:20:24:32 - 00:20:29:24
like the students I mentioned, management
at, our member organization.

00:20:29:24 - 00:20:32:16
So, including Page members and so on.

00:20:32:16 - 00:20:35:22
So a couple of the things that we have
in the work, some of which you've already

00:20:35:22 - 00:20:40:29
been in receipt of, are some content
franchises, a, a word that I think

00:20:40:29 - 00:20:44:26
came up this morning from Rob McCulloch,
which I like quite much.

00:20:45:02 - 00:20:48:00
You can see a couple ideas
for some content series.

00:20:48:00 - 00:20:50:33
Some of these are already showing up.

00:20:50:33 - 00:20:54:13
And also,
the consolidation of a lot of the,

00:20:54:47 - 00:20:57:43
the channels
which which Steve mentioned as well.

00:20:57:43 - 00:21:01:43
I just want to mention as well that we did
finally closed that Facebook site.

00:21:01:44 - 00:21:04:35
Okay. And by the way, I'm sorry, I'm
the one who started it.

00:21:04:35 - 00:21:06:23
So apologies to you all.

00:21:06:23 - 00:21:09:23
And thank you, Grant,
for tolerating me on that one.

00:21:09:48 - 00:21:15:02
And then, we we did stand up,
a LinkedIn group, 40% of us as,

00:21:15:15 - 00:21:20:28
40% of not just this room, 40% of us
have joined that LinkedIn group.

00:21:21:11 - 00:21:23:37
Thank you. I see some phones coming out.

00:21:23:37 - 00:21:27:52
Our, it looks like,
almost all of the people who joined

00:21:27:52 - 00:21:33:41
that group, joined when we had the,
QR code up at our, at our last meeting.

00:21:33:41 - 00:21:35:02
So please do join it.

00:21:35:02 - 00:21:37:49
It's a way for us to stay connected.
It's a private community.

00:21:37:49 - 00:21:42:04
And I'm very, very pleased to say
that we had, just a week or two ago,

00:21:42:04 - 00:21:46:13
Jerick, told me that we had our first Page
member who was trying to join,

00:21:46:13 - 00:21:47:23
and I'm sorry, denied.

00:21:49:57 - 00:21:50:55
All right.

00:21:50:55 - 00:21:53:08
Over to, building expertise.

00:21:53:08 - 00:21:55:46
Where are you? Hello.

00:21:55:46 - 00:21:58:32
Good afternoon. I'm María Len-Ríos

00:21:58:32 - 00:22:01:33
I'm from the University of Minnesota,
where I'm the associate

00:22:01:33 - 00:22:04:42
director for the School of Journalism
and Mass Communication.

00:22:05:29 - 00:22:08:41
Worked on this task force
with another educator, Kelly

00:22:08:41 - 00:22:11:41
Matthews, from the University of Oregon.

00:22:11:48 - 00:22:14:48
Additionally, initially, this was a pilot.

00:22:14:50 - 00:22:15:55
We know that building

00:22:15:55 - 00:22:19:39
expertise happens at these conferences,
and we know building expertise

00:22:19:39 - 00:22:23:03
happens on the one on one conversations
that you have with each other.

00:22:23:31 - 00:22:26:24
We thought that we would try
to put together a three part

00:22:26:24 - 00:22:30:07
series on a topic of a critical issue
that we know

00:22:30:18 - 00:22:35:00
was of concern to our members,
and so we started with

00:22:35:11 - 00:22:39:21
kind of a general lay of the land,
and we did it through Think Thursday

00:22:39:21 - 00:22:43:07
on the topic of disinformation,
misinformation and mal information.

00:22:43:33 - 00:22:47:30
And then there have been several
professional pop up think Thursdays

00:22:47:30 - 00:22:52:36
in between, and we're going to finish
out our pilot project with,

00:22:54:04 - 00:22:56:28
doing kind of like a Spotify wrap

00:22:56:28 - 00:23:00:23
of all of the best of information
through the end of the year.

