12/6/21 – Madison, Connecticut, USA. – Robert “Bob” Xeller announced his retirement as a full-time employee as of the end of December, completing a career that traces back to his IBM days when he came to learn about the Association. He plans to continue on a limited basis that will end after the staging of Wire Expo 2022 next June in Dallas, Texas.

Xeller started with “Big Blue” after completing his degree in business administration at Wittenberg University in 1970. His career went in a different direction, but he moonlighted evenings with several prior IBM accounts supporting software changes of new installations. One client was the Association. Prior to this, all member/subscribers were handled through a service bureau and 80 column card maintenance. In 1987, then Executive Director Monk Munger asked him to help service the trade shows organized on the new computer systems.
Xeller became part of the Association’s trade events, helping organize the Interwire and Wire Expo trade shows. He became director of sales in 2001, and was a fixture at the event on the show floor.

Michael Webb, who as an account executive at Shepard Exposition Services worked with Xeller on Interwire events the past 20 years, said that it had been a privilege to do so. “I can honestly say he was one of my closest and most trusted friends. I will miss talking to him several times a week. Sometimes it was strictly work, but other times it was about family, household projects, vacations and whatever else what was going on. I wish him the best.”

Dane Armendariz, the WAI president in 2010, recalled that he first met Xeller attending his first Interwire long, long ago. “After sitting in on a committee meeting, I was wandering the streets of Atlanta and ran into Bob Xeller. He invited me to join him and the staff for dinner and a very long friendship began. He saved me that day from a dinner alone at McDonald’s.”
Armendariz said that he never saw Bob rattled. When a problem or issue came up, his reply was “We will take care of it,” and he would. “While we all know life and business move on, Bob’s knowledge, experience, and people skills will be hard if not impossible to replace. The good thing is he will always just be a phone call away. All the best, my friend.”

Xeller said that he treasures his years with the Association but looks forward to spending more time with family, which includes his wife of 50 years, Kathleen, their seven children and their spouses, and 15 grandchildren.