RTA 2009 Yoo! Hoo! The Best of the Best!
“This in my opinion was the best RTA of the past nine years” – Patrick Jennings, 2009 RTA Household Manager of the Year
On May 14-16 Starkey International hosted Restoring the Art 2009. Everyone in attendance felt it was the best they had ever experienced. We at Starkey felt the same. It was a small, intimate group of 35 which provided everyone the feeling that they really got to know each other and were committed to continued conversations on a monthly basis and, of course, seeing each other again at next year’s RTA to be held March 18-20, 2010.
J Paulin was our MC and held the container throughout the conference. He is wonderfully entertaining with many stories to share. He and Laura Klein are having fun at the formal dinner.
Dr. Lloyd Lewan set our stage and set our minds and hearts to receive his leadership and to understand the role we play as leaders and that there is no service without “leadership.” His message was clear, you must “believe” in who you are and who your employer is or service will not take place. You must believe or no one else will. He is such an awesome speaker, each time he comes and shares his love in mentoring us, I find my soul and remember who I am, a true Service Heart! Thank you Dr. Lewan.
An additional highlight was when Scottie Rasmussen from Palm Beach Florida won the Esperanza holiday raffle. Each attendee decorated and inscribed their name on a mini sombrero which then went into the jar for drawing. The creativity on each of the sombrero’s was wonderful. Scotty won! He is thrilled, as he has had very little time off. He is working for a single Principal who he absolutely loves, but promises to find a long weekend to nurture himself while on the Sea of Cortez, sitting in the Jacuzzi and enjoying the butler service at the Esperanza Resort in Mexico. See Scottie with the great big smile on the left!
The food was amazing, with Mr. Althoff, our Private Chef and Theresa Lay, our Household Manager at the helm aided by the invaluable assistance of recent Graduate, Kathryn Furman. The conference was set at the Starkey Mansion so that we all could enjoy the Mansion and Formal Gardens (we just put in the summer annuals and it was beautiful). The Mansion lended itself perfectly for this mostly alumni group, it was old home week for some, and an entry into the educational world of Starkey for others. Mr. Tom Bruce, to the right, and others are helping themselves to the chocolate mousse that Mr. Althoff concocted….it was yum, yum.
Chef Wray below from the Metropolitan State College School of Hospitality came and did a special lunch speaking about the marriage of Beer and Food. It was a good meal served with several good cold beers in the garden. Mr. Bruce said he thought this was the best lunch!
Our living and dining rooms were set up as class rooms. Everyone was greatly engaged with the presenters. The techies came out to share the latest and greatest. AT&T brought the cutting edge on iPhones, Brett Kahl from LynxSystems showed us how he is connecting intelligent home technology….now he is a resource! And of course Brad Webber and Mr. Althoff introduced Starkey’s hot new service management software! We ended the day going off to our special friend Chris Bowlan at Listen-up to see the smart home in action and to meet Mr. Lucas Jones and E Sommelier! On Saturday,the cleaning techies came out from Johnson and Johnson Laboratories and Western Paper Distributing with ionized water for sanitizing…the next thing in managing the cleaning within your home. It was fascinating learning the differences in sanitizing, disinfecting and nuking everything in sight! Mr. Althoff also shared ideas about communication and management tools within the private homes.
Gary Smith, our Director of Placement, shared his perspective on what the new clients are seeking in knowledge and expertise. We went through our Day in the Life process and our Top Three Standards exercise to help those seeking positions how to ascertain what an appropriate position for them might look like.
My personal favorite was The Wealth Legacy Institute who brought to life the role and integrated relationship of the Household Manger and the Family Office. If the Household Manager and the Family Office really knew the complete mission and roles both played and if they worked together, the entire support of the Principal and their Life Style would be greatly enhanced. We also learned what the first, second and third generations were typically doing with their money! Wow…we all learned a great deal and finally saw the gorilla in the room!
We held our traditional formal dinner at the Magnolia Hotel. We were wined and dined and loved every moment of it. Everyone got a Certificate of Continuing Education from our educators, Ms. Bullock and Chef Althoff. Continuing Education is essential in keeping you sharp and up to date with what is important in the profession. Our high-net worth employers have become quite clear about their requirements of our Graduates. They must know what the “Best of the Best” is and be technically on top of their game. If we are earning $60K to $160K per year, we had better know it all. The day of the touchy-feely “I can take care of you” is just not enough. Be well advised. Left is Joyce MacKay receiving her RTA Certificate.
