Well, who would have thought that exactly 30 years after attending my first Annual Meeting in 1989, I would be standing before you today as your President. I guess miracles really do happen!

This incredible journey started on the morning of Saturday, November 15, 2014. My wife and I had gone to the beach for a long weekend, and we were returning from a morning walk when my cellphone rang.

Looking at the screen, I saw that the origin of the call was South Bend, Indiana, USA.

I only know one person from South Bend, Indiana, and I wondered what Scotty Brennan, the 2013 President, would be calling me for.

It didn’t take long to find out. Scotty, as we all know, has a beautiful way with words, and when I answered the phone, he said, “Ross, this is Scotty Brennan from South Bend, Indiana, calling, and I have to say that it isn’t every day that you get the chance to make a phone call that will change somebody’s life. We have just finished the Nominating Committee meeting, and it is my pleasure to tell you that you are the new nominee to the MDRT Executive Committee.”

I was absolutely lost for words. I had to sit down. I had tears rolling down my face. My wife had no idea what was going on. From my reaction, she thought something bad had happened.

I had never thought that I would be asked. My volunteering for MDRT has always been based on giving back to the organization that has given me so much, not to one day be on the Executive Committee.

Scotty came and visited Chris and me within the next few weeks to explain the role, and I was announced as the nominee in January 2015.

Scotty was right; my life has never been the same!

I’m sure you are all aware that the title of my talk “The Places You Will Go, the People You Will Meet” is from a Dr. Seuss children’s book, but probably, more accurately, the title of my talk should be “The Places You Will Go, the People You Will Meet, the Experiences You Will Have, the Meals You Will Eat — the Weight You Will Gain, Unless You Can Refrain”!

One of my favorite sayings is that you can predict what sort of person you will be in five years’ time by looking at the people you spend the most time with.

Well, over the past 4 1/2 years, I have spent an incredible amount of time working with the Executive Committee and also with some of the most passionate MDRT members I have ever met. In summary, I have been blessed.

While the busyness of your Executive Committee roles increases every year, since September of last year, it has gone to a whole new level.

As 2012 MDRT President Jennifer Borislow told me, “At times it will feel like you are drinking out of a fire hose. There will be so many things going on.” Well, ain’t that the truth!

Since September last year, I have participated in MDRT Days in:

• Seoul, South Korea
• São Paulo, Brazil (for their very first MDRT Day)
• Mumbai, India
• Kobe, Japan
• Taipei, Taiwan

MDRT Workshops, MCC and company events in:

• Macau
• Shanghai, Beijing, Suzhou, China
• Hong Kong

Plus, MDRT meetings in:

• Kauai — Top of the Table
• Boston — EDGE Meeting
• Barcelona, Spain, for our Global Council meeting

And now, of course, Miami.

The hospitality and generosity of spirit that I have experienced from our members in all of these cities and countries has been unbelievable.

Andrew McCarthy’s Main Platform presentation at our Annual Meeting in Los Angeles last year was titled “Be a Traveler, Not a Tourist.” McCarthy took this from a quote by Andrew Zimmern who said, “Please be a traveler, not a tourist. Try new things, meet new people and look beyond what’s right in front of you. Those are the keys to understanding this amazing world we live in.”

That is what I have tried to do while representing MDRT to the best of my ability.

The travel has been great, but, without a doubt, the most rewarding part has been spending time with our amazing members — participating in the MDRT Days and workshops that they have organized, meeting with companies they so proudly represent, hearing firsthand about the contributions they are making to our association through their volunteering efforts.

Contributions not only benefit MDRT but also benefit themselves and the members they are serving with through relationship building, idea sharing and mentoring.

MDRT has a way of shrinking the globe, making the world seem like a smaller and friendlier place, simply by volunteering.

The ability to gain leadership skills while selflessly giving back is one of the core benefits of MDRT membership. It’s a benefit that remains unique to MDRT and which differentiates us from all other associations.

When members share their stories with me about the impact that MDRT has had on their lives, how it has helped them become better businesspeople and, more importantly, a better father, mother, family member or member of their community, it really is humbling to be President of such an influential organization.

I heard a story recently about an information technology professor from a prestigious university who was called before the board of trustees to explain why he had given his students the exact same examination for the past three years. He was told that this was a very serious charge and that he would be suspended unless he could adequately explain himself.

His answer was simple: “The questions on the exam paper are the same every year, but the answers are different because the world of information technology is changing so quickly.”

