President's Message - June 2001

What’s Up in the BIG D? (Dallas!!)

Something is going at IIE. I attended the national conference in Dallas, and its important to note that change is in the air. The presentations were great. The people were interesting. And there is a desire at the national level for the society to better serve everyone’s needs – members, chapters, and the profession.

By attending various events at the conference I learned about several initiatives that are being undertaken to achieve the goals that were stated above. The areas that are being developed are:

IT Systems Improvements for members
     Chapter Self-service
     Web-site redesign
     Solutions website
Society Communications to members
     eBrief newsletter
Encourage Lifelong Learning of members
     Mindbuilder – "Live" seminars on the web
     Digiscript – virtual library of seminars
     Self-study - Interactive web-training
Open Access Forum for all members
     FREE signup for IE networking communities
      (these used to be $25 each)
     Encourage Professional Registration
     Encourage International membership
     Leverage sister societies – i.e. SAVE

While the above initiatives focus on providing value to members – NOW! It was often heard that the Institute will do more to "promote the accomplishments of IIE members." Basically, let people know that IE’s do a lot for industry, society, and people.

Marlin Thomas, the new president of IIE (and a former resident of Michigan and graduate from the University of Michigan) provided some context for the above improvements. Operationally there were many improvements (structure of the board, the society’s constitution, systems, etc.) these were much too exciting to put in this column. Marlin’s most significant goal this year is to grow membership by 15%. Through growth, IIE will be better able to serve all of us.

I believe that the Detroit chapter has started this year with the same spirit of change to serve its membership. Our website has a new look. We have a full schedule of programs and plant tours. Our quality surveys continually tell us what we are doing right, and what our members want out of the local chapter. With additional support from the national organization each member should realize increased value and benefit from their IIE membership.

Please contact me if you have any suggestions on how the chapter can be improved or questions about the many programs mentioned above. Please check the website at www.iiedetroit.org and send an email or call me directly.

Lastly, I want to thank all of those that attended the conference from Detroit. It’s always great to meet others from your home when you are away for a few days.