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<< back to the 2002 archive listing << Dairy, Food and Environmental Sanitation Postcards from Iowa, May 2002 Are you registered for IAFP 2002 in San Diego? Hello! Are you registered for IAFP 2002 in San Diego? Do you have your hotel reservations? If not, why? Take a few minutes now and register online, or fill out the registration forms on page 379 and send them in. We keep talking about IAFP 2002 because it is the highlight of our year. As you know, our Annual Meetings have had a steady increase in attendance year after year, and we expect that this year will continue the trend. If you have never attended an Annual Meeting, I can’t think of a better one to begin with than the meeting in San Diego. Come to the meeting; you won’t be disappointed. I have had an opportunity to attend several of the Affiliate meetings over the last few months, and I have certainly enjoyed them. While the programs have been impressive, I must say that what most impressed me is the people. Our Affiliate members are the backbone of the Association, and their support is crucial for our future success. I admire those who volunteer to help organize the Affiliate meetings, for often they get little in the way of thanks, and yet they have to listen to every minor complaint. I have overheard people voicing what appear to be some of the most trivial complaints to the meeting organizers, without stopping to think how much time and effort the individual may have devoted to the meeting. The next time you attend your Affiliate meeting and find something not to your liking, ask yourself, “Could I have done this better?” and perhaps more importantly, “Am I willing to volunteer my time to do this?” Sometimes we focus on a very small negative while overlooking the overwhelming positive. At your next Affiliate meeting, be sure to tell those people who organized it, “thanks!” It really will mean a lot to them. While we are on the subject of the Affiliates, now is an excellent time to be thinking about Affiliate donations to the Silent Auction. As you know, every dollar of the Silent Auction proceeds goes to the Foundation Fund, which helps support the Audiovisual Library, travel needs of some Annual Meeting speakers and the Ivan Parkin Lecture. Think about something that would be unique to your part of the world and bring an item with you to IAFP 2002 to donate to the auction. Individuals, companies and Affiliates are welcome to donate items. For example, the past several Silent Auctions have had pistachios from California, ham from Tennessee and ice wine from Ontario. While we welcome any donations to the Silent Auction, I think the regional specialties, donated by the Affiliates, are the most interesting. And at one of these meetings, I’m going to be the high bidder on the pistachios! Recently I had the pleasure of notifying winners of the various Association Awards. I hold a tremendous amount of respect for the various award selection committees, as their job seems to become more difficult each year. The nominations are simply that good! I have to say that just being nominated for an award is an honor, whether you are the final recipient or not. Often the difference between the awardee and the runner-up is so slight that you have to ask, if the award panel met on a different day or at a different hour, would the results have been different? This is not meant to take anything away from those who win the awards, but simply to highlight how difficult some of the decisions actually are. The award process reflects very well on both the quality of our Members, and on the quality of the nominations. So much for this month’s column. A little advice, for what it’s worth: go outside, smell the spring air, look at the flowers, and enjoy life for a while. Same time, next month. |