Join us, grow with us.

• Author: O'Connor, Paul

What a remarkable organization Tax Executives Institute is. A member of the Kansas City Chapter put it this way 16 years ago when interviewed as part of TEI's 50th Anniversary Observance: "TEI is the only organization where you can call people you don't know, and they tell you all their secrets." This past summer, TEI's new chapter presidents were asked at the Institute's Leadership Seminar to summarize the key benefits of membership, why in-house tax professionals should join, and they used similar language. Here are four of the responses:

* "TEI members are able to contact people they don't know who work for a particular company or industry to discuss relevant tax issues."

* "By joining TEI, members don't have to reinvent the wheel; they can benefit from their peers' experiences and insights, whether the topic is staffing, audit issues, revenue agents, or which practitioner to hire."

* "The best thing about TEI is its people--they support one another. Belonging to TEI gives you the opportunity to be plugged into what is going on in the tax world."

* "TEI is a large, open, willing community."

I have personally benefitted countless times from the openness, the willingness of the community since I joined TEI in 1984. I have called members of the New England and other chapters, some I've known well and others not at all, and asked for their help. And, invariably, they've given it. Recently, I called a member who I knew had dealt with the same situation that I was facing. He immediately cleared his schedule and shared his experiences--what had gone right, what had gone wrong, and what he would have done differently if he had it all to do over again. He "walked the talk" of TEI members' supporting each other. I finished our conversation not only better informed and equipped to deal with the situation, but also gratified--again--to be part of TEI. It's been that way for 26 years.

That's just one of the reasons I have often thought that there should be an apostrophe between the last two letters of the second word of our name, rendering it "Tax Executive's Institute." TEI is the only group whose sole purpose is to benefit the in-house community, through networking, education, and advocacy. This is our organization--no one else's. And our singular focus has allowed the Institute to succeed--to educate, advocate, and otherwise serve the in-house tax community--for nearly 66 years.

Many People to Thank

No one becomes president of an organization as...