Food Protection Trends - July 2011 - (Page 424)

“REFLECTIONS” OF YOUR president hen I have a few free moments (not very often these days!), I sometimes like to ponder if I have achieved all the things that I wanted to from my childhood dreams of “how things were going to be when I grew up.” The major items on that list: obtain a food education—check (x 3); have a happy marriage—check (ﬁrst one not so good, second one a charm); have kids—check (x 4!); have an interesting career—check; have a degree of ﬁnancial security—check. Each of these, of course, was accompanied with “subgoals,” like making sure my children are happy and successful, serving as IAFP president (check!), and walking the Inca Trail. I think most of us do have an “internal” strategic plan, and over the course of our lives, we are able to check some items off the list, others we recognize we will never achieve, and still others we continue to strive toward. Well, as IAFP enters its second century, we also have reﬂected on our Association’s progress toward goals. I believe that present and recent past board members would say that the last decade has offered tremendous opportunities that have resulted in substantial growth of IAFP—in membership, ﬁnances, afﬁliates, activities, and impact. For example, we continue to grow our member and afﬁliate numbers even as many other organizations shrink. IAFP has a clear international presence, which of course broadens our impact. Our association is strong and I believe that we can now say with conﬁdence that we continue to provide a “high quality forum to exchange information on protecting the food supply.” But, as they say, “no rest for the wicked!” Your Executive Board wants to make sure that we do not lose our momentum, and that we continue to improve services to our members and W By LEE-ANN JAYKUS PRESIDENT “ We will certainly be engaging our entire membership in both the planning and implementation stages of our strategic plan” ultimately broaden IAFP’s international impact. Consequently, this spring, we began a strategic planning process that will undoubtedly shape the future of our Association. In this month’s column, I would like to describe some of our objectives for IAFP over the next decade. To start with, our overarching goal is for IAFP to be recognized as the pre-eminent source of information for food safety professionals in the world. As such, information exchange is a central part of the association’s mission, and this is reﬂected in two of our four “Key Result Areas,” or areas of targeted effort. The third area focuses on increasing member engagement, while the fourth has to do with assuring that the association has the resources necessary to support its mission. Each Key Result Area is supported by a number of more speciﬁc goals and activities.These are outlined brieﬂy below. Key Result Area 1, In-Person Information Exchange, focuses on assuring that IAFP continues to offer high value, timely in-person meetings that cover a broad range of food safety issues and are available to a diverse, international audience. Included are activities to continue and improve the North American and international meetings that we currently sponsor; to form strategic alliances for additional international involvement; and to be proactive with respect to offering opportunities for information exchange on emerging issues as they arise. The purpose of Key Result Area 2, Print and Media Communication Exchange, is to strategically use print and electronic communication technologies to increase the Association’s ability to facilitate information exchange. This includes activities such as improving the quality of Food Protection Trends and increasing the visibility and impact of the Journal of Food Protection. We would also like to expand the means by which print and electronic media are shared, like investigating the opportunities for an IAFP Press, expanding our webinar offerings, and creating portals that organize, in a user-friendly manner, the voluminous amount of food safety information available on the Internet. Key Result Area 3 focuses on Resources and the Foundation, 424 FOOD PROTECTION TRENDS | JULY 2011

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Food Protection Trends - July 2011

Food Protection Trends - July 2011
Table of Contents
Sustaining Members
Reflections of Your President
Commentary from the Executive Director
Most Americans are Not Prepared to Ensure Food Safety during Power Outages and Other Emergencies
Understanding Food Safety Information Needs: Using a National Information Service as a Research Tool
Ten Reasons to Make It to Milwaukee!
New Members
What’s Happening in Food Safety
Industry Products
IAFP 2011
Award Winners
Committee Meetings
Ivan Parkin Lecture
John H. Silliker Lecture
Preliminary Program
Activities
General Information
Workshops
Registration Rates
Exhibitors
Special Contributors and Sponsors
Coming Events
Advertising Index
Journal of Food Protection Table of Contents
Membership Application
Celebrating 100 Years of IAFP: 1990s

Food Protection Trends - July 2011