2025 President's Letter

February 20, 2025

Hello SIM San Diego Members! Goodbye 2024 and welcome to 2025!

I want to start by taking a moment to express my appreciation for your hard work and dedication to SIM San Diego throughout the past year. Thanks to you, 2024 saw quite a few successful changes. We’re in the vibrant celebrations of the Lunar New Year, the Year of the Snake—an emblem of wisdom, intuition, and transformation.

The Year of the Snake symbolizes intelligence, adaptability, and strategic thinking. Thus, this year is one of personal growth, calculated risks, and new opportunities. For SIM San Diego, we want to continue the successful changes we saw in 2024 into 2025.

Recent achievements

Here are just a couple of our recent achievements which are positioning us well for greater success in 2025:

• Hugely successful TECHsurf event on October 29, 2024. Our first SIM San Diego-owned all-day Technology Executive Summit was wildly successful. Thanks to all.
• 2023 SIM National Retention and Growth Award, receiving a $2,000 SIM Leadership Institute Voucher.

I’m excited as we look ahead at the changes and initiatives for 2025 which will drive innovation and strengthen our leadership in the industry. Your contributions are essential, and I encourage collaboration as we move forward.

2025 themes and opportunities

• TECHsurf 2025 Encore! Mark your calendar for October 7, 2025. More Interactive, More Innovation, Always Fun.
• More Opportunities for Members to Socialize: In addition to our very popular Padres Social event on July 29, we will be adding a Golf Event in June.
• Enclaves: Join smaller groups of your peers to network and share ideas specific to your organization's size, industry, or interest. We’re continuing to provide more innovative ways of engaging and sharing important information with and between members. We’re committed to covering the latest topics in more dynamic formats, including using breakout groups for deeper dives.
• New ways for Event Management/Registration: We’ve heard the feedback and are piloting Eventbrite to simplify the process of signing up for our events. Register and hold all your event tickets in your phone’s wallet with the Eventbrite App.

We’re pleased to welcome new members to our Board: Terrence Weekes, Treasurer; Louise Brandy, Membership; Steve Hoyt, Programs/Events; and Monique Dumais-Chrisope, Roundtable Chair. We are expanding and welcoming our new Board Advisors: Elizabeth Kite, Gopal Govindarajula, Annie Chaiyakul, Patrick Higgins, Dave Samara, Eric Hicks, Yash Muralidharan, Lucilla Rastelli, and Vid Barve.

Just as the snake sheds its skin, this year encourages us to embrace change and innovation while navigating challenges with grace and resilience. Please share your ideas on how we can make our events even more engaging and beneficial for you. After all, this is your organization, and we're here to help you succeed. Some thoughts:

• Is there a topic you are passionate about? Volunteer to moderate an event and share your thoughts and ideas with like-minded technology executives.
• Can you assist our academic community? Do you have any internship or job opportunities for our students? Are you interested in connecting with local universities to help students with presentations or other activities?
• Women In Technology (WIT): Our SIM San Diego Women in Technology program helps women in our member organizations benefit from relevant program content and mentoring from our SIM executives. Please nominate women in your organization for this great program. If you are interested in being a mentor for WIT, contact us at simsdwit@gmail.com.
• Are you interested in participating and helping on any of our Board committees?
• Have you renewed your membership? If you have not already done so, please remember to renew. Your dues largely support our scholarships for local university students majoring in technology, and we’ve given out more than $360,000 to date.

You can renew your membership, nominate women for WIT, and see our programs on the SIM San Diego website.

Remember to periodically check our website for updates to our 2025 calendar of events. Also, interact with us on LinkedIn using #SIMSanDiego, where you will find the latest news such as reactions during our events and new member announcements. Keep an eye open for the services provided by SIM National, as there are many programs that you may find valuable.

Thank you for your continued support and engagement in SIM San Diego, and we’re looking forward to a great 2025.

Steve Phillpott
Steve@phillpott.com
SIM San Diego President