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Vol. 43, No. 6 • Nov.-Dec. 2007
President's Message

Strategic Planning II

By James H. Wiggins Sr., P.E., CSP

I would like to thank the Washington DC Chapter members and other volunteers for the hard work and dedication they demonstrated in sponsoring the 25th International System Safety Conference (ISSC) in Baltimore. They were faced with adversity in several forms, yet overcame schedule issues to conduct a great Conference. I would also like to congratulate them for winning the Chapter of the Year award. It is well deserved! I sincerely hope that each of the attendees at the Conference had a great time, and took advantage of the opportunity to obtain new knowledge in the practice of system safety.

My sincere hope is that each Society member will be able to attend the 2008 International System Safety Regional Conference in Singapore in April and the 26th ISSC in Vancouver, Canada, in August, 2008.

In the last issue, I wrote about our strategic planning effort. I would like to take this opportunity to keep you informed about where this effort is leading. To implement the Strategic Plan, it is essential to bring it current, and to focus on the approved version. We also need to update our internal processes to facilitate a smooth operation.

During multiple meetings at the Conference, it became obvious that several actions needed to be implemented due to the growth of our Society. We need to use computer-aided conference registration processes, our administrative procedures need to be upgraded to a more automated support format, and our Society Constitution and Bylaws are in need of review and modernization. A first draft of changes to both has been completed. Other areas that require our administrative attention are:

  • Definition of our processes to reflect our intended outcome
  • Concurrence of the Executive Council that the current Strategic Plan is the direction in which to proceed
  • Development of a business plan that supports implementation of our Strategic Plan
  • Updating of our Operations Manual to bring it in line with the Bylaws and Constitution

Each member has a vested interest in our Society. Your comments, suggestions and help are respectfully solicited.

— Jim Wiggins

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