I can’t leave my RTA excitement and appreciation without sharing who the Household Manager of the Year is for 2009! This year’s winner is Patrick Jennings. Those of you who have met Patrick in past years know he is an absolute gem. He has a Masters Degree in Human Resources and has been with the same family for 12 years. He is articulate, kind, most competent and he loves his position. Congratulations to Patrick Jennings….you are well deserved Household Manager of the Year! Email Patrick your congratulations at patrickj@seanet.com
Finally, we closed our RTA event with the love and support of Rich Hassan, retired General from the U.S. Air Force and my business/leadership coach for growing Starkey. He shared stories and wisdom about his life of service in the military and that no matter how you are serving; it presents the same challenges and requires a genuine relationship. Everything is accomplished with relationships! Thank you Rich for your kindness and support!
I cannot leave you without publically thanking our entire Starkey Team and especially our Director of Education, Debra Bullock for holding the container of the conference. Behind the scenes she made it all happen and did with her lovely graciousness and of course our culinary leader Mr. Althoff and Ms. Lay. I would also like to thank our ever positive Jessica Stimson in Admissions for getting everyone registered and here; and to our IT man of the hour, Matt Henderson for his graphics and pictures. Finally, a special appreciation to Helga Day for her lovely flowers. Thank you all.
Next year’s RTA will again be held in Denver. We are going back to our traditional March time frame….March 18-20, 2010. Put this on your calendar now and plan to come. The RTA Board of Directors will be meeting in the next couple of months to begin the process of organizing and selecting new presenters. This is your conference, so please let me know if you have any speakers you would like to recommend, or any topics you would like to see presented at RTA 2010.
My special message for this year’s conference was…” I believe in you”. You are my Graduates, I believe in who you are and what you bring to the table. Yes, our economy is having a rough time and I remind you that how Starkey’s clientelle responds in these times is not to terminate employment, but to be conservative, smart and to require that Household Managers be on their game and be true professionals. I BELIEVE IN YOU…. Do you believe in yourself?
My very warm wishes. Mary Louise Starkey
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Initial Cards and Letters
Dear Friends,
I can’t begin to express how great it was to meet all of you at RTA 2009. I look forward to keeping in touch with all of you and getting to know you each on a more personal level. If and when you’re in San Francisco, please get in touch with me, I’d love to have you to our house for dinner or out for a drink. (Of course, no need to wait until you’re coming to SF to contact me!). If there is ever anything that I can do for you, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Warm regards,
Jared Miles, Butler
(415) 921-0155 (w)
(415) 830-2451 (m)
(415) 520-5254 (f)
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Good morning Ms. Starkey and Mr. Smith!
Thank you for an absolutely wonderful conference!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think you all did an amazing job putting together the agenda, the speakers, the information, the food, etc. I absolutely loved it and look forward to my next opportunity to attend more training at Starkey International!
Jill Wilferth Smirl
President
Mom’s Best Friend/Vail Sitters and Nannies
Vail/Beaver Creek
970-476-KIDS office
970-328-2133 fax
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Dear colleagues
It was a true pleasure to meet you all!
I enjoyed very much RTA 2009, learned so much and recharged energies to contunuing striving to delivering service excellence to the benifit of our principals and to the profession.
as Mr. Miles mentioned i look so much forward to keep the communication channels open between all of us to exchange experiences, ideas, tips, knowledge and to know more about each of one of you.
Please do not hesitate in contact me should your travel plans ever brings to Los Cabos!
Yours In Service!
Leopoldo Perez
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Mary
Again I want to thank you for the hospitality and opportunity I received last week at your event. I look forward to seeing you all again..
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend
Best Regards,
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Awesome. Thanks so much for the day – it was amazing.
Much love,
Berman
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Mrs. Starkey,
I hope you enjoyed your Sunday. What a wonderful RTA conference and I so thank you for trusting enough to let WLI be a part of it! What a delight to meet such outstanding individuals! Let’s talk about what’s next…
Kim
Kimberly L. Curtis, CFPR, ChFC, CLU, CAP, AEP, MSFS President and CEO Wealth Legacy Institute, Inc.
950 S. Cherry Street, Suite 505
Denver, CO 80246
Phone: 303-753-7578
Fax: 303-753-7581
E-mail: kcurtis@wealthlegacyinstitute.com
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Good morning to one and all,
I to enjoyed attending my first RTA Conference and hope to attend many more. The speakers, the new ideas, information and encouragement were uplifting.
I left there biting at the bit to share it with those that I currently know and hopefully with my new principles in a new position in the near future.
It was nice to get to mingle one more time with all of you at the closing banquet, the conversation and food were wonderful. Congratulation to Scottie on winning the Mexico trip (should have been mine..lol) and Patrick for HM of the year. Speaking of Patrick we had a nice conversation on our shuttle ride back to DIA on Sunday morning, nice guy I can see why he has done well, especially since he had to figure out how to do everything from scratch.
I wish all of you the best. Please wish me well on finding my new position soon, I know it is out there, after all I am a STARKEY alumni.
Cheers
Thomas (Tom) Buder
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