Lots to Love

There is a lot to love about being Executive Director of GEO:

• I'm privileged to work with a great team...Michele, Wade, Shawn, Will, Bob and Jennifer are as good as they come. GEO operates as a virtual office, so we don't see each other face to face very much, but the way everyone works together to support each other and the goals of the organization never ceases to amaze me. Thanks all.
• The travel...Have you ever noticed that GEO has local chapters in some of the world's greatest cities? While I don't get to attend every chapter meeting, it's good to know I have an excuse anytime I want to visit Paris, London, New York, San Francisco, Sydney or Madrid (not to forget Amsterdam). Now all we need are chapters in the Caribbean, Cyprus, Rio and Dubrovnik and we're all set ;-). Seriously, though, look for new chapters opening in Milan, Washington DC, and Southern California in the next few months.
• The opportunity to make a difference...when I first started in the equity compensation business, I had a boss who liked to say that stock options were the "greatest wealth accumulation vehicle in history." Of course, that was before the first Silicon Valley tech crash in 2001 and things have calmed down a bit since then. That said, there's never been anything like equity to put wealth and financial security within reach of so many people around the world. We're a part of that...and we should take pride in knowing that we're making a real difference in the lives of millions of people.

All that's true...but it's not really the topic of this post. For the second time in a month, I had the opportunity last Friday to spend some time with a truly dedicated group of GEO volunteers. Most recently, it was as the speaker selection meeting for our new National Equity Compensation Forum (you can read more about that meeting at http://geonecf.blogspot.com); the previous time, it was at our most recent GEO Awards Judges Meeting (which I'll tell you about some other time). In both cases, the room was filled with accomplished leaders in the employee share plan community striving to do their best for all for all of GEO. Despite otherwise demanding careers, each person in both those rooms were extremely well prepared and approached the tasks at hand with creativity, humor, and a commitment to seeing the very best outcome. We're all stronger for that.

In the coming weeks, there will be more opportunity for other members to get involved. Nominations are currently being accepted for GEO's Board of Directors and our revamped Advisory and Provider Councils will be launching soon, to be followed by our new Academic Advisory Council later this year. That's lots of opportunity...and lots more to love.

MB

Continuing to grow

Have been taking a look at GEO's membership base in the past couple of weeks...where we've been, where we are now, and where we think we'll be in the future.

Great news is that GEO's membership overall membership has grown by about 35% in the past twelve months...we now have almost 4000 members in 63 countries around the world! Issuer growth has outpaced that of service providers somewhat...about 60% of our members now come from issuing companies.

It's also interesting to see how our new members are coming into GEO...the two biggest sources of new members come from 1) referrals from existing members; and 2) local chapter activities. While it's great to know that our existing members are talking to their peers about joining, I'm most impressed with the support provided by our local chapter activities...and don't think it's a coincidence that the greatest growth in membership came in countries with active chapters.

Two countries led all others in percentage growth year-over-year: France and Norway each almost tripled membership in the past year! We've also seen significant growth in the US, Canada, Germany and Australia. The country experiencing the highest level of growth without a local chapter presence is Italy...a great predictor for the next chapter launch!

Heart of the Equity World...at least for a few days

Denver must have been the heart of the equity compensation world last week! Over a two day period, the Mile High City played host to the National Center of Employee Ownership/Beyster Institute, a Morgan Stanley Smith Barney, and a local NASPP chapter meeting (featuring a presentation by the Certified Equity Professional Institute). I didn't make to everything, but each venue provided great visibility for GEO...in some ways, unexpectedly so!

Next week, it's off to client conferences in Miami (E*Trade) and Phoenix (Charles Schwab). Nice to know that critical mass shifts from one city to the next each week...in just a few weeks, it's San Francisco's turn, with our second annual Northern California regional meeting; then, of course, it's on to Amsterdam for what's promising to be an International Conference we can all take pride in.

Hope I'll run into you along the way!