The final night’s activities at the IFAJ Congress was a historic event for me. The only IFAJ President I’ve ever known up until this Congress was David Markey and this was when he turned the reins over to a new leader.

I can tell you one thing. When you’ve got a group of people from countries all over the world it can be a challenge to get them all heading in the same direction. However, when David takes the microphone, people stop talking and listen.

Before he said his goodbyes though, he distributed some medals and mementos to the people who made this year’s Congress happen. One of those was the President of the Congress, Franz Fischler.

Then David had some time to talk about his opportunity to serve IFAJ as President. If you know David then you know that he’s a professional and a businessman. I think he brought the organization a new outlook that has helped it to grow significantly. He looks at things a little differently than your average person with an insight that comes from years of successful business management.

For example, he said, “I always believe change is good. No matter how much it challenges us, change is the only way we can bring out the best in us.”

David received a number of gifts in honor of his service. One of those was this book of photos presented by new IFAJ President Mike Wilson.

You can listen to David’s remarks here: ifaj-08-markey-goodby.mp3

IFAJ Congress 2008 Photo Album

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