Milwaukee SPE: Councilor

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Milwaukee SPE
Councilor: Don Klein 2007/2011

October 2006 Report
September 2005 Report
May 2005 Report
January 2005 Report
May 2004 Report
January 2004 Report

Councilor's Report - October 2006
This summary is intended to help you review the highlights of the Council Meeting held in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on September 30, 2006.

The meeting was called to order by SPE President Tim Womer. President Womer welcomed all to his home city of Pittsburgh. He highlighted some of the many activities he has undertaken as Society president. He noted that the state of the Society is stable.

Executive Director Susan Oderwald reported on exciting new developments. Among them, a new website for students, a newly redesigned Plastics Engineering magazine, and a totally new venture with Plastics News called Plastics Encounter at ANTEC 2007. Details on these new developments are presented later in this report.

Past President Lance Neward gave an informative report on Parliamentary Procedure in which he explained the importance of minutes and what should be included in them.

Budget
The major Council action was the approval of the 2007 calendar-year budget. A full write-up on the budget was distributed to Councilors and to all Section and Division Board members in preparation for this meeting. The budget that was approved calls for gross income of $5,655,000, direct expenses of $3,145,000, staff & overhead expenses of $2,395,000 and a net income of $115,000. Council approved the budget by a unanimous vote unchanged from the original presentation. A full area-by-area presentation of this budget is available to Section and Division Board members at:
http://extranet.4spe.org/council/index.php?dir=Pittsburgh%20Council%20Meeting/

Membership
Our overall membership as of August 31, 2006, is 19,186. SPE, like every other scientific and engineering membership society, and most other associations as well, has seen a decline in new member acquisition in the past 12 months.

In late September, SPE conducted a brief email survey of recently suspended members to ascertain some of the key reasons those members have allowed their SPE memberships to lapse. Results will be reported at a later date.

PLASTICS ENCOUNTER @ ANTEC 2007
Plastics News first approached SPE at the end of May to determine if SPE would be interested in co-locating Plastics News’ tradeshow, Plastics Encounter, with ANTEC next year. A dialogue ensued over the summer months. As a result of these negotiations, Plastics Encounter will now co-locate with ANTEC at the Duke Energy Center in Cincinnati, May 6-10, 2007.

Each event will retain its own name and identity, and they will operate under the combined title “Plastics Encounter @ ANTEC.” In addition, each event will be cross promoted via the other’s marketing materials and initiatives. Plastics News is devoting all of its tradeshow energies and resources to this combined event in 2007. Both groups are seeking to position these two shows as THE defining event for the plastics industry in North America in 2007. This is a one-year agreement. Providing all goes well, both parties have expressed their desire to continue this partnership in future years.

SPE hotels include the Millennium Cincinnati and the Hyatt Regency Cincinnati. A single-occupancy rate of $127 has been negotiated for SPE/ANTEC attendees at both hotels.

PLASTICS ENGINEERING REDESIGN PRESENTATION
Council had a “first look” at what they can expect to see in the Society’s magazine for 2007.

The interior has undergone a redesign from cover to cover. The magazine has an international look and includes a global editorial perspective. Plastics Engineering’s global debut is set for the January 2007 issue.

NEW StudentZone Website
Under the leadership of Maria Russo, the StudentZone student website was unveiled earlier this month. An eight-member committee assisted Maria in developing the site content, graphics, production, navigation, etc. One important goal of the site is to increase retention and conversion rates among student members.

ANTEC 2009 TPC
Council approved Dr. Gregory McKenna as the 2009 ANTEC Technical Program Chair.
Bylaws & Policies
A first reading was held on four Bylaws Amendments relative to the Honored Service Member and Fellow of the Society member grades and election committees. Council voted to pass along consideration of these amendments to all members (via publication of the amendments in Plastics Engineering) for their review and knowledge. A final vote on the amendments will take place at the January Council meeting in Charleston.

The Council also voted to approve four new Policies. Policies are being written to include information removed from the old Bylaws such as details on how committees are formed and function, or all the steps involved in the election of Society officers. The four policies approved at this meeting were the Policy on Policies, the Policy on Committees and Subcommittees, the Policy on Election of Officers, and the Anti-Trust Policy.

