2017 Board Member Dinner Recap
and
Changes in Leadership Announcement

Jeff Farlow
Executive Director Emeritus
7x24 Exchange Carolinas Chapter

Dear 7x24 Carolinas Membership,

Last night we held our annual Board of Directors meeting at Grandover Resort in Greensboro.  During this meeting we welcomed 2 new Board members and recognized another for fulfilling his term.

Our new board members are Robert O'Steen from Google and Vali Sorell, PE from Sorell Engineering, Inc.  

Robert works as a management member at Google’s Data Center in the Charleston, SC area.  He is a seasoned Data Center professional with an impressive Operations and Management background and we are certain that he will be a valuable addition to our Chapter leadership.

Vali was recently well known for his work at Syska but has hung out his own shingle and has a growing and innovative engineering practice, Sorell Engineering, Inc. out of the Charlotte, NC area.  Vali’s passion for improvement in infrastructure, engineering and operations will add incredible depth to our Chapter.

We thanked outgoing board member John Link for his service.  John has always been attentive to the workings of the Carolinas Board and provided extra-ordinary leadership and contribution during his tenure.  He will be well missed but has promised to stay active in our Chapter and contribute as a past Board member.

We had working discussions with regard to the committees and provided some good focus on our work in 2017.  It is going to be an exciting year for our Chapter.

Lastly, as many of you know, I retired from Envirotrol, LLC after 27 years as President and have begun my second act.  The success of our Chapter has been due to the hard and relentless work and effort of the Chapter Board, its executive committee, committee chairs, and you, the general membership.

The work of the Executive Director is considerable and the investment in time, labor and representation have exceeded my ability to properly do service to the position on behalf of our Chapter.  Therefore I have submitted my resignation as Executive Director effective 1/12/17 and nominated Robin Aron as the new Executive Director of our chapter.  With a unanimous vote from the Board, she now is to be known as Madame Executive Director Robin Aron.

Robin is an amazing human and has worked well above and beyond the call of duty in her advisory role.  She is well known and respected, not only in our Chapter, but through the national organization.  I personally admire her dedication and commitment to our Chapter and am certain that this transition will be a successful one.

Per our by-laws, I will remain on the board as Executive Director Emeritus to advise and support both the board and the membership in the work of our chapter.

In one of her first actions as the newly nominated Executive Director, Robin and the Board unanimously voted Leah Farlow to fill Robin’s former role as Chapter Advisor.  Leah is a great process-oriented thinker, confident problem solver, and tireless worker.  She is generally the first person to set up our meeting space and usually the last to leave.  Her interpersonal skills have made for an incredible attendee experience.

Congratulations to both Robin and Leah for their advances in our Chapter Leadership, to our new Board members Robert and Vali, and lastly to our Chapter.  I believe that as one of the premiere regional Chapters of 7x24 Exchange, we will continue to grow our service both to our Chapter and to the industry.

Jeff Farlow

Executive Director Emeritus

Photos from the 2017 Board Member Dinner