Important Message from Lionel Van der Walt

I’d like to start by thanking you, the RCI membership, for giving me the opportunity to serve you as your CEO and EVP this year. It’s been a real honor and privilege to do so. Unfortunately, today I’m announcing that I’ve handed in my resignation, as I’ve accepted another position as CEO and president at a for-profit company outside of the industry. My last day at RCI will be the end of May, so May 31st. This has not been an easy decision for me. However, I’ve been made an offer that is a once-in-a-lifetime offer, and that will add significant value for me and my family going forward. So, unfortunately, I had to make this decision to accept it. I would have been a fool if I didn’t. However, you can count on my 100% commitment and support to continue the work that I’ve been doing here until the end of May.

When I joined RCI, my objective was to really see, “How do I take RCI’s relevance, and take it to that next level? Both for you as members, as well as within the broader industry.” Hopefully within this year period that I’ve been with you, I’ve made a positive mark, and you will agree that we’ve made some significant progress towards those two objectives. I know that RCI is going to flourish in the future. The board is working right now to appoint a new person in this position as CEO and EVP, and I will hopefully have the opportunity to work with them to help transition the organization once they take over. I’ve even committed to the board that once I have left the organization at the end of May, that I make myself available indefinitely to help both the new CEO and the board with any of the key projects that we’ve been working on, be it the branding change, or be it the commissioning project, etc.

Once again, I’d like to thank you for everything that you’ve done for me in giving me this opportunity. It’s been absolutely tremendous, having the opportunity to meet and work with so many professional, energetic, passionate, but just down-to-earth and kind people, many of whom have become friends. For me it’s been a great opportunity, and I know that RCI is going to do tremendous things in the future. I look forward to monitoring your progress once I’ve left at the end of May, and then being your biggest champion out there. Hopefully you will support me in this decision. You can count on me being committed to the organization, and making sure that there is a strong transition that takes place. With that said, I just want to wish you all a wonderful 2019, and if you’ve got any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to me, or to Mike and the rest of the board. We’re certainly there to answer those questions and to make sure that you understand and that you are comfortable that we are still leading this organization in the right direction, and that you’ve got nothing to worry about in terms of this transition.

Thank you for your time, I look forward to seeing you at convention. Take care.