40 years at IAPCO draws to a close

Having attended, as an IAPCO member, my first IAPCO Annual Meeting in Bled, then Yugoslavia, in 1980, my journey was to continue for the next 40 years.

I have attended over 35 Annual Meetings, all over the world, since then, from New Zealand to Canada, from South Africa to Brazil, and all places between, exposing me to the magnificent world of differing cultures, history, tradition, language and experiences but most of all my peers and subsequently great friends. Nothing can compare to this global exploration, both physically and mentally, provided by our industry.

During that period I became a “Wolfie”, a participant or trainer at the renowned IAPCO Wolfsberg seminars in Switzerland – I was a Wolfie for 27 years! Now IAPCO has EDGE, a modern affordable educational programme delivered in-person, virtually or from the webEDGE on-line platform.

At the turn of the century I was elected President (2000-2002), having held the position of Treasurer on Council for five years. At the end of that term of office, IAPCO took a change of direction, and I went with it.

The Association moved from Brussels to Switzerland and I took on the task of administering the many aspects of it’s busy life. Subsequently, as IAPCO expanded, I became Executive Director. In 2019 Martin Boyle took over as CEO as I went part-time as Operations Director.

Now it is the time to end this journey, a journey that gave me the best life and the best job imaginable, but now it is over, and it is time to move on.

So all I can say is “thank you” to IAPCO for giving me the world for so much of my professional career. But most of all “thank you” to all my friends from every corner of the globe who have paid me the most wonderful, emotional and touching tributes, which I shall treasure all my life as I start a new journey.

Sarah leaves IAPCO on 28 May 2021