Day 1: ASSE Professional Development Conference

Sunday June 24, 2007

As President we are asked to attend two conferences beyond our own PDC – one is the IOSH conference in England – usually held in the spring (I will update you on what happened at that event over the summer), and the ASSE conference in the US; this year being held in Orlando, Florida – Disney World here I come.

This conference is the ASSE premiere Safety Health and Environment event of the year and features the most extensive educational and networking opportunities offered to the profession in the US.

Upon my arrival in Orlando I found my hotel and the conference centre and took some time to settle in. That consisted of much more that unpacking my bags in the hotel room… I needed to find my way around the huge conference centre to register and then locate the room that was to hold the opening ceremonies rehearsal. All ceremonies here are quite formalized and rehearsals go along with what is necessary. Sitting in on the end of their House of Delegates meeting gave me some perspective of how they run their business and some of the proposed bylaw changes. Good information for me as I lead the CSSE in the next couple years and set up the agenda for our meeting in September.

A quick visit to the kick off / welcome reception / exposition area was enlightening. I realized that if I wanted to see the whole exposition area and booths I would have to spend additional time in the area if I was to see all of the hundreds of exhibitors. Great Exposition.

Wayne Glover and I were invited to attend the ASSE Fellows Reception – a black tie optional dinner with the ASSE Executive and all Past Presidents and Fellows of the organization. This evening event is to recognize and respect the individuals who have given time and knowledge to the organization present and over the past years at the Executive level. It was a very pleasant evening getting to know some of these commended individuals better and meeting others for the first time. Along with representation from our organization, ASSE and IOSH representatives where also in attendance, giving us another opportunity to communicate with their associations. This evening was a great way to build relationships within a social environment and set up or confirm meeting schedules for the next couple of days.