|
 The System Safety Society has one paid
employee, and she works very hard to keep our essential services running. Thank you, Cathy. That leaves the rest of the Society’s business, goals and strategy as the
responsibility of volunteers. You have the internationally elected officers, referred to as the Executive Council, led by me. Then you have volunteers running active chapters in
local communities. In addition, there are special projects that bring volunteers together to achieve a specific goal. Examples include the annual Conference, the System Safety
Analysis Handbook (which was led by the New Mexico Chapter but had technical material contributions from volunteers around the world), and the Society’s archiving
of all of our Conference proceedings and Journals into a single CD-ROM set. Why do I tell you this? To help you visualize where you can fit in, of course.
The volunteers in our Society are to be cherished. It takes a tremendous amount of work to successfully fulfill the responsibilities they have. As good
as they are, it’s important to replenish the Society’s gene pool of volunteers on occasion, in order to gain new perspectives and fresh energy. A good
place to start is by encouraging you to get involved in activities within your local chapter. Don’t have a local chapter? We also have Conference
planning teams that need staffing, no experience required. Later this year, I will be asking our nominating committee to seek candidates for Society-wide
office, which will be effective July 1, 2005. Similar elections will occur at the chapter level. Why should you volunteer?
- Recognition — The names of our internationally elected officers are prominently placed on the inside cover of JSS and on the Society’s
Web site. The brightest system safety professionals will see your name. By the way, it’s probably more than just coincidence that the
last three Society Presidents claim that they got better jobs as a result of being recognized as Society President. It worked for me.
- Duty — If you’ve been a member of the Society for many years, isn’t it time to give back to the Society? And I’m sure there are a few out
there that say, “If I was in charge, I would…” Here’s your chance.
- International System Safety Conference — As an internationally elected officer of the Society, funds are available to ensure that you
can attend the annual Conference in order to participate in the Executive Council meeting and all of the Conference activities.
- Fun — The annual Executive Council dinner, held in conjunction with the Executive Council meeting, is our way of saying thanks for volunteering.
If you’ve read this far, then at least you haven’t dismissed the idea of volunteering out-of-hand. When you’re in Providence, talk to the Society’s
officers and see how you might fit in. I look forward to talking with you about volunteering in the Society.
— Paul Kryska
|
