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<< back to the 2000 archive listing << Dairy, Food and Environmental Sanitation Commentary From The Executive Director We are truly fortunate to be recognized as the Meeting of choice for so
many food safety professionals With completing the 87th Annual Meeting in August, this may be a good time to look back and express sincere thanks to the many people that work together to produce an outstanding educational event. From the time that planning starts until the final Awards Banquet, literally hundreds of people do their part to ensure a top quality experience for you. More than four years prior to the Meeting, we begin consideration of locations to hold the Annual Meeting. Many times, our Affiliate organ-izations prompt our interest by making an invitation to host the Meeting. Once cities are identified, our staff begins a more detailed investigation to determine pro-perties that meet the needs of our Meeting attendees. After identifying properties meeting our specifications, an analysis of cost factors takes place with a resulting report to the Executive Board. The Board reviews the report and gives guidance on property selection. Once we pass this step, negotiations begin in earnest with the property to secure the best possible package for the Association and our Meeting attendees. After a contract is signed, we publicize the Meeting dates and location. This completes a preliminary step in our Meeting-planning cycle. Now that the location is firmed up, we begin working with the Local Affiliate who will co-sponsor the Annual Meeting. This is where our Members and volunteers really shine. For instance, this year's Local Arrangements Committee was co-chaired by Judy Harrison, Pam Metheny and Ed Giera from the Georgia Association of Food and Environmental Sanitarians (GAFES). Two years ago, Judy, Pam and Ed met with our staff and began organizing GAFES members to help them plan for our 2000 Annual Meeting. They met many times over the years preceding the Meeting, each time adding more and more details to their plans. Chair-persons who took responsibility for various aspects of the Annual Meeting assisted them. By the results of this Annual Meeting, you could see their planning really paid off! Thank you to each GAFES member who helped during this year's Annual Meeting and thank you for all of your time and effort in planning for the event. A special thanks to Judy, Pam and Ed who gave countless hours to make sure this was the best run Annual Meeting ever. Another group that begins their planning early is the Program Committee. A Call for Symposium is issued about 16 months in advance of the Annual Meeting. Preliminary proposals are received at the Annual Meeting one-year before the Meeting at which the symposium will be presented. The Program Committee reviews and decides which symposia should be further developed prior to the Committee's January meeting. At the January meeting, the Committee reviews the completed symposium along with technical abstracts and constructs a preliminary program from all submissions. The program becomes final once presenters are confirmed. The Program Committee is made up of 12 Members who dedicate their effort to producing the quality program that you have come to expect at the IAFP Annual Meeting. David Golden served as Chairperson for this year's Program Committee. The Committee is owed a great debt of gratitude from the Annual Meeting Attendees and Association Members. Thank you David and Committee Members! This year we saw a 15% increase in our Exhibit Hall participation with many new companies joining our effort of providing the latest information on protecting the food supply. We recognized companies who have exhibited with our Association for 10 years or longer and we also want to thank our new and valued, returning exhibitors. Exhibitors offer attendees a great reason to come to our Meeting to learn of their products and services. Sponsorship support in 2000 was just overwhelming! We increased sponsorship dollars by more than 50% over 1999. A huge thank you to the companies and organizations that see the benefit of participating as a sponsor of the IAFP Annual Meeting. Your support helps gain recognition for your company and helps provide quality educational programming for not only your employees, but also all attendees. More than 300 presentations took place in Atlanta at the 87th IAFP Annual Meeting. That is more than ever before! Tremendous support from industry, government and educational employers who allow their employees to travel to our Meeting, present their infor-mation and interact with other professionals is heartwarming. We are truly fortunate to be recognized as the Meeting of choice for so many food safety professionals. Thank you to everyone who gave presentations this year and thank you to your employers for allowing you to do so. We are indebted to you. There is one group who I am especially proud of in the work they carry out on a daily basis. That is the group of employees in the IAFP office. We have 12 employees that have various responsibilities throughout the year and on top of these responsibilities, they carry out all details for the Annual Meeting. We begin planning for next year's Meeting the week after completion of the current Meeting. There is quite a system in place to ensure no detail is overlooked. We know what this Meeting means to our Members and attendees. It is our goal to provide you with the atmosphere in which you can network, share information, meet new life-long resources, and make you feel like you are an integral part of the IAFP family. Our staff strives to accomplish this goal every day and goes to extraordinary lengths to prepare for the crown jewel, the IAFP Annual Meeting. As I said, I am so very proud of their work that is carried out to benefit you, our Members. Thank you Lisa, Donna, Julie, Lucia, Bev, Karla, Didi, Beth, Pam, Tanya, and Frank! Finally, I want to recognize all attendees at this year's Annual Meeting. Thank you for your attendance in Atlanta. It is just incredible to think that we increased attendance by more than 10% over our previous record attendance in 1998! This is a true demonstration of the strength of the presentations at our Annual Meeting. We know that you are proud of the IAFP Annual Meeting and that you communicate with other potential attendees. Share your pride with others; share your Annual Meeting experiences with others and encourage their attendance next year in Minneapolis. Remember that there are hundreds of people working year-round to prepare for the next Annual Meeting! We hope to see you there! |