Date: September 25, 2008
Chair: David Anderson
Treasurer: Jim Whitely
Location: Woo Chon, NYC
Speaker: Ro Fallon

Over 30 OAH members and guests attended our lunch at the Woo Chon restaurant in New York city on September 25. Our guest speaker was Ro Fallon who is well known to many Hands.

Ro spoke about his recent experiences in Korea where he led the Korea Exchange Bank during a challenging period. This was followed by a lively Q & A session. His considerable experience with and understanding of the region is matched by few others and this was reflected in his comments. Ro is an OAH member who started his career in Asia in 1975. Since then has held senior management roles with investment and commercial banking firms in the region at a number of major firms. He is also an accomplished mountain climber and currently teaches at the Columbia Business School.

During the lunch, several people mentioned to me their appreciation for the work done by a number of OAH members to keep our organization up and running and able to respond to the needs of members. That includes Bob Sharp who is the force behind the organization and more specifically, our website. Jim Whitely who organizes our east coast events, David Finch who manages our dues records, Joanna Peters and Ken Arndt who review new member applications. Susan Koral provides secretarial help from her home in Darien, CT. And there are others who contribute consistently and whose efforts are appreciated.

The next east coast event will be our annual dinner in New York on February 26, 2009 and Jim is already thinking about the venue. Please hold the date! Please let him know if you have a favorite Asian restaurant with a private room. There is some chatter about a west coast event as well and more later as that develops. As always, I am happy to answer questions and to receive suggestions.

Lastly, please remember to refer new members. We can always use more and your referrals are key.

Best regards to all,

David Anderson