The SPE Foundation
Special campaigns are being conducted as part of the Foundation’s 2006 Annual Campaign. Each campaign is being headed by a member of the Foundation Board of Trustees or the Foundation Executive Committee

A general Foundation grant of $5,500 was made to Pennsylvania College of Technology to be used for the purchase of a rotational molding data acquisition system for their Plastics Manufacturing Center

A $10,000 Thermoforming Equipment grant was made to the University of Wisconsin-Platteville for auxiliary equipment for their new thermoformer.

Twenty-seven students are the recipients of $95,500 in scholarships for the 2006-2007 school year. In addition, the Thermoforming Division chose to use funds from a special event at their 2005 conference to create “Director’s Choice” scholarships. Each member of the board was able to select one student to receive a $1,000 scholarship. Twenty-six students benefited from this new program! As a result, the total awarded in scholarship funding by the Foundation for 2006 is $121,500.

Susan Oderwald, Karen Winkler, and Gail Bristol have developed a plan for corporate outreach for use by both the Foundation and SPE

Presentations
The Pittsburgh Section presented a check endowing a new Pittsburgh Section Scholarship within The SPE Foundation. The Bartlesville-Tulsa Section presented a check as a donation to the "Match Your Members" campaign, which is part of the Foundation's 2006 Annual Campaign.

Awards
The Education Awards Committee approved a new award to be known as the Outstanding Student Chapter Award. This award replaces the old STRETCH Award. The OSC Award includes a cash award of $500 (courtesy of the Thermoforming Division) to Student Chapters that meet specific criteria.

Student Chapters
Council voted to charter two new Student Chapters in India:
Amrita School of Engineering
Delhi College of Engineering

Committee Meetings
Fifteen committees met prior to the Council meetings.

The following Committee/Officer Reports were given at the Council meeting:
a) Sections – R. Corneliussen
b) Divisions – B. Arendt
c) International – J. Ratzlaff
d) ANTEC – S. Monte

Council Committee-of-the-Whole
Jim Griffing, Chair of the Committee, conducted the meeting prior to the formal Council meeting.

The next formal Council meeting is scheduled for Saturday, January 27, 2007, in Charleston, South Carolina.

SUSAN E. ODERWALD - EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
SEO:ms
cc: Past Presidents, Section Presidents
Division Chairpersons, Committee Chairpersons, SPE Staff

Councilor's Report—September 2005
Jack Hill

Council Meeting held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on September 24, 2005.

The meeting was called to order by SPE President Len Czuba. President Czuba directed Council’s attention to a newly created Hurricane Relief Blog on the SPE website, which was created to help SPE members who are victims of this tragedy.

http://www.4spe.org/katrinablog/

Executive Director Susan Oderwald reported on recent organizational changes at Headquarters. Maria Russo joined the staff as the new Divisions Leadership Liaison, replacing Debra Vogel (Ravetto); Elizabeth Mitchell is the new e-Learning Project Leader, replacing Tara Munsen; and Sara Vokes, Office Receptionist/HR Assistant, is the newest SPE staff member.

Vice President Lance Neward gave an informative report on Parliamentary Procedure in which he explained the role of a proxy as it relates to Council attendance and the proxy’s responsibilities.

Budget
The major Council action was the approval of the 2006 calendar-year budget. A full write-up on the budget was distributed to Councilors and to all Section and Division Board members in August. The budget that was approved calls for gross income of $5,636,000, direct expenses of $3,513,000, staff & overhead expenses of $2,044,000, and a net income of $79,000. Council approved the budget by a clear majority vote unchanged from the original presentation. A full area-by-area presentation of this budget is available to Section and Division Board members.

Constitution & Bylaws
The following motion was approved:

Because Council and the Executive Committee requested the Constitution and Bylaws Committee to prepare a new draft of the Society’s Bylaws that combines all of the statutes of the Society’s existing Constitution and Bylaws into a new document that is more clearly organized and more reflective of the current Council practice, and that document is now ready for consideration, I move that Council approve the amendment of the existing Constitution of the Society by dissolving it.

