by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
This is another in a series on area executives and political and community leaders who have played prominent roles in the development of Downtown or Jacksonville as a whole over the years. Some are still in the area, working or retired or a bit of both. Some have moved away and are working in other areas of the state or country. The series continues with Diane Gill.
What she did: Executive Director, Jacksonville Bar Association, 1993-2007
What she’s doing now: Since 2007, co-owner of association management firm Gill & Gill, LLC
After serving as executive director of the Jacksonville Bar Association, Diane Gill thought she was headed for (at least semi-) retirement when she and her husband, Larry, made the decision to relocate to Athens, Ga. almost two years ago. That’s not how things worked out.
“I discovered I couldn’t just walk away from the business,” she said.
The couple now heads their own management and consulting firm that provides services to several associations, including what she described as “an international governmental ethics organization.” Gill said they can provide a complete management package or services on an ala carte basis ranging from administrative and financial management to meeting planning and public relations.
“What we do now for our national and international clients is very similar to what I did for the Jacksonville Bar Association,” she said. “But instead of seeing folks in the grocery store or at church, I see them at international conferences.”
The move to Athens wasn’t without some trepidation, said Gill. Both she and her husband are University of Georgia graduates and didn’t realize until they moved in 2007 how much the college town had changed since they were students.
“I was afraid we were really going to miss having a lot of restaurants and entertainment,” she said. “We didn’t realize how different Athens is until we got here. It’s a Southeastern Conference school so there are sports being played all the time and the campus population provides a large enough audience that there’s plenty of entertainment. We were pleasantly surprised at what Athens has to offer – and Atlanta’s not far away.”
Gill said one major difference in what she’s doing now compared to what she was doing in Jacksonville is the amount of travel that’s involved. The firm has a major client for which they provide many services including the association’s international conferences and board meeting.
“We travel all over the United States and Canada. Having to hop on a plane to Vancouver, British Columbia is completely different than deciding whether to meet at The River Club or The University Club,” she said.
Like every other business, the current national and global economic climate is having an effect on Gill’s business, but one that she believes will be positive in the long run.
“More and more associations are seeing the value in retaining a management group. Our clients can choose specific management components without having to pay for those they don’t need. That can reduce staff expense, payroll taxes, employee benefits and even rent. We expect that future economic changes will increase the need for services like we provide,” she said.
Both Gills went to college at UGA, then moved to New York City for a year after graduating, then returned to Athens before heading to Jacksonville where they lived for almost 30 years.
“This is our third time here. We think it will take this time,” said Gill, who admitted, “We’re very busy and we travel a lot, so we don’t get back to Jacksonville very often. We lived there a long time and raised our children there. You can’t leave a place like that and not miss it and your friends there.”
One final question: When asked if she would be glued to the television during the BCS title game between the University of Florida and the University of Oklahoma tonight, Gill replied, “You wouldn’t be able to publish my answer to that question,” then laughed and added, “People who know me in Jacksonville will understand why.”
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