We are sad to inform our members that Richard Gerson passed away on Monday, June 9th. Please refer to the following links for details:

http://www.tampabay.com/news/obituaries/article619419.ece

http://www.bizjournals.com/tampabay/stories/2008/06/09/daily22.html

In lieu of flowers, the family has asked for contributions to ALS Association.

Richard Gerson was one of the founding members of the Tampa Bay Chapter for ISPI. He was our Past-President who dedicated his time to help our members and guests grow professionally. In our chapter, he brought top names from our field to present locally, encouraged us to obtain our CPT designation, and supported us as we presented nationally.

On our website, you will read the slogan, "Creating High Performance Organizations." Richard coined this phrase for us during an annual Board strategy meeting. Richard was dedicated in actualizing this in working with organizations.

In his last email to the Board, he encouraged the Board to present at the April ISPI Conference and would volunteer his time to help others prepare applications for concurrent sessions.

The Tampa Bay Chapter feels the heavy loss and will greatly miss his guidance and expertise.

On a personal note, Richard championed me personally with my new role as the Tampa Bay President. He was planning to introduce me to his colleagues and help me build relationships with them. Richard was also mentoring me on publishing a new book as well as supporting me on some articles that I plan on writing. Part of me is unsure how to proceed, but I know that Richard would want us to continue to grow, practice stewardship, and add value for our customers and partners.