00:23:00:23 - 00:23:01:58
So be on the lookout for that.

00:23:01:58 - 00:23:03:34
And if you have ideas for building

00:23:03:34 - 00:23:06:39
expertise, you can let anybody on
the operating committee know.

00:23:07:45 - 00:23:09:41
Thank you.

00:23:09:41 - 00:23:11:23
Can I just ask for a round of applause
for all of that

00:23:11:23 - 00:23:14:23
great work?

00:23:16:07 - 00:23:16:45
Thank you everybody.

00:23:16:45 - 00:23:20:19
I think that was, helpful for everyone
to get a little bit

00:23:20:19 - 00:23:23:19
of an understanding about all the work
that's on offer for you.

00:23:23:49 - 00:23:26:15
I want to just purposely call out
the operating committee

00:23:26:15 - 00:23:27:48
for all the work that they do in public,

00:23:27:48 - 00:23:30:48
but also for all the work
that they do behind the scenes.

00:23:30:48 - 00:23:33:43
This is a done for you based on
the feedback that you've given us.

00:23:33:43 - 00:23:36:53
So we've created programs
with curated content.

00:23:36:53 - 00:23:37:51
But what's more important

00:23:37:51 - 00:23:39:51
is that we really deepening
this engagement,

00:23:39:51 - 00:23:42:12
and that's what we're here to do,
is to serve this operating committee.

00:23:42:12 - 00:23:44:07
And in a way that's
meaningful and impactful.

00:23:45:58 - 00:23:48:26
Now with
that, sorry, I jumped too fast with that.

00:23:48:26 - 00:23:50:39
And I’d like to ask Tom Martin
to come up on stage

00:23:50:39 - 00:23:53:38
and help us with the governance
part of this.

00:23:58:06 - 00:23:59:27
Thank you.

00:23:59:27 - 00:24:01:40
Thank you. Ma'am. I appreciate that.

00:24:01:40 - 00:24:04:58
Well, obviously all this great work
does not happen without leadership.

00:24:04:58 - 00:24:08:47
And so the function of the nominating
committee is to basically continue

00:24:08:47 - 00:24:12:04
the leadership that we've already had over
these last 12 years,

00:24:12:39 - 00:24:15:34
and keep that going. So,

00:24:15:34 - 00:24:17:21
we have a nominating committee
that helps us do that,

00:24:17:21 - 00:24:19:12
and these are the folks
that help us with that.

00:24:19:12 - 00:24:20:37
Some of them are in the room.

00:24:20:37 - 00:24:24:00
Thank you for your work in helping us
keep the leaders, the great leadership

00:24:24:00 - 00:24:25:46
of this organization going.

00:24:25:46 - 00:24:26:51
And as the members

00:24:26:51 - 00:24:29:54
said, this is the operating committee
that's led us this past year.

00:24:30:43 - 00:24:32:04
Many of the many of the people on

00:24:32:04 - 00:24:34:55
the operating committee
will continue in the year ahead.

00:24:34:55 - 00:24:37:49
The responsibilities of the nominating
committee are twofold, really.

00:24:38:50 - 00:24:40:25
First, we

00:24:40:25 - 00:24:42:57
recruit
new members for the operating committee.

00:24:42:57 - 00:24:47:04
And secondly, we work to provide officers
to lead the organization.

00:24:47:05 - 00:24:50:17
We have three officer positions,
a chair and two vice chairs.

00:24:50:40 - 00:24:55:08
And so that's that's the work that we do,
in keeping that leadership going.

00:24:55:08 - 00:24:57:54
So you may be asking,
maybe you have an interest yourself

00:24:57:54 - 00:24:59:15
in being on the operating committee.

00:24:59:15 - 00:25:01:40
And frankly, we'd love to have new members
all the way.

00:25:01:40 - 00:25:04:19
So if you're interested,
this is what we're looking for.

00:25:04:19 - 00:25:08:14
Personal qualities would be first,
your level of existing engagement

00:25:08:14 - 00:25:09:33
already and Page Up activities.

