Aloha, Mr President

Newly minted TLMI president Mark Tibbetts got a warm welcome from about 54 label converters and suppliers at his first official industry event in Hawaii.

The annual Label Converter meeting was held on March 6-8 at the Grand Hyatt Resort in Koloa, Hawaii. Themed ‘The power of strategy, the magic of innovation,’ the event included motivational speakers, an awards dinner and even a hula lesson.

As for Tibbetts, he was taking it all in: the networking, the awards dinner, the motivational speakers, the sun.

Sunburn notwithstanding, Tibbetts is off to a good start. New to the industry but not to association management, Tibbetts admits his recent appointment comes with a learning curve, but he is eager to learn and speak with members about the future of the association. He started in January.

‘I’m new to the industry, but at this point I’ve figured out what a converter is,’ Tibbetts joked to a room full of label converters. Later he told the crowd: ‘I will freely admit at this point, while I have a lot of ideas, I haven’t made any decisions yet; partly because they’re your decisions, not mine.’

‘Time for a change’

Tibbetts replaces long-time TLMI president Frank Sablone, who stepped down from his day-to-day duties in January. It was a lengthy process to find the man who would lead TLMI in the future, and the search committee didn’t take the opportunity for a fresh start lightly.

‘There was a strong belief from the beginning that we didn’t want someone from the industry,’ TLMI chairman Dan Muenzer said in an interview with Labels & Labeling at the converter meeting. ‘Because at the end of the day, he doesn’t have to be an expert on the industry, he has to be an expert on association management.’

Tibbetts brings with him extensive management experience, having led the Thermostat Recycling Corporation within the HVAC industry prior to joining TLMI.

‘We recognized as a board and as a search committee that it was time for change,’ Muenzer said. ‘TLMI’s philosophy from the beginning has been “we’re a damn good organization,” but we want to be great. Help us become great.’