Year in review.

• Author: McCormally, Timothy J.
• Position: Less Taxing Matters

As 2011 came to a close, I had the occasion to scan the calendar and confirm that the year was my busiest in terms of travel since the recession began. In all, I visited 12 chapters, attended 2 multi-chapter events, and made another 15 out-of-town trips on TEI's behalf. My first trip of the year was the shortest: What had been planned as a trip to San Francisco for the chapter's IRS liaison meeting ended up an overnight stay at Dulles Airport--just 22 miles from TEI's office--as a freakish microburst dumped enough snow on the D.C. area to paralyze the city.

My longest trip (in terms of time and flight miles, but not time zones) was not to London, where I travelled in May, but to Anchorage in March, where I participated in an organizational meeting of a chapter in formation. The efforts of our Alaska group--led by Dave Stevens and Kristy West--paid dividends in June when the Board of Directors approved the creation of a new chapter. I hope to return to the 49th State in April 2012 for the formal chartering ceremony.

Other than the aborted trip to the City by the Bay in January, I made two trips that did not involve boarding a train or contending with TSA: first to Philadelphia in early February where Eli Dicker and I participated in a chapter meeting on corporate tax management topics and, in mid-December, to Richmond for a meeting of the Virginia Chapter (about which more in due course).

Potpourri of Meetings

In between these driving excursions, I earned a fair number of frequent flyer miles, but more than that I earned a renewed appreciation for the dedication of TEI's volunteer leaders. They unfailingly put in Herculean efforts to advance the Institute's mission and ensure its ongoing status as the preeminent organization of business tax professionals worldwide. Before discussing the programs I attended in November and December, I want to call attention a few meetings or events that, even if mentioned in previous issues of The

Tax Executive, merit attention:

* In January 2011, the Santa Clara Valley Chapter teamed with Stanford University and other organizations to sponsor the inaugural Pacific Rim Tax Institute. This event assembled tax authorities from several Asia countries (as well as from the United States) and furthered the Santa Clara Valley Chapter's well-deserved reputation for hosting outstanding educational and networking events. January also saw TEI's EMEA Chapter (together with Region IX) hold a meeting in Dubai. Together...