CPMT RESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Once again Our Society has developed a fiendishly clever plan to reinvent itself and provide more value to all of us members. President Rao Tummala has appointed a team of "Strategic Program Directors" to plan tomorrows growth in detail and then start walking toward CPMT’s future. The team consists of:
Dr. Bill Brown of University of Arkansas – Student Programs
Ralph Russell of Virginia Power – Global Chapters and Membership Development

Dr. John Segelken of Lucent Technologies– Recognition and Awards
Connie Swager of IBM – Marketing
Ron Gedney of NEMI – Industrial Programs
Prof. C. P. Wong of Georgia Tech– Strengthen/integrate ECTC with CPMT
Al Puttlitz mechanical engineer Consultant – Educational Programs
Paul Wesling of Compaq Computers – Publications
Prof. James Morris of University of New York Binghamton – Conferences
Dr. Phil Garrou of Dow Chemical – Technology programs

Each leader has enlisted a handful of volunteers to form their agile brainstorming action committee.

In many places this is campaign season and that means most engineers are asking "what is the first thing you will deliver on your promises?" In that spirit the following projections are made.

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  Graduate students at a dozen universities around the globe will become aware of our Society and participate in CPMT meetings, publications, and web activities. Did you know about professional packaging organizations when you were a student?
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  A CPMT chapter will be organized in your locality so you can network and learn from your future customers and bosses.
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  You will be asked to fill out recommendation forms for one of your fellow hard working engineers for a new CPMT award or for the existing Senior or Fellow member achievements.
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  You will keep running across articles and web references to all the great things CPMT does. No more wallflower society.
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  Your company will offer to pay your dues for belonging to CPMT because they realize the great return on this investment.
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  You will notice that the ECTC is covering more of the topics that you need to further your work.
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  You will take a CPMT web course and amaze your colleagues on how smart you have become.
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  You will start using the transactions CD-ROMs and the IEEExplore on-line search and wonder how you ever got anything done without knowing what others had accomplished before you.
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  You will virtually attend a few talks given at a meeting that was just too far away for you to reach. This will be done through the CPMT web site.
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  You will become an active member of one of the CPMT Technical Committees and be regularly sharing notes with the best minds in your field -–because they have become your friends and work-mates.

After these have been achieved, what is next? Our President will announce a new initiative to obtain even more value for our members. After all this is life, our fast changing professional life.

-- Dave Palmer, CPMT old-timer--been there, done that, ready to do it again.