 Get to Know Caryn “CC” Ackerman
Florida Jaycees’ 83rd President
Joined Jaycees: 1993
Chapter: Bradenton
Occupation: Office Manager, Dental Management Company (Sarasota)
Spouse: Larry Ackerman
Theme: Florida Jaycees: Journey of a Lifetime
When I joined the Bradenton Jaycees in January 1993, I never dreamed my journey would lead me to run for President of the Florida Jaycees. I joined the Jaycees to meet new people and get involved in my community. As I look back and reflect on my 13 years in this organization, I am not only amazed, but humbled by the friends that I have made (this is where I met my husband), places I have visited, new experiences I have encountered, the Jaycee moments that touched my life and my own personal growth as an individual…just to name a few.
As President of the Florida Jaycees, it is my hope to continue these great traditions of our state organization. I want our members and future members to have every opportunity to experience all the Jaycees have to offer. If we want to keep the Florida Jaycees as the “greatest young person’s organization,” we have to work together spreading the news about our local chapters and inviting young people to become members.
With the introduction of the Sales and Service Team this year, a new and effective method to making the existing chapters a focal point produced positive results. My goal next year is to have the 2007 Executive Board continue working together on these Teams, which in turn will create stronger local chapters and will strengthen the foundation of the Florida Jaycees. I am a strong believer in building local chapters that can stand on their own two feet. Once they can support themselves, I’ll encourage them to go out and introduce the Jaycees to their nearby communities with the hope of extending a chapter that they can work with and mentor over the next year.
I want to hear from you, the member! I need to know what you like about this organization, what you don’t like about this organization, why you joined the Jaycees, why you continue to renew your membership each year, etc. Over the next several months…and into the New Year…I plan to ask these key questions as I visit your chapters and/or talk to your members at state and local events. As a State Board, we ask the chapters to survey their members to ensure they are meeting their needs. We on the State Board need to do the exact same thing. Is the Florida Jaycees meeting the needs of its chapters and members? Only you can answer these questions. All I ask is that you are fair and honest with your answers.
One of my strongest attributes that I feel will empower me as a President next year is my love for the Jaycee organization. As I mentioned earlier, the Jaycees have touched my life in so many areas. I have grown as an individual in ways I never thought possible. I took advantage of what the Jaycees had to offer…both on a local and state level. I strongly believe “you get out what you put into it” and if I hadn’t followed this philosophy, I know I wouldn’t be where I am today…both in my personal life and in my Jaycee life.
One of the key components to a successful, thriving chapter is the activation of our members. We need to make this a priority in 2007. If I had not been activated the minute I joined the chapter, I doubt very seriously I would now be running for the office of State President. An active, happy member is a hard-working member. Two of the best ways to ensure your members stay happy is to recognize them for their efforts, both on an individual basis and in public. And you always need to have fun!! Celebrate your accomplishments…plan socials, happy hours, family picnics, movie nights, etc. Fun, relaxing events are just as important as the community projects we spend hours planning and running.
From the ideas I have shared with you, I hope you have a better understanding of what I believe to be important when it comes to utilizing the tools we have to strengthen the foundation of the Florida Jaycees. You too, deserve the opportunity to experience a Journey of a Lifetime through the Florida Jaycees. This Journey can change your life! You only need take hold of what this organization has to offer.
Florida Jaycees…whether your Journey has already begun or you are a new member waiting to embark on your Jaycee Journey, I hope you will let me a part of your Journey. Let’s work together to keep the strong traditions of the Florida Jaycees alive through our work in the community, inviting young people to join our organization, celebrating our accomplishments and hard work and by going that extra mile to ensure the Florida Jaycees is a Journey of Lifetime for many years to come!
Yours in Jaycees,
Caryn “CC” Ackerman
83rd President of the Florida Jaycees
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Florida Jaycees,
Can you imagine what it would be like to live in Florida if the weather was always like what we’ve been experiencing over the past 2weeks? Everyone would want to move to Florida. YIKES!! What if we asked a similar question about the Florida Jaycees? What would it belike to be a member of an organization that offered dynamic trainers, impacted its communities, enhanced our individual skills, put forth opportunities to meet new friends and make new business contacts, all the while putting us on a path towards a Journey of a Lifetime?
Everyone would want to be involved. YIKES!! Can you imagine?? I say BRING IT ON!! As you sit back and reflect on the 1st Quarter, did you BRING IT ON for your members and offer them all the opportunities needed to make them feel they belong to the Greatest Young Person’s Organization? We can also ask if they took the opportunities offered to them so they could begin their Journey of a Lifetime. Success in our organization is a two way street. Not only do we need to supply the tools to our members to help make them successful in their personal, business and Jaycee lives, but they need to utilize the tools we make available. Ayn Randsays it best in her quote: The ladder of success is best climbed by stepping on the rungs of opportunity .The opportunities are there for the taking Florida Jaycees.
Whether you want to climb the ladder of success or you want to be successful in a specific area (i.e., chairing a project, competing in Speak Up, networking your business, making new friends or enhancing your personal skills). Just take that step towards success and watch how your life can change within the Florida Jaycees. As chapters, districts and regions, you are taking steps to bring the opportunities of our organization to other Jaycee minded people.
