Have you experienced the Chapter Exchange yet? Every year at Payroll Congress, chapter officers, PayrollOrg leaders, and members throughout the PayrollOrg community come together to network and celebrate their chapters’ successes. It’s a fantastic event happening today from 5:30 p.m.-6:30 p.m. CT that you don't want to miss.

This event, sponsored by rapid!, is open to all conference attendees and takes place at the end of the day, so you don’t lose out on any education or RCHs. You can also use the drink tickets you received in your conference registration materials to have refreshments with a few of your payroll friends.

You are not required to be a member of a PayrollOrg chapter or a regional or statewide conference to join the fun. Everyone is encouraged to network, socialize, and celebrate our payroll community throughout the evening.

 

First Impressions

When you arrive at Chapter Exchange tonight, you’ll notice that many of your payroll peers are reconnecting with friends they haven’t seen in over a year or more. You will also notice all the payroll professionals representing their chapters or regional or statewide conferences. Plus, there will be attendees who come to support chapters that worked hard throughout the year, even if they don’t belong to any of those chapters. Most will have their phones out and take pictures with other chapters, regional, and national community members. It’s a great chance to introduce yourself to new people. Each year, you are bound to meet someone new.

 

Networking With Attendees, PayrollOrg Staff, Event Sponsors

The annual Chapter Exchange event is a valuable opportunity to meet members of a chapter nearest to you. Plus, you can develop your network with other payroll professionals in your area.

You can also sit with a friend in their region and meet payroll professionals from there. Networking with members of our community who volunteer at local and state levels will motivate you to find ways to help with a chapter at the regional, statewide, or national level.

Throughout the event, you will also find members of the PayrollOrg staff and leadership including PayrollOrg Executive Director Dan Maddux. The staff are open, friendly, and very approachable.

The Chapter Exchange sponsor can also be found cheering on chapters and offering prize drawings. Make sure to take a moment and introduce yourself to them as well.

 

Recognizing Chapters

Celebrating the hard work of our chapters recognizes the efforts of chapter leaders, builds camaraderie among chapter members, and encourages payroll professionals to join their local chapters.

After socializing and networking, the festivities of the event officially kick off and the event sponsor begins drawing for door prizes. Don’t forget to bring your business card to put in the drawing bowl! You may win something just by attending Chapter Exchange. PayrollOrg’s Chapter Relations staff starts the awards presentation, recognizing chapters with the Best Website, Best Pictorial, Best Regional/Statewide Conference, the Gavel Awards, and of course, Chapter of the Year (COTY).

All chapters that applied for these awards are eligible. Submitting your chapter for consideration provides an opportunity to share with PayrollOrg and fellow chapters how much you have accomplished over the year.

It’s wonderful to be a part of the announcements and seeing chapter members’ excitement in person. Even when a chapter doesn’t win, you can see their thrill for their peers honored during the event. You can be part of the excitement too! By attending Chapter Exchange, you can congratulate the winning chapters and regional or statewide conference members. At the end of the evening, you can take pictures with the winners and your local chapter. You might even spot these fun snapshots in the following Congress Today print issue handed out all over the conference center during Payroll Congress as well as in Congress Today Online or in PAYTECH.

 

Don’t Miss Out: EVERYONE Is Welcome!

Remember: even if you are not a member of a payroll chapter or regional or statewide conference, everyone is encouraged to attend the Chapter Exchange Reception and Awards tonight. By attending, you will be part of a great celebration as well as an impressive social networking event. This event opens Payroll Congress with a bang, and I highly recommend you don’t miss out on this celebration.

Help commend the endless efforts of our chapters engaging with their communities and introducing new people to the payroll profession each year.

It wasn’t long ago that I attended my first Chapter Exchange event. In 2019, I attended as a regional Board of Advisor and met a member from a chapter in another region. We started talking, and she shared amazing ideas about what she wished was available at PayrollOrg. I, in turn, shared her insights with the board at PayrollOrg’s Summer Board Meeting that year. One of her ideas was the inspiration behind the PayrollOrg store.

PayrollOrg listens. If you have anything you wish was available or what processes could be improved, mention it to your Board of Advisor or a member of the PayrollOrg staff when you see them this week at Payroll Congress. Your ideas could end up coming to fruition and be available to everyone in our payroll community. By participating in the Chapter Exchange, your ideas can be heard.

I hope to see you tonight at this year’s Chapter Exchange Reception and Awards. I can’t wait to see you again or meet you for the first time. Everyone is welcomed and encouraged to come and celebrate before we “hit the books” with all of the great educational workshops. The members of our community are why we come together to celebrate and welcome everyone to Payroll Congress.

Carrie Louise Hovell, CPP, currently serves on PayrollOrg’s Board of Advisors for Region 6 and serves on various PayrollOrg committees such as the Board of Contributing Writers, Ask an Expert, Social Networking Committee, Best Practices Subcommittee of the Strategic Payroll Leadership Task Force (SPLTF), and more. At the chapter level, she has served in various officer positions such as President, Vice President, Treasurer, and more for the Washington Metro Area Chapter.