As a result of the passage of this motion, a SPECIAL SPE BUSINESS MEETING WILL BE HELD ON SATURDAY, JANUARY 21, 2006, AT 10:30 A.M. AT THE ALBUQUERQUE MARRIOTT HOTEL IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE NEXT COUNCIL MEETING IN ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO.

PLEASE BE SURE TO BE IN ATTENDANCE. This special meeting is being called in order to vote on the dissolution of the SPE Constitution. A positive vote will allow us to send this motion out to the entire SPE membership for an all-member vote, as required by the Constitution. As 50 voting members must be in attendance to hold this special meeting, a majority Council participation is necessary!

At the Council Meeting in Albuquerque, you will hear a second reading of, and vote on, the adoption of the new SPE Bylaws, which will replace the existing Constitution and Bylaws as soon as the Constitution is dissolved.

Section Name Change
Council approved the name change of the Newark Section to the New Jersey Section.

Student Chapter
Council voted to charter a Student Chapter at Texas Technical University.

Committee Meetings
Thirteen committees met prior to the Council meetings.
The following Committee/Officer Reports were given at the Council meeting:
a) Sections - A. Arduini
b) Divisions - J. Griffing
c) International - J. Ratzlaff
d) ANTEC - B. Arendt
e) Publications - E. Coleman

Council Committee-of-the-Whole
Barbara Arnold-Feret, Chair of the Committee, conducted the meeting prior to the formal Council meeting.

The next formal Council meeting is scheduled for Saturday, January 21, 2006 in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Councilor's Report—May 2005
Jack Hill
Council Meetings held in Boston on May 1, 2005.

ANTEC
Registration at ANTEC was 2658 (including participants in the seminars.) A total of 168 registrants attended 19 Society seminars.

Incoming President Len Czuba’s SPE mantra is “Connect, Collaborate, Compete!”

From the Council floor

Rebates:
The Council discussed the disposition of rebates and accepted the proposal drafted by a special subcommittee chaired by Bill O’Connell. Most changes to the rebates will take effect in 2007 with the one exception that rebates in 2006, while based on the prior system, will be paid quarterly.

The main differences between the old and new systems are as follows:
Budgeting total rebate dollars – For example, if Council budgets rebates at $350,000 and the actual calculation comes to $315,000, every group would receive 111% of their calculated rebate. Likewise if rebates are budgeted at $350,000 and the actual calculation comes to $390,000, every group would receive 90% of their rebates. Furthermore, rebates will be paid quarterly in the same year they’re budgeted. This provides Council and SPE with a couple of important advantages. First, spreading the rebate payments out helps with cash flow management. Second, paying them as part of a budget in the same year allows Council to make decisions about rebates closer to the time actual rebates will be paid, helping with balancing the budget. In the event there are catastrophic difficulties, Council has the flexibility to reduce the total rebate amount as it also reduces spending in other areas. Likewise, in times of plenty, Council would have the flexibility to distribute more funds to SPE groups.

Paying rebates quarterly – As mentioned above, this helps tremendously with cash management and will be initiated in 2006 (so rebate payments in 2006 will be based strictly on the old calculation which is based on membership as of 12/31/05, and will be distributed quarterly).

Making the 3 changes to the calculation – These are some minor “common sense” changes that do not greatly change the individual amounts. The changes are too detailed to present here, but please refer to the proposals sent to you prior to the Council meeting if you want to review them. Again, these changes will not be implemented until 2007.

Paying rebates only for dues paying members – In the past, folks who paid no dues (unemployed members, distinguished members, etc.) were still included in the rebate calculations. The pool of these folks is small, especially when distributed across all of our groups.

Dropping the rebate for the seldom-collected initiation fee – SPE’s initiation fee is more often dropped as part of a promotional incentive for new members. Since SPE does not collect these funds, the new system will take the small amount that was being distributed to groups out of the calculation. Again, no individual group is going to be materially affected by this change.

Tiering Division rebates – under the old system Division rebates were not tiered the way Section rebates were. This makes the two systems more parallel.