The questions are the same, but the answers change every year. That is exactly the same scenario that we, as Executive Committee members, see every year. Members of the Executive Committee and MDRT staff constantly ask themselves, How can we better serve our members?

And you know what? Every year the answer to that question is different. This is due to changing member numbers, changing member demographics, better technology and MDRT’s ongoing commitment to continually improve our offerings.

When I joined the Executive Committee in 2015, we had 43,200 members from 69 countries. Today, we have 70,000 members from 72 countries — an increase of 72 percent in membership in just four years.

The Annual Meeting in 2015 had an attendance of 8,100 and didn’t sell out. Last year, the figure was 15,200, and we sold out within 37 hours. As a result of this increased demand, we had to look closely at our meeting offerings.

The easy solution would have been to book larger venues, but MDRT doesn’t take easy options. We didn’t want to lose the look and feel of the Annual Meeting, the magic that MDRT is renowned for. Instead, we have added a brand-new meeting called the MDRT Global Conference.

By adding the Global Conference, we can now accommodate twice as many attendees and still maintain the outstanding quality.

Last year, we also added the EDGE meeting for our U.S. and Canadian members, a meeting designed to target the needs of a select membership group.

In 2015, the new look of the my.mdrt.org website was launched with the “all new” Resource Zone, which houses three years of past Annual Meeting proceedings and some meeting videos — all in English.

Today, the Resource Zone has over 5,500 pieces of content and adds over 2,200 new pieces annually. Content is now available in text, video and audio.

In addition, we have added content in 11 different languages — yes, 11 different languages. We truly are a global association.

In 2015, MDRT was testing its first app to help meeting attendees navigate their meeting schedule and attendance. Today, we have two apps: the Meeting app plus the MDRT app, which was launched last year.

The MDRT app delivers content to our members each week, so you have access to the latest MDRT information at all times.

Today, MDRT is piloting a new app in the United States based on association experience called the MDRT Academy. It is to help aspiring members reach MDRT qualification levels and also assist former members whose production has fallen below our qualification criteria to qualify again.

You will also notice that when you are registering for some of our meetings, you will be asked questions about your business specialities, or your areas of interest. With our new member management system called Aptify, we can retain this information and tailor our offerings directly to you.

At the Global Conference in Sydney, your lanyard will have Bluetooth tracking embedded in it so we can track attendees’ trends, arrange appropriate traffic flow and estimate the assignment of meeting space for future meetings.

In addition, we will be able to segment attendee behavior by assorted categories, such as nationality, language and age group, to enable us to design more targeted content for our members.

As our membership continues to grow, we are cognizant of the fact that volunteering opportunities (the magic of our association) may diminish, so we are now in the process of broadening the opportunity to volunteer on a local level.

We will continue to think locally but act globally.

Every one of the initiatives and advancements I have spoken about is to improve the member experience, and this is only in the last four years.

As I said previously, the question remains the same every year: How can we better serve our members? And every year the answer is different. That is how we have become, and continue to be, the premier association of financial services professionals.

Captain Charlie Plumb was a Main Platform speaker at an Annual Meeting. He was a former U.S. Navy jet pilot who was shot down during a wartime mission. He survived by being able to eject from his crippled plane and, more importantly, due to the fact that his parachute worked.

The topic of his talk was “Who Packs Your Parachute?” Who makes sure that you have everything you need, to do the best job you possibly can?

There are many people who have packed my parachute these past four years, including our fantastic MDRT staff in Chicago and around the world and the Executive Committee members whom I have had the honor of working with and being mentored by.

My business partner, Gino, has been outstanding in his commitment to both myself and our business since I have been on the Executive Committee.

No one has been more diligent in packing my parachute — not just in the past four years but over the last 30 years — than my wife, Chris, and our children, Scott and Bridgette.

Thank you for all the love and support you have given me.

MDRT has shaped me and has been part of the tapestry of my life for the past 30 years. Serving on the Executive Committee and being the 93rd President of MDRT has been a golden thread in that tapestry.

Thank you for the honor of serving you.

Ross Vanderwolf, CFP, of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia, served as the 2019 President of MDRT. A Platinum Knight of the MDRT Foundation, he is also a member of its Inner Circle Society and has served on its Board of Trustees. Vanderwolf, a 38-year industry veteran, is managing director of Rothgard Financial Partners, a full-service financial planning practice. Over the course of his MDRT membership, Vanderwolf has served on numerous committees. He has been recognized as one of Australia’s Most Trusted Financial Advisers, since this designation’s inception in 2014.