In the blink of an eye or as we might call it, “a New York minute,” we’ve just wrapped up our Fall 2022 Convention – hosted by the TAP-NY Chapter. Over 80 members of the #TACLFam got together over Labor Day weekend in Manhattan to partake in TACL’s TW Festival!

As always, we began convention weekend with a TAPpy Hour at Sour Mouse on Friday as out-of-town visitors trickled into the city from all across the US. This was a great night as both new and old friends got to meet and catch up since our last convention in February!

Saturday was packed with a full schedule. With 20+ first-time convention attendees, we began with learning about TACL’s history and setting our intentions for the long weekend to align with the TW Festival theme (TW not just short for Taiwan, but also abbreviated for Triple Wins) – 1) Know Oneself, 2) Know Each Other, and 3) Know Best Practices. We shifted to a business chemistry workshop and broke down four leadership styles, giving us all a closer look at the best ways to work within our local boards as well as in our personal and professional lives.

The afternoon was lined up with guest speakers who shared their experiences as part of the segment – Taiwanese Stories: Leadership Undefined. We then followed up with sessions on storytelling and delivering stories to encourage members to craft and share their own stories. Special shoutout to our guest speakers: Andy Lin (Artistic Director and Co-Founder of New Asia Chamber Music Society), Esther Chen (Stand-Up Comedian, Actress, and Host), Lisa Cheng Smith (Founder and CEO of Yun Hai), Hanna Huang (Executive Director of Austin Asian American Film Festival), and Robert Chen (Partner of Exec|Comm).

The day wrapped up as small groups split up for dinners and checked out tasty food spots around the bustling city, as well as nighttime hangouts in K-town and Brooklyn!

On Sunday, we regrouped to think about the intentions we set on Saturday before then breaking out into teams split up based on the positions from each TAP program while the camps had a separate track for the day. The Camps spent the day sharing best practices with special guests from Taiwanese American Foundation (TAF). 

(credit: HoChie Tsai)

Each of the TAP groups set out on a Scavenger Hunt to solve riddles about local destinations and snap photos of them completing specific tasks at each stop! Team Cultural and Community Chairs dominated the challenge, coming in hot at 1st place with both speed and skill. Special recognition also goes out to Team Vice Presidents for the best photo submitted!

After a quick lunch break, we hosted sessions to discuss personal, professional, and TACL goals, along with learning a coaching framework to help each other realize our goals. Members paired up with one another and had the opportunity to practice coaching and being coached.

And if you’re familiar with our convention programming, you know the weekend can’t end without our TACL National Banquet. Our members got dressed up, arrived at the Manhattan Penthouse, and were ready to celebrate the fun we all had throughout the weekend! We had some exceptional performances from our Saturday guest speakers, Andy Lin and Esther Chen, as well as a few new guests including Yuh-Line Niou, a Taiwanese-American politician serving as a member of the New York State Assembly for the 65th district, and Dylan Adler, stand-up comedian. It was an unforgettable evening and could not have been a more fitting end to our convention weekend!

Thank you to our #TACLFam, special guests, partners, and sponsors for participating in our Fall Convention! We hope you enjoyed your time in New York if you attended, or got a chance to live vicariously (and virtually) through our Instagram highlight stories! Last but not least, thank you TAP-NY for making this convention possible – it was a huge success!

Till next time – stay tuned for news when the next convention is announced!

If you’re interested in joining the TACL National Board, we are accepting applications for the 2023 term! Please take a look here for more information.