Having performance criteria for rebates. This is not entirely new. The current system requires a Board of Directors and the submission of the required financial statements.

The three items below are new, and the idea here is to monitor how groups are serving members, and give the Sections/Divisions Committees a head’s up on any group that is failing to provide these basic requirements so we can work together to get things on track.

No rebates for sections and divisions whose council seat has been declared vacant by Council (non-attendance for 3 consecutive Council meetings)

Requiring communication with members (demonstrate regular communications to members)

Having a plan (helps to demonstrate that activities are ongoing)

New Charters
The Council approved the charter of the Flexible Packaging Division. Two new SIGs were presented to Council: Nanotechnology and Micromolding. A student Chapter was established at the University of Mississippi.

Awards & Recognitions
In addition to the recognition of the retiring administration, two additional awards were given out. The Michael Cappelletti Excellence Award was given to Bill O’Connell and the James Toner Service Excellence Award was given to Tobi Gebauer.

Outgoing President Karen Winkler thanked her Executive Committee for their hard work.

Incoming President Len Czuba introduced his Executive Committee. New Executive Committee Vice-Presidents are: Russell Broome, Héctor Dilán, Lance Neward, and William Smith. Paul Andersen is the 2005-2006 Treasurer and John Szymankiewicz is the 2005-2006 Secretary.

Presentations

Composites Division
$1,500 Harold Giles Scholarship
$1,000 Foundation Scholarship program

Mold Making & Mold Design
$1,000 Student Author Travel Fund

Detroit Section
$2,000 Essay Contest
$2,500 International Education Award in honor of Fred Schwab
$5,000 Robert Dailey Scholarship

Color & Appearance Division
$1,000 donation to The SPE Foundation

NEXT COUNCIL MEETING
The next meeting of the Council is scheduled for September 24, 2005 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Councilor's Report—January 2005
Jack Hill
January 2nd, 2005

SPE President Karen Winkler called the meeting to order.

The Council weekend format was as follows:
· Council Orientation - this session was provided again as an orientation for the
weekend.
· Council Committee of the Whole - there was a separate shortened version of
the Council Committee of the Whole meeting.
· Council Meeting - the format had presentations followed by open discussion on
the presentations, and ample time for general discussion.

Moment of Silence:
The Council recognized the passing of the following members:
Barry Huguenin, inaugural President of SPE New Zealand - on July 24, 2004 at the age of 53 after a short battle with cancer.
George Pickering, SPE’s 1976 President and member since 1959 - on October 13, 2004.

The thousands of Tsunami victims who lost their lives this past December were also included in the Moment of Silence.

Elections:
Council elected the following people as Society Officers for the 2005-2006 term, which begins at

ANTEC (May 1-5.)

President-Elect – Tim Womer
Senior Vice President – Vicki Flaris
Vice President (nominated by the International Committee) – Hector Dilan

In addition to these formal offices, each year Council also elects a Chair for the Council Committee of the Whole. Barbara Arnold-Feret will hold this position for the 2005-2006 year.

Executive Director Update:
Susan Oderwald reviewed the financial outlook for 2005. SPE is beginning to stabilize revenues in some key areas but still continues to operate under financial pressure. With that in mind, staff and the Finance Committee have reviewed the 2005 approved budget and have already developed some revised expectations on revenue and made adjustments to some expense areas. A full reforecast for 2005 will be distributed to Council at the end of the first quarter and every quarter thereafter.

ANTEC remains SPE’s largest “risk” in terms of overall financial performance. Educational products continue to be an area of concern. Susan was pleased to report that we ended the year with 20,106 members and are on track to see continued modest growth for the early part of 2005. SPE has grown membership (month by prior year month comparisons) every month since July of 2004.

Susan also reported on SPE’s new alliance with the American Management Association (AMA) to provide SPE members with seminar and other educational access to AMA’s resources. SPE members will be able to access these programs at AMA member pricing.

SPE is organizing a formal committee for the governance of Europe.

The SPE Foundation ended 2004 solidly in the black. Additional members have been added to the

Foundation Executive Committee, and recruitment for a full Board of Trustees is in full swing.

