Letter to the Membership
As the 2010-2011 program year comes to an end so does my time as chair of the section. I would like to thank each of you for your support over the last two years. Bill Stevens will be stepping in as your next chair with Eric Finegan (Vice-Chair), David Moore (Secretary) and Aron Brall (Treasurer) as your new leadership team. I will be just as busy and active as I have been over the last two year heading a very special project in addition to all of the other committees that I currently work on.
I would like to bring to your attention a few topics:
Quality Excellence
Each year, ASQ National recognizes outstanding sections for their quality performance over the previous year. A section can receive GOLD, SILVER, or BRONZE. I am proud to announce that ASQ Baltimore (Section 502) has received the GOLD award again; our third year in a row by the way. We would not have received this award without your assistance.
ASQ Survey
Each year, ASQ National sends out a survey on how the sections are doing. You should have received the notice to complete the survey (https://asq.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_3t6EUmQRYJVnHuI). The survey is open for completion until 30April2011. Please take time to complete the survey; your comments are part of the Quality Excellence Award. If you have any ideas how to improve the section or have any positive or negative comments, please feel free to email me at asq502jr-1@yahoo.com.
Section Dinner Meetings
We have been requested to find a location north of the city and we have listened. As a result of the Location contest, we held meetings at Snyder’s, Loyola College (Timonium Campus) and Richlin Ballroom (Edgewood) this past year. For next year, we are looking to hold meetings at Snyder’s and Richlin Ballroom.
On 03May2011, we will hold our May Dinner meeting at Snyder’s. We will also be honoring several of our members for outstanding appreciation. The tutorial will be a Networking opportunity. The main program will be a talk from ASQ National on where Quality is headed. We are looking forward to seeing you at the meeting.
June’s meeting which was scheduled as our yearly social has been cancelled this year. We are sorry for the inconvenience.
Education
We are planning to revamp our education program and need your support. Please email (asq502jr-1@yahoo.com) me any courses that you would like to see offered by the Section. The courses do not need to be only certification courses; we are interested in any/all types of courses. Also if you are interested in project management courses, please let me know. Your opinion is important, so please tell me via email.
Software SIG Group
The Washington DC (Section 509) Section would like for our section to join their Software SIG group. If you are interested in being part of the Software SIG group, please email me (asq503jr-1@yahoo.com). We would like a head count to see if there is any interest. Also, if you know of a location with teleconference capabilities that would be willing to host the group, please email me.
Science Fair
On March 26 and 27, 2011, Towson University hosted the 56th annual Science Fair. As in the past our judges had fun seeing all of the wonderful projects. Thank you to all who volunteered to be judges. If you are interested in participating next year, please see any of the Board members at a Dinner meeting or email me.
65th Anniversary
As I indicated above, I will be working on a special project. On 18Sept1947, Section 502 was formed with 13 members. As a result, our 65th anniversary will be our 2012 – 2013 program year. As part of our celebration, we would like do something extra special. If you have any ideas how we should celebrate, please email me (asq502jr-1@yahoo.com) your suggestions. It could be a conference, a series of talks on a particular topic, a special nationally known speaker, etc. This is your time to tell us what you would like to see. Also if you are interested in helping with the celebration, please let me know about that too.
Thank you for your participation in the section. As always, if you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me (asq502jr-1@yahoo.com).
Joan Richter
ASQ Baltimore (Section 502)
Chair