President's Article Initiating Supply Management Excellence By Beatrice S. Wiest, C.P.M., President NAPM-Orange County, Inc.

History

The time has come for my farewell swan song. As my term as President of NAPM-Orange County comes to an end, I sit here and write my final article and reflect on the positives and challenges about writing the monthly “President’s Message”.

Positives – Sharing the association’s goals and objectives with membership.

Challenges – Trying not to fill the article with too much clutter or useless information.

For the excellence of my articles, I must credit two exceptional individuals that have helped me in improving my writing skills. Terri Okazaki, whom in addition to streamlining and organizing my articles always had the most appropriate quote to lend credence to my words, and Chuck Ayres, for his continued support and willingness to work with me when I might have missed a deadline. Another individual working in the background, was Jill Alvarez, making sure that my words were politically correct for the website, a task not always easy to do.

During the past year, the Board was attacked by the current economic slowdown. 25% of our Board (Beatrice Wiest, DiAnna Cowles, Judith Serner, nee Smith, and Susan Odstrchel) lost their job during their tenure. However, despite the vicissitudes of trying to find a new position, and in some cases, relocating, the Board has continued to function with the support of the affected individuals.

One of the lessons I have learned during my term is that patience (not my strong suit) is indeed a virtue, and one should seek/find the good qualities in all.

Mentors have been my salvation. These individuals always have words of encouragement, kindness, and sometimes even caution so as not to run amuck. Thank you Judith, Sara, Art, Terri, DiAnna, Susan, Chuck, and George. Also, Steve and Jill, when appropriate. Thanks also to each director and committee chair that have served so faithfully throughout the year.

Things done

In the past, I think I qualified as the person that visited the Yorba Linda office the most, although Chuck may not agree. Things have not changed as I still spend quite a lot of time in the new office, trying to organize it and keep up with the duties that the office requires.

The most memorable activity thus far has been “The Forum” recently held on May 17, 2002. The event held at Coastline Community College in Garden Grove allowed us to return to our educational roots and involvement with the colleges as we spent an entire day enhancing our skills and knowledge.

Two co-sponsorships have been entered into with Dr. Brian Long and Bob Nahabit. Both have presented workshops in conjunction with NAPM-Orange County, some of which were held at our office.

We totally digressed from the typical “purchasing theme” when we had Gaddi Vasquez, Peace Corps Director, as our speaker in May. Although the Peace Corps was an “alien” subject for us, Mr. Vasquez’s message on volunteerism and the ability to make a difference by volunteering really pertains to our organization also.

Since moving to our new location in June of last year, we have had all of our Board meetings and most of the committee meetings at the office. Having a centralized location, with all the records available has been a tremendous time saver. Thank you, Jill for your hard work in finding this office!

Wishes for the future

• That more individuals volunteered to the Association. The Association has helped me grow both professionally and as an overall educated individual. With the volunteerism of the many committees I have served on, I have also been able to implement management techniques, without them being a career-limiting move. I wish this opportunity and enjoyment to many others.
• Good wishes for the new Board. The combination of talent and knowledge is awesome and I expect many great ideas in the future.
• That the website becomes the information media to serve all the needs of the membership.
• That Sara continues to be my mentor.
• That we get an elevator at the office.

In closing, a final thank you to all the individuals that have helped, that have shared their feelings and frustrations, and that have offered many kind words to me.