00:25:09:33 - 00:25:11:45
You might say, well,
what do I do to get involved?

00:25:11:45 - 00:25:12:40
There's lots to do.

00:25:12:40 - 00:25:13:59
A lot of the things that you heard

00:25:13:59 - 00:25:17:46
described just now require
more than one person to do them.

00:25:18:06 - 00:25:20:57
And so all the efforts
that you've heard describe,

00:25:20:57 - 00:25:23:51
there are committees
for those, efforts, task forces.

00:25:23:51 - 00:25:27:27
So if you have an interest in them,
you saw the four people who just presented

00:25:27:41 - 00:25:29:00
you see the people
on the operating committee.

00:25:29:00 - 00:25:31:19
Just let us know, hey,
I'd like to get more involved.

00:25:31:19 - 00:25:32:38
How do I go about doing that?

00:25:32:38 - 00:25:34:44
Trust me,
we will find ways to get you involved.

00:25:34:44 - 00:25:37:36
So that's one
one thing we also try to have

00:25:38:34 - 00:25:40:33
a very balanced composition.

00:25:40:33 - 00:25:43:02
We represent our membership overall.

00:25:43:02 - 00:25:43:59
We try to have

00:25:43:59 - 00:25:47:50
corporate representatives and agency
representatives and nonprofits educators.

00:25:48:04 - 00:25:50:31
So we try to reflect
the membership itself.

00:25:50:31 - 00:25:53:19
And then we obviously seek
people who have diverse perspectives

00:25:53:19 - 00:25:55:16
and backgrounds, because that's
what makes the world go round.

00:25:55:16 - 00:25:57:02
So that's what we're looking for.

00:25:57:02 - 00:26:00:02
If you feel like this is something
that would be good for you,

00:26:00:05 - 00:26:02:42
see us and we'll we'll get you involved.

00:26:02:42 - 00:26:06:01
So we first of all have
six of our existing

00:26:06:01 - 00:26:08:14
operating committee members
who are up for reelection.

00:26:08:14 - 00:26:10:11
You the membership vote on that.

00:26:10:11 - 00:26:12:57
So these are the people
who are up for reelection.

00:26:12:57 - 00:26:17:39
And I would ask for a motion to,
to reelect them from someone in a second.

00:26:18:45 - 00:26:19:36
All in favor?

00:26:20:40 - 00:26:22:03
Any opposed?

00:26:22:03 - 00:26:23:44
Great. Well, these six people.

00:26:23:44 - 00:26:27:43
Mama, Sarah, Steve, Ethan, Theresa,
and Molly will serve again,

00:26:28:26 - 00:26:29:22
on the operating committee.

00:26:29:22 - 00:26:32:22
And we appreciate their
their service to this point.

00:26:32:36 - 00:26:35:34
And we look forward to working
with them again in the year to come.

00:26:35:34 - 00:26:38:03
And I would also point out,
we think we're going to have at least one,

00:26:38:03 - 00:26:40:34
if not two vacancies
on the operating committee.

00:26:40:34 - 00:26:43:00
So we are looking for new people
to step forward.

00:26:43:00 - 00:26:46:00
So again, let us know
if that's an interest that you have.

00:26:46:38 - 00:26:49:16
We want to thank one
of the one of the members of this year's

00:26:49:16 - 00:26:51:43
operating committee who's going to be
stepping down from the committee,

00:26:51:43 - 00:26:52:46
Marjorie Binns coffer.

00:26:52:46 - 00:26:58:06
Marjorie served as a chair of Page Up for two years and did a great job.

00:26:58:30 - 00:27:01:46
She'll be missed, but we wish her
well in her and her new endeavors.

00:27:02:13 - 00:27:03:07
She recently left.

00:27:03:07 - 00:27:06:34
Fleishman is going on to do a new chapter,
and so we wish her well.

