8 Hoosier Banker August 2014 Hello, IBA members! I am proud to be serving you as your newest IBA team member. I joined last month as an education meeting coordinator. My responsibility is to work closely with Laurie Rees, our vice presidenteducation & training, and with Marlene Wells, our other education meeting coordinator, to make your IBA learning experience the best possible. My duties include doing anything from helping to market educational offerings, to assembling training manuals for seminars, to providing totally outstanding customer service to our bankers. Already within my first few weeks here, I have been learning a lot. One trait I hope to absorb is the incredible amount of passion here – in staff members, in the speakers who present and in the bankers we serve. Many IBA employees and bankers have been in their professions a long time … some over 25 years! I believe that longevity says a lot about the IBA and the Indiana banking community. Before joining IBA, I gained some experience as a marketing manager of L.J. Stone Co. Inc., a remodeling company. One of my jobs was to create mailers to distribute to customers, and I quickly learned to prepare for the large response from these mailers. As a small company with a big reputation (like the IBA), our phones would ring off the hook the day following a mailing. This experience has been helpful to me in learning my responsibilities at IBA. The main difference is that now I am marketing to bankers about how IBA offerings can help sharpen their skills, instead of reaching out to consumers about home remodeling projects. To market effectively is a challenge, and I love that. To me, marketing is a game – like sports – focused on how to appeal to a target audience. There’s a competitive edge to marketing that I thrive on, just as with sports. In fact, my whole life I have always had a tremendous love for sports, whether playing or just watching. Happily, I have found a way to combine the competitive thrill of sports with the excitement of marketing by pursuing a bachelor’s degree in sports administration/marketing. Currently I am completing my degree online through Ball State University, which works well for me. I am detailoriented and pretty good at time management. I like to prepare in advance because, if something is not going to be done on time, I will go to sleep thinking about it. It is a full schedule to be working full-time while completing a degree, but I have always been a busy person. When I was a student at Blackford High School in Hartford City, I was a three-sport athlete, active in multiple clubs and maintained a top 10 academic position in my class. I had little time to breathe. I loved it, and my activities gave me a chance to learn. I was immersed in student government, Spanish, art, science, history and business, all while competing athletically year-round. I also served in several leadership positions, participated in educational trips and helped with service projects, such as delivering Christmas gifts and food to the needy. These days, I continue with sports, playing slow pitch softball on Friday evenings and learning tennis on weekends. I also keep busy with my parents, siblings and six nieces and nephews. Some family members live in Florida, but most are nearby in Hartford City. A major part of my life is my boyfriend Drew, a wonderful person all-around. He’s a distribution manager with Pop Weaver Popcorn, working in the fundraising side, which supplies the Boy Scouts with its fundraising popcorn. Drew is kind and completely honest – he couldn’t tell a lie even while playing a mere game of Monopoly. We share the same passion for sports and business – he’s the one teaching me to play tennis! We do not agree on everything, though, as his choice of music couldn’t be more opposite from me. (His George Strait songs put me to sleep.) One of Drew’s many strengths is patience. Not only is he teaching me tennis, but he also is introducing me to golf. So far I’m not the best at it; I swing at the golf ball with a softball swing. Usually, instead of playing, I simply walk with Drew while he plays. Even if it’s hot out, there’s almost always a cool breeze. We do that almost every Sunday. All of our lives, Drew and I lived within 20 minutes of each other, but it wasn’t until college that we met. I often say he’s the “best” person I know, and I’m lucky to have met him. I’m also lucky to be part of the IBA. I enjoy challenges, and I’m happiest when I’m around people. Plus, at this point in my life, I had wanted to find a situation where I could immerse myself completely and love what I do. I have found that here on the IBA team. Staff Selections Elizabeth Kilty, Education Meeting Coordinator, Indiana Bankers Association ASSOCIATION UPDATE
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