Rebate Plan Proposal
Bill O’Connell presented the recommendation of the Rebate Committee, the Finance Committee and the Executive Committee that the rebates for 2005 that will be payable in 2006 return to the plan and formulae that was in effect before Council voted to suspend rebates for the past two years.

Councilors participated in a group exercise to rank various options for a new rebate proposal for 2007and beyond. That proposal will be voted on at the May Council meeting.

Other Business
Presentations and discussions also took place on the following topics:
State of the Society Discussion
ANTEC Activity Plan
Technical Advisory Board Update
SPE Europe Update
Committee/Officer Reports
2005-2006 Operating Plan
SPE Foundation Update
Membership AIM Update

2nd Reading Bylaw Amendment B-9.7
The following second reading of a proposed amendment to the SPE Bylaws took place as follows:

All votes by Section Councilors, Division Councilors, Councilors at Large, or their proxies on issues that concern changes to fees, dues, and/or rebates shall be recorded to include the name of the Section, or Division they are voting for, (in the case of Councilors at large, they shall be listed as 'Executive Committee'), the name of the individual, and how the person voted. The records of any such vote shall be available to any member of SPE via the SPE International website. This posting shall be available no later than ten business days after the vote is counted.

This amendment was voted down.

1st Reading of Bylaw Amendment B-51
The following first reading of a proposed amendment to the SPE Bylaws took place as follows:

The Executive Director shall remit to each Section, Section-in-Formation, Division and Division-in-Formation Treasurer in January of each year rebates and/or funds as set by the Council following the approved procedure set forth in Bylaw B-9. A rebate to a Section-in-formation or Division-information shall be for a period of no more than two years.”

Committee Meetings
Eleven committees met prior to the Council meetings including:
Communications Committee
Conference Committee
Constitution & Bylaws Committee
Divisions Committee
Education Awards Committee
Executive Committee
Finance Committee
International Committee
Sections Committee
Student Activities Committee
SPE Foundation Executive Committee

Contributions
SPE is grateful to the following organizations that made contributions in support of SPE and The SPE

Foundation:
· Jim Griffing, Composites Division: $2800 presentation from proceeds of the
Composites/Auto Division Conference.
· Tom Sloss, Connecticut Section: $1000 to The SPE Foundation, representing
the fifth payment of a 5-year pledge.
· Jordan Rotheiser, Decorating & Assembly Division: $3800 for 38 members;
and profit share of $5437 from TopCon.
· Roger Kipp, Gwen Mathis & Jack Hill, Thermoforming Division: presented
$49,136.68 from the proceeds of the Thermoforming Conference.

The next formal Council meeting is scheduled for Sunday, May 1, 2005 in Boston, Massachusetts at the Sheraton Boston Hotel (ANTEC Headquarters hotel.)

Councilor's Report—May 2004
Chicago
Jack Hill

ANTEC Summary
Registration at ANTEC was 2952, (including participants in the seminars)

A total of 255 registrants attended 22 Society seminars.

Incoming President Karen Winkler is setting forth a challenge to the members of SPE in the form of a mantra: “Take Pride. Give Back”. Ms. Winkler presented the 2004-2005 operating plan, which focused on four main strategic issues for the Society. These issues and the main initiatives in the 2004-2005 are summarized below:

Understanding Industry
Technical Advisory Board
Continual updating on member needs
Reflecting Industry
AIM membership campaign
New communities with more support & recognition (Pinnacle Award)
Encouraging participation through enhanced value
Serving Industry
Projects from Technical Advisory Board
More products targeted to specific audiences (ATOM Team)
New channels to market for current products
Online offerings to encourage global participation
Showing Industry
More visibility through press activities
Common communications programs
Internal communications – Leadership Weekend, E-bulletins, Webcasts

SPE’s New Executive Director:
Susan Oderwald, who had been serving as Deputy Executive Director, was appointed as SPE’s new Executive Director. She officially began her new role at this meeting.