00:27:06:34 - 00:27:08:32
She can't be here today because,

00:27:08:32 - 00:27:11:27
one of her family members is ailing,
and she's taking care of helping

00:27:11:27 - 00:27:12:22
take care of her.

00:27:12:22 - 00:27:16:56
But if you know Marjorie, please thank her
and know that she's going to be missed.

00:27:16:56 - 00:27:17:59
But she's done a great job.

00:27:17:59 - 00:27:20:10
We really appreciate that for her.

00:27:20:10 - 00:27:25:02
So for 2026, I'm happy to announce
we have two by shares.

00:27:25:03 - 00:27:28:05
These were elected by the operating
committee as is our practice.

00:27:28:41 - 00:27:31:40
And they'll be endorsed
by the Page, Board of Trustees.

00:27:31:48 - 00:27:34:04
First we have two new vice chairs.

00:27:34:04 - 00:27:37:24
Alyssa Gilmore, who's in the room
as you as you know, and Laura Lao,

00:27:37:27 - 00:27:39:57
Laura is not in the room because
she couldn't attend the meeting this time.

00:27:39:57 - 00:27:42:57
She had a a conflict
that was previously scheduled.

00:27:43:31 - 00:27:46:00
But Laura and Alyssa
are both going to do a great job.

00:27:46:00 - 00:27:48:15
Let's give Alyssa
a round of applause. And sitting here.

00:27:52:18 - 00:27:53:04
You've already seen

00:27:53:04 - 00:27:56:24
Alyssa's skill if you attended
the benchmarking session yesterday.

00:27:56:24 - 00:27:59:47
So I know we're going to be happy
to have more of that great work

00:27:59:47 - 00:28:01:01
in the year to come.

00:28:01:01 - 00:28:04:01
And then as our new chair,
Ethan McCarty from Integral.

00:28:08:14 - 00:28:10:24
So, Ethan, as any of you know,

00:28:10:24 - 00:28:13:24
Ethan know that he puts his heart
and soul in everything he does.

00:28:13:49 - 00:28:16:23
He wrote a wonderful document

00:28:16:23 - 00:28:19:25
as part of his candidacy for for a chair
this year.

00:28:19:25 - 00:28:22:25
We asked people who were candidates
for the position,

00:28:22:37 - 00:28:23:17
and we based that

00:28:23:17 - 00:28:26:28
on their previous interest in being chair,
or they are ongoing

00:28:26:28 - 00:28:29:38
service as vice chairs or their service
on the operating committee.

00:28:29:54 - 00:28:33:01
We we solicit, nominees to be chair.

00:28:33:03 - 00:28:36:05
We ask those, nominees to present us

00:28:36:30 - 00:28:39:50
a vision of what
they would see for Page Up in the future.

00:28:40:08 - 00:28:43:20
And Ethan did a fantastic job
in putting together a six Page,

00:28:44:16 - 00:28:47:15
those of you know, Ethan know
that's not out of character.

00:28:47:33 - 00:28:49:09
But it was really wonderfully done.

00:28:49:09 - 00:28:51:11
And I think he's got a
great vision for the future.

00:28:52:59 - 00:28:54:02
So that's what I want to say.

00:28:54:02 - 00:28:55:12
One more thing.

00:28:55:12 - 00:28:59:11
And that's to thank you for her
wonderful stewardship of our organization

00:28:59:11 - 00:29:00:00
these last two years.

00:29:00:00 - 00:29:03:34
You remember, I remember when you and I
first talked about the potential of you

00:29:03:46 - 00:29:06:35
being in this role and you said, how am I?

00:29:06:35 - 00:29:08:00
Am I what the organization needs?

00:29:08:00 - 00:29:10:08
Well, you exactly
were what the organization needs.

00:29:10:08 - 00:29:12:57
You've
represented the globality of Page job.

00:29:12:57 - 00:29:16:56
You've represented all that
we can offer to the Page community.

00:29:17:08 - 00:29:18:36
And I think you've done a fantastic job.

00:29:18:36 - 00:29:21:38
So I hope you all will
please join me in thanking UMaine.

