A heartwarming event honors Bob Goldberg, a pillar of our industry.
We were invited to a special BTA Capture the Magic meeting, sponsored by BTA West, in Huntington Beach, California, June 17-19. This meeting included an appreciation event for BTA’s retiring legal counsel, Bob Goldberg.
Richard Van Dyck, president of Advanced Office in Irvine, California, who serves as BTA’s western regional director, along with the support of the BTA team led by Brent Hoskins and Valerie Briseno, put together an amazing agenda to honor a special person.
The tribute to Bob Goldberg took place during an evening reception on Tuesday, June 18. To say it was well done would be an understatement. There were over 15 videos and at least 12 speakers who each took a few minutes to express their gratitude to Bob.
A well-planned meeting schedule had Bob and his son Gregory presenting at the day’s final educational session, addressing “An Industry in Transition.” Each shared their views of where the BTA world was heading.
After listening to the two of them it was clear that Bob has passed his former responsibilities to his very able son. Bob has given 47 years to BTA, and he would not leave unless or until there was someone to replace him. As with everything else he has done for the industry, he can proudly claim, “Mission accomplished!”
Following the educational session, we did what we always do at these events: head to the bar. The group included Sharp’s Mike Marusic, Toshiba’s Larry White, and Larry Weiss of Atlantic Tomorrows Office, and a host of others.
Left to right: Jerry Blaine, Bob Goldberg, Larry Weiss, and Frank G. Cannata.
One of the others was John Fayeh, a big-time baseball fan, as are Marusic and Weiss. Yours truly is a long-time Brooklyn Dodger and New York Mets fan, and the rest are more prone to root for the Yankees. It was reminiscent of old times when Dodger, Yankee, and Giants fans would argue who was the best centerfielder: Willie Mays, Duke Snider, or Mickey Mantle. It was a fun time.
We mention this excursion to the bar to demonstrate the atmosphere of the evening. It was in good spirits. We then walked over to the reception. Everything was done by the BTA staff and Van Dyke and was impeccable. Our congratulations to all of them for their efforts.
Richard Van Dyke served as master of ceremonies for the tribute.
Van Dyke functioned as master of ceremonies, introducing each of the speakers who expressed their appreciation for all that Bob had done. Interspersed with the speakers were videos from those who could not attend.
Larry Weiss did his usual routine imitating Larry David and giving us all a great reason to laugh, followed by me to thank Bob for what he has done for me and my family. Our friend Jerry Blaine, CEO of LDI Connect, joined us and brought back the laughter with his usual reserved humor.
The evening’s honored guest.
We thank Van Dyke for reading what CJ Cannata had to say about Bob, as he could not attend due to a conflict in his schedule. You can find CJ’s tribute to Bob on our website.
There were too many others who gathered to pay their respects to Bob to single them out, and I could not do them justice. This includes Don Risser of DCS Technologies Corporation, the current president of BTA, who was eloquent in his remarks, and Tim Renegar of Kelly Office Solutions, one of the many former presidents of BTA.
The rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base flies over the outdoor reception at BTA Capture the Magic.
With an outdoor reception, we were treated to an unexpected flyover of a rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California, that was spectacular. It added to the celebratory atmosphere of the event, and kudos to all. This was quite a sendoff.
Frank pays tribute to Bob.
The photos that BTA provided will give you some sense of the evening. Although the photography was excellent, nothing can adequately describe the depth of human emotion of all who participated in saying thank you to Bob Goldberg.
Mike Stramaglio speaks fondly of “The Judge.”
Personally, we appreciated the remarks by Mike Stramaglio, who was in tears delivering his truly kind comments to his friend, “The Judge.”
There’s not much more that we can say. That so many people in our industry responded to the invitation to attend, speak, or record a video thanking Bob Goldberg is a great testimony to the man we honored. We will never see his like again.
Photos courtesy of BTA.
