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<< back to the 2002 archive listing << Dairy, Food and Environmental Sanitation Thoughts from the President . . . Timing is Everything It's all about networking “A crisis is no time to be exchanging business cards ...” Dr. Mitchell Cohen, Director of the Division of Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, addressed the Opening Session audience at IAFP 2002 in San Diego, and talked about lessons learned in the aftermath of events in the United States one year ago this month. The harsh reality of terrorism starkly underlined the fact that we must be ever vigilant. Deliberate contamination of food and water supplies has become a too-real possibility. Dr. Cohen emphasized that a crisis is no time to be exchanging business cards; we need to establish our connections, before a crisis happens. What does this mean to our profession? An increased, urgent impetus to strengthen the linkages amongst all those involved in ensuring the safety of food and water supplies, and developing new types of partnerships. At the 1st International Conference on Microbiological Risk Assessment: Foodborne Hazards, held July 24–26 at the University of Maryland, a similar message was repeated by several speakers. In his opening remarks at that meeting, Dr. Lester Crawford, US Food and Drug Administration’s Deputy Director, noted that our profession is at a much higher profile now than just a few years ago, and much broader in scope. Our goals should be to guarantee every man, woman and child a safe, secure and sufficient food supply. Increasingly, global communications and interactions are necessary to help protect public health and the safety of the food supply against either deliberate or unintentional threats. IAFP strives to provide opportunities to bring together researchers, regulators, public health personnel, and the food industry. Our Annual Meeting and our Journals provide the vehicles for exchanging information on food safety — from pre-harvest through to retail, food service, and consumer handling. Although our Association has grown significantly during the past decade, the size of our meeting is still small enough that this year’s 1,400+ attendees could easily work on increasing their own personal networks. Students attending our meeting for the first time often remark that the opportunity to really get to know some of the scientists behind the publications is invaluable, and that the atmosphere of the meeting makes everyone feel welcomed. This is the time to exchange business cards — between symposia, during the poster sessions, over lunch, through social events. E-mail is an amazing tool (perhaps too much so!) that helps us connect with people… but the connections are always more meaningful when you can put a face to the ISP address! As IAFP strengthens its membership outside of the US and Canada, we can only benefit as our own personal networks become globalized. At a local level, our Affiliate Associations serve us well also. Their goals are not only to educate through meetings, workshops and tours, but also to provide opportunities to forge new partnerships and develop connections with colleagues around us. Many affiliates work hard to organize 2 to 3 day meetings and provide lots of “down-time” to renew acquaintances and meet new colleagues. The spirit of camaraderie is certainly enhanced by a unique venue and creativity in planning for meetings… the “snipe hunt” in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere, is a legendary annual event for the Florida Association for Food Protection! The Affiliate News, prepared by the Affiliate Council Chairperson and Secretary, this year Gene Frey and Steven Murphy together with Lucia Collison McPhedran at the IAFP office, lets our Members see what is happening in other affiliates, and promotes exchange of ideas for conference themes and other events. In closing, I encourage you to join in your local affiliate if one is in your region, and if not, consider starting one! Start planning for IAFP 2003, August 10 –13 in New Orleans. Let us provide you a fun and educational time and place to exchange business cards, before the crisis happens! |