From the Council floor

The Council was advised of the formation of two new European SIG’s: Radiation Processing of Polymers and Rapid Design, Engineering and Mold Making.

In addition to the recognition of the retiring administration, two new awards were given out. The Michael Cappelletti Excellence Award was given to Donna Davis and Susan Oderwald and the James Toner Service Excellence Award was given to Gail Bristol.

Outgoing President Donna Davis thanked her Executive Committee for their hard work.

Incoming President Karen Winkler introduced her Executive Committee. New Executive Committee Vice-Presidents are: Paul Andersen, Sam McCord and John Szymankiewicz. Vicki Flaris is the 2004-2005 Treasurer and Hoa Pham is the 2004-2005 Secretary.

There was a Moment of Silence in memory of Mr. Denes Hunkar who passed away on April 28 at age 67. He was the co-founder of the Blow Molding Division and the recipient of the SPE International Award for Engineering and Technology in 1991 and the SPE International Award for Business Management in 1992.

Presentations
Color & Appearance Division $2,000 Student Travel Fund
$1,000 SPE Foundation
Injection Molding Division $1,000 SPE Foundation
Thermoplastic Materials & Foams Division $5,000 for the Scholarship Fund
Thermoset Division $2,100 for Membership
The next meeting of the Council is scheduled for October 9, 2004 in Cleveland, Ohio.

Councilor's Report—January 31st, 2004
New Orleans
Jack Hill

Because SPE lost $488,000 on revenues of $6,300.000 in 2003, the major topic during the two-day council meeting was the rebate proposal. The last time our society had a positive retained earning was in 1995 and in 1999 had an operating loss of $800,000 largely because of an abandoned certification program which cost the society over $900.000. We have a cash flow crisis and the question of how close to the edge does the society want to go has made the society plan to keep the 7% of the dues ($100) rebate rather than return the rebate to sections and divisions.

Details of our financial condition can be found on the SPE web site -www.4spe.org. Also look for leadership ideas, good section program ideas, personnel, new programs and registering for Antec. 2004 in Chicago.

The staff reduction has totaled 33% from 45 employees to 30, but this has not been sufficient along with falling revenues to lower the deficit of $488,000 for 2003. Major hits were in the Plastic Engineering Journal ($500,000) and membership is 19,000 down from 34,000 in 1995 with no indication that the downward trend won't continue. Efforts to have more transparency in accounting regarding Mr. Cappelletti's salary and retirement funding were unsuccessful. But Sue Oderwald, deputy director, would like the opportunity to address the Milwaukee Board. I will invite her for the March or May board meeting.

Other options which have been considered are selling the corporate building headquarters worth $1 mm and leasing it back to SPE and cutting down the number of council meetings from three to two, saving about $40,000.

There were three rebate proposals put to the council to protect our organization during this temporary period of financial hardship. After many counter proposals and heated controversy, the council voted to suspend the rebates with the exception of demonstrated hardship -for a period of two years. This contributes $300,000 per year to the bottom line and bolsters cash flow and limits SPEs exposure. A polled recorded vote attempt was not successful because of time restraints; 100 council people with different agenda's and different solutions to our financial cash flow crises.

I supported the Milwaukee Board directive: To vote against this rebate proposal and only support a delay in rebate payment. 64 voted for, 24 voted against the rebate proposal on the floor.

The 20 divisions operate differently from the 100 sections and seem to be more like trade associations than geographical sections. They endorsed the rebate proposal and most contributed the 7% rebate back to the society. Total rebates contributed back amounted to $36,000.

After some private discussion on partnering a Milwaukee conference, the Medical Plastic Division indicated they would consider doing a Minitec with Milwaukee in conjunction with our LSR program in April. Len Czuba would be the presenter in the morning.

Larry Schneider, Councilman from Rock Valley has been invited to our next board meeting.

Technical programming remains the key to section attendance, so very vital to the health of the sections. We should not neglect funding our only active student chapter -UW Platteville.

Elections were held and the following were elected to take office in May, 2004 at Antec:

President: Karen Winkler
President Elect: Len Czuba
Sr. Vice President: Nancy Hermanson
VP Division: Paul Anderson