Admittedly I’m not a big holidays guy. We don’t stress or go over the top with anything holidays related in the McDaniel household. We just do what we do and are happy to do so in our own way. I feel the same about resolutions. I’ve always been an advocate for if I needed to make a change in my life, I want to begin taking the necessary steps today versus an arbitrary date on the calendar. Personal wiring I suppose.

One thing I do enjoy about the holidays is I tend to be more reflective this time of year. I live with a lot of gratitude from the journey derived by chasing goals through the years. I’m more settled these days than I’ve ever been, but there was a lot of runnin’ and gunnin’ that led to today without question! Many risks were taken that thankfully worked out. I mention this because that’s exactly how I feel about TAGITM. It’s a privilege to serve, to be a part of the conversation. It’s a privilege to do what we do serving fellow Texans and TAGITM membership. See, there’s that gratitude! 😊

So, I thought this would be a perfect time and medium to share some of the gratitude ascertained via TAGITM the past year. One thing that’s gained serious momentum in 2024 is our collaboration efforts. TAGITM has greatly extended its reach through some awesome partner organizations. It was a race between the South Central Arc User Group (SCAUG) and GMIS earlier this year to partner up. SCAUG won sort of, mainly because they had events that came up first that thankfully TAGITM was able to support and vice versa.

This year’s Thanksgiving was one for the books, as my family had to divide up to accommodate my son Maguire’s on-call duty with the City of Fayetteville. While heading to fellow TAGITM member Keith Macedo’s house for the holiday feast, Maguire and I made a quick detour to a fire station to fix a GPS issue on one of the fire engines. It was an unexpected stop, but it’s all part of the job — especially when dealing with critical equipment that helps keep our communities safe.

Once we finally arrived at Keith’s for lunch, we were greeted by the warmth of great food and even better company. Keith’s family welcomed us in like we were part of their own. The day didn’t end there, though. After lunch, Keith invited us to spend some time on his property, where we enjoyed shooting guns and even some skeet shooting. By the way, Keith is a pro at skeet shooting — though he’s only slightly better than his son, Justin. As for me? Let’s just say it took over 20 tries for me to hit the first target. But that’s part of the fun, right? Ultimately, it was the perfect way to unwind, bond, and make the most of our time together.

Happy New Year! We hope you are having a wonderful holiday season and are ready for an exciting year ahead.

As we kick off the new year, we’re excited to remind you that our next South Texas Regional Summit is just around the corner! Join us on February 5th in The Woodlands for an incredible day of networking, learning, and collaboration.

The Education Committee is eagerly awaiting all of your session proposals for the conference. We can’t wait to review the content and bring you the best possible programming for our annual conference. Be sure to submit your materials before the deadline on January 23.

We look forward to seeing you at the summit and can't wait to share more with you soon!

Angela Wright
Chief Technology Officer
City of Beaumont

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