Holidays & How-Tos

April is the time for a slew of nationally recognized holidays. We kicked off the month with April Fools’ Day, and there are still lots of fun observances coming up — Arbor Day, Coffee Cake Day, Siblings Day, Hug Your Dog Day, and Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day, to name a few.

One of my favorites is DIY Day, a celebration of rolling up your sleeves and using a little creativity to complete projects in-house. The first DIY manual, by Joseph Moxon, came out in 1865. Titled “Mechanick Exercises: Or, the Doctrine of Handyworks,” it featured tips on blacksmithing, drawing, metal casting, engraving, and mapmaking.

Today, our members’ customers with that same do-it-yourself spirit can find instructions at the click of a mouse or by voice command for everything from crafts to mixing cocktails, large-scale construction projects and so much more. A five-minute video showed me how to put together wax frames for new beehives just last week! And it’s all possible because of the lightning-fast broadband our members work to provide.

Speaking of getting things done, I’d like to recognize the administrative assistants who keep things moving in our member companies. Administrative Professionals Day is April 24, and these dedicated doers are responsible for the progress of so many projects.

And finally, National Meeting Planners Appreciation Day is the first Monday of May, and I’ll be putting my feet up to celebrate. Actually, that’s a belated April Fools’ Day joke — our conference is right around the corner in June, so I’ll be in full planning mode! We hope to see everyone June 6 through 8 in Franklin. We have a great lineup of speakers, a golf event planned at the beautiful Towhee Club in Spring Hill, and a showcase that is filling quickly. I’m planning to move my celebration to the Monday after the conference!