The Alumni Association of the Ohio State FarmHouse/Alpha Tau Zeta Chapter held its annual business meeting on Saturday, April 10, 2021, followed by a presentation by Mark Sanborn, distinguished chapter alumnus and internationally recognized public speaker and leadership expert.
Alumni Association President Derrick Freshcorn presided over the meeting, which was held at the Athletic Club in downtown Columbus, Ohio, and featured both in-person and Zoom attendance by alumni and active members. The meeting represented one of the first in-person meetings by any FarmHouse alumni association since the onset of Covid‑19 in early 2020.
The Alumni Association meeting featured several reports, including:
- Alumni Association Treasurer Doug Tenney reported that, despite the difficulties presented by Covid‑19, the Alumni Association was able to generate net income of approximately $11,000 over the past fiscal year. Tenney gave a description of the multiple house maintenance and improvement projects in which the Alumni Association has invested over the past year and the 15 years or so prior thereto.
- Foundation Council Chairman Jack Stickle discussed recent interactions between the Council and the active chapter, one result of which was the installation of an upgraded Wifi network at the house. Stickle also indicated that a new scholarship program would be announced at the scholarship dinner scheduled for the evening.
- Active Chapter President Alec Ogg discussed the ongoing challenges presented by the ongoing Covid‑19 pandemic, including the fact that numerous members recently sustained infections. He addressed the difficulties in recruiting new members given the pandemic and the aging house facility, among other factors, and he described possible designs for upgrades and improvements to the house that have been discussed with the Foundation Council.
The Alumni Association held elections for new members of the Alumni Association Board of Directors. Adam Vonderhaar and Zach Stephan were elected to three-year terms on the board.
Following the business meeting, a keynote presentation was made by Mark Sanborn. Mark, an alumnus of the Ohio State Alpha Zeta chapter, has gone on to be an international bestselling author and award-winning keynote leadership speaker. He has written eight books, one of which, The Fred Factor, has sold over 2 million copies worldwide. In 2019, he was ranked #5 leadership expert in the world by GlobalGurus.org. In a Q&A format led by board member Dan Schroer, Mark discussed many aspects of leadership in this unique Covid era, including good definitions of leadership; changes in the leadership field he has observed over his career; and what organizations and their leaders need to be doing to “reset” as the pandemic recedes.