Congratulations Florida for being +5 for the month of March!!! I want to specifically thank the following for being at growth for March: Panama City +1, Jacksonville +5, Sanford +9, Deland +1, Ocala +1, Haven Lakes +1, Melbourne +10, Avon Park +3, Okeechobee +1, Englewood +3, West Palm Beach +6, Coral Springs +1, Ft. Lauderdale +1, North Miami +2, Marathon +11, District 63 +9, District 82 +1, District 91/92 +4, District 111 +3, District 121 +2, Region 1 +1, Region 6 +9, Region 9 +4, Region 13 +7.
I look forward to seeing you and our new members at LTI on Saturday, April 21. We’re excited to offer JCI Achieve Training with guest trainers, Patrick Knight, US Jaycees. National Metro Director and Garret McNally, US Jaycees. Business Development Director. You don’t want to miss this opportunity!! I want to commend all of you for your hard work and dedication during the 1st quarter. Your commitment and enthusiasm never goes unnoticed. It .fueled the fire. of our recent successes and ignites our desire to make the Florida Jaycees the best young peoples. Organization in the state of Florida.
Yours in Jaycees,
Caryn .CC. Ackerman
83rd President
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July
As many of you know I’m a big supporter of visitations. I encourage members to visit other chapters to show their support, lend manpower to a project or just to have fun and socialize. At the time I joined the Jaycees, I didn’t have any idea what kind of impact visitations would have on my Jaycee career. At the time, the Florida Jaycees. Director of Training, Karen Kohn, was running for Individual Development Vice President and she was getting ready to hit the campaign trail. So she wouldn’t have to travel by herself, she asked me to travel with her. I wasn’t even a year old Jaycee and I was very shy. The thought of attending regional meetings, membership meetings, etc., where there would be many people in attendance that I didn’t know, scared me to death. But I reminded myself that one of the reasons I joined my local chapter was to meet new people. I was single at the time and had lots of free time on my hands, so there was really no excuse not to take my friend upon her offer. W e t r a v e l e d every where! She had a red convertible sports car, so of course most places we traveled we had the top down. My first time to Key West was to attend a Region 13 Regional Meeting. We went to the Keys and back in one Saturday. Crazy...huh? I still travel like that as State President. I just don’t find it as easy to function the next day as I did 13 years ago!! As Chapter President for the Bradenton Jaycees, I continued the visitations to chapters within my district and my region. Because of the friends I made while traveling on the campaign trail with Karen, I also visited chapters outside my region and always brought members of my chapter with me. Many of these chapters reciprocated and made visitations to my meetings and projects. Not only did I build friendships, but the visitations built a bond between the chapters and the regions. I believe that .actions speak louder than words.. When you take the time out of your busy schedules to visit another chapter (whether socially or to help them at a project), you are saying volumes about your commitment to the Jaycees and that you care about your fellow Jaycees. It also means the world to the chapter you visit! The friendships I have made because I ventured beyond my chapter are priceless to me. No more ha sthis become more prevalent only call a friend, but someone that loved being a Jaycee and was very proud when her home chapter, the Okeechobee Jaycees, honored her with a FLJCI Senatorship. I am speaking of Christine Caruso. I met Christine back in 2002 when I was the Regional Director for Region8. The Regional Director for Region 9 was Suzanne Russo and as RDs together, we decided that not only were we going to be rivaling regions, but we were going to have fun and support each other. Here again, visitations came into play. They attended our projects and we attend theirs. We attended their regional meetings they attended ours. We even gathered the two regions together at the Chapter Service Center in Lakeland for a day of bonding that included Frisbee Softball and a Jaycee cookout. I believe I can speak for both Suzanne and I when I say that the visitations we made to each others regions formed a bond between our two regions; as well as developed friendships that are still in place five years later. I can’t tell you how saddened I am that we’ve lost Christine. She welcomed me into Region 9 and into the Okeechobee Jaycees. She, along with her husband Pat and their son Patrick, supported me throughout the following years as I progressed in my Jaycee career. Because of a visitation, I met a lady that I’m proud to call my friend.
I want to congratulate the following chapters, districts and regions for growing our organization by inviting new friends into the Jaycees in both May and June:
May
Gainesville +4, Jacksonville +3, Daytona Beach +2, Deland +3, Ocala +4, New Port Richey +1, Okeechobee +1, CoralSprings +1, Hollywood +1, Miami Gardens +1, Marathon +1, District 63 +8, District 93/94 +1, Region 6 +6
June
Panama City +2, Gainesville +1, Daytona Beach +1, Deland +5, Ocala +2, Lake Placid +15, Okeechobee +1, Miami Gardens
+1, North Miami +1, District 63 +6, District 93/94 +15, Region 6 +6, Region 9 +7
Friendships are priceless and by venturing beyond your chapter and participating in a visitation, you may make a new friend, meet your future husband or wife, visit an area of Florida you’ve never seen before or make an impression on a fellow member that can impact the Journey they are about to take in the Florida Jaycees.
Yours in Jaycees,
Caryn .CC. Ackerman
83rd President
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