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My First President’s
Message. And how appropriate that it should
be in eJSS, our newest communication vehicle.
I intend to use this space to tell you about your
Society, what we’re up to, and all things
related to the Society. Don’t expect detailed
technical discussions regarding the discipline
of system safety. I consider myself more a student
of system safety than a master.
Now that I have to write down my plans for the
next two years, and fill up the equivalent of
a full Journal page, I’ve had to do
some moderate soul-searching and put a few more
details into my plan. Reflecting back on my term
as Director of Conferences, I can honestly, and
not immodestly, say that the Conferences improved
year after year. During this learning experience,
one aspect of the Conferences stayed the same.
We maintained a very personal and very high level
of quality in all aspects of the Conference planning
and execution. "The customer is always right,"
"quality comes first" and "the
registrants are our guests, so treat them like
family" are the basis of our Conference planning.
The goal of our Conferences is to take care of
our guests. That was my mandate then, and I believe
it was successful. The key to my successful term
as President will be in applying those qualities
I learned as Director of Conferences to the Society.
When I was running for President, I proposed a
platform that essentially said that I would commit
the Society and its officers to communicate more
with the membership. To this end, I want our members
to know what is going on in the Society. I also
want to use our Journal as a place where
member news, and member kudos, can be expressed.
I believe the Society is well structured and organized.
The task now is to get that quality up to a level
where each member and corporate sponsor feels
a personal connection. Do we need big initiatives?
Not necessarily. There are issues that need to
be addressed, but what we really need is to retain
the new members that we gain during our Conferences,
execute the plans we have proposed, and enhance
the personal quality of our services.
Ottawa this August. We’ve taken the Conference
across the border. In the works for two years,
we recently held our first international Conference
outside the United States. This was an important
milestone for the Society, and to highlight this
fact, we invited several of our past presidents,
including the Society’s founder, Roger Lockwood,
to attend. I had the pleasure of talking with
them, and taking advantage of the wealth of experience
and history that they had to share. I hope you
were able to say hello and thank them for their
work in the Society. Their accomplishments remain
with us today, and as we move toward the future.
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