Dan Romanelli is Security Traders Association of Chicago (STAC) President.
What were the key theme(s) for STAC in 2023?
In 2023 STAC was committed to growth. The board focused on two key areas: listening to our members to engage them more and restructuring STAC’s business operations to support them as well. In person events have never been more important post pandemic to allow for the natural exchanges of ideas amongst colleagues in the Chicago trading community and STAC stepped up to keep those sponsored events thriving.
Some key events for our organization this year included the 2023 STAC Classic Golf Outing, Texas Hold ‘Em Tournament and STAC Scholarship Fund Face-Off Hockey Tournament. We are now preparing for our 2024 Mid–Winter Meeting that will take place January 17 – 18th at the Hilton Chicago. Thanks to our members who took the initiative to spearhead these key events, we have continued to support our mission of education, professional networking and philanthropy throughout the year.
What was the highlight of 2023?
STAC’s annual poker tournament hit its 10th anniversary this year and seeing the outpouring of support for our scholarship fund was the highlight for me. One of the areas of growth for our community has been expanding the reach of the fund and gathering the necessary support to be able to accept more applicants and award more scholarships. The poker tournament is our marquee fundraising event of the year and the event embodies why the fund means so much to the STAC community. It’s truly a special event for everyone.
Thanks to the generous support of our sponsors throughout the year and our wider community, we significantly increased our philanthropic efforts through our STAC Fund Scholarship that awarded 18 college scholarships to deserving local students.
What surprised you in 2023?
I was truly surprised by how much I enjoyed reading “Going Infinite” by Michael Lewis. It provided another lens into the digital asset world as well as a character study. I highly suggest reading the book if you haven’t already!