00:29:24:10 - 00:29:26:17
Thank you.

00:29:26:17 - 00:29:29:17
Done a great job with the seniors.

00:29:30:05 - 00:29:33:28
So I just want to thank everybody,
once again for,

00:29:33:53 - 00:29:39:05
participating in this study
and also to ensure that, you know, that

00:29:39:05 - 00:29:44:19
we're really committed
to replaying the insights, back to you,

00:29:44:19 - 00:29:48:54
as you know, the entire you and the rest
of the the membership, and

00:29:50:46 - 00:29:51:13
it just

00:29:51:13 - 00:29:54:43
means so much in a member led organization

00:29:55:12 - 00:29:58:57
to actually hear from the membership and,

00:29:59:26 - 00:30:04:06
I'm really looking forward to
to serving you in the role of of chair.

00:30:04:06 - 00:30:06:17
I cannot wait to collaborate

00:30:06:17 - 00:30:09:51
with, Alyssa and and Laura
and the rest of the operating committee.

00:30:10:13 - 00:30:13:04
And, I just want to say,
sometimes when you,

00:30:13:04 - 00:30:16:49
stand on the shoulders of giants
who precede you,

00:30:17:01 - 00:30:19:50
they happen to be actually
a little bit shorter than you.

00:30:19:50 - 00:30:23:08
And once again,
thank you, mama, for your amazing service,

00:30:23:40 - 00:30:26:08
to this community
and for your friendship as well.

00:30:26:08 - 00:30:27:09
Thank you.

00:30:27:09 - 00:30:30:09
All right.

00:30:32:00 - 00:30:33:03
I have a little funny joke.

00:30:33:03 - 00:30:35:27
My husband's, like, quite tall.
He's about six four.

00:30:35:27 - 00:30:38:14
So every time something happens, I hit him
and he goes, one day I'll call the cops.

00:30:38:14 - 00:30:40:11
I'm like, who's going to believe you? I'm
so short.

00:30:40:11 - 00:30:41:41
Like, who's going to believe that? So,

00:30:44:08 - 00:30:45:04
thank you for all of that.

00:30:45:04 - 00:30:47:17
Thank you for your time today.
Thank you for showing up.

00:30:47:17 - 00:30:51:16
The fact that so many of you take trips
from all over the place to kind of be here

00:30:51:43 - 00:30:55:12
is a validation that this is helpful
and it's making an impact.

00:30:55:32 - 00:30:58:32
So I just wanted to take a minute
to kind of really

00:30:58:32 - 00:31:01:12
thank you all for being present
and leaning in.

00:31:01:12 - 00:31:04:58
My recommendation is,
we need to continue to be

00:31:04:58 - 00:31:07:58
bold and be loud and take up space.

00:31:08:02 - 00:31:11:14
And as I hand over to Ethan,
my dear friend,

00:31:12:08 - 00:31:13:31
that's what we're going to continue doing.

00:31:13:31 - 00:31:14:44
We're going to continue to take up space.

00:31:14:44 - 00:31:17:05
So, appreciate that.

00:31:17:05 - 00:31:22:36
In a time where since Covid,
actually where there has been no playbook,

00:31:22:52 - 00:31:24:41
we've had to kind of throw out
everything that we know

00:31:24:41 - 00:31:26:20
and rewrite everything once again.

00:31:27:25 - 00:31:28:12
This kind of a

00:31:28:12 - 00:31:31:21
community is no longer something
that's like a nice to have.

00:31:31:33 - 00:31:33:00
It's become the essential.

00:31:33:00 - 00:31:37:27
So with that, I want to say thank you
for allowing me to serve as your chair.

00:31:37:27 - 00:31:39:12
Thank you
on behalf of the whole operating committee

00:31:39:12 - 00:31:40:54
for everything that we've done
and accomplished

00:31:40:54 - 00:31:43:22
together and upwards and onwards.

00:31:43:22 - 00:31:44:46
So thank you for all your time.