Bump into a 'Cover'? Where the Elite Meet to eat? Are you a Turtle?

[Randy Stewart]

I'll be in Isle of Palms SC this weekend. I'd be more than happy to meet with anyone on the golf couse or club house!!!!

 

[Laura M]

Wish I could. I'm so jealous! We got another 2 inches of snow last night. I need to head south.

 

[qualitygoddess - 2010]

April 20th in Rosemont, IL

Is anyone going to attend the Quality Expo 2005 at Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont, IL? I'll be there on Wednesday, April 20th, for the day. We could have a bite of lunch, if you are free. It would at least be fun to say howdy and chat for a few minutes.

--Jodi

 

[Wes Bucey]

Is anyone going to attend the Quality Expo 2005 at Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Rosemont, IL? I'll be there on Wednesday, April 20th, for the day. We could have a bite of lunch, if you are free. It would at least be fun to say howdy and chat for a few minutes.

--Jodi

I hadn't planned to go. Let me check my calendar and make a few calls to see if I can rearrange things. Are you driving down from Milwaukee? If so, be prepared for "sticker shock" at the tollroad prices beween Wisconsin border and O'Hare exit. Coming alone or with a crowd? Any special exhibit you want to see?

 

[qualitygoddess - 2010]

Wes:

I am attending on my own. I expect to arrive around 10 AM. With parking, walking, waiting in line to get in, I should be inside by 10:30 AM.

Yes, I am aware of the new prices for the tollway. I already own the I-pass. I grew up in IN, so I-294 is my second home! How I love the 2 hour lines to get into IN................

--Jodi

 

[Wes Bucey]

Wes:

I am attending on my own. I expect to arrive around 10 AM. With parking, walking, waiting in line to get in, I should be inside by 10:30 AM.

Yes, I am aware of the new prices for the tollway. I already own the I-pass. I grew up in IN, so I-294 is my second home! How I love the 2 hour lines to get into IN................

--Jodi

OK. I registered for the Expo, even though I don't have my schedule cleared, yet.

There is one event on Wednesday which might be interesting for any other Chicago area Covers to attend as well (Free with advance registration at http://cl.exct.net/?ffcd16-fe4f157673640d747c1c-fe0c15717764077f70167177)

Here's the event:

FREE: The ASQ “Future of Quality” Café Experience
Wednesday, April 20, 2005 -- 4:00 pm - 6:30 pm in Room 12
Register for FREE Admission to Quality Expo, and Conference Discounts!
Please join us in exploring the future of our profession and the global quality movement!

Based on the experience of hundreds of ASQ members, leaders, and non-member quality professionals, we’re sure you’ll thoroughly enjoy the experience of engaging peers in lively dialogues about issues that really matter to you, as we collectively chart a course to the future we envision for ourselves and Quality.
Here is how one “Future of Quality” Café participant summed up her experience:
”The café discussions are a great tool for “instant” cross-communication on many levels: catharsis, networking, idea-generation, and vertical and horizontal communication. It’s well worth the time to talk.” Muriel Sasaki, Chair, Los Angeles Section

Feedback we received from other participants:

• “Good cross-dialogue”
• “Enjoy open café setting”
• “Informative, very good”
• “New approach to discussing issues”
• “Great dialogue”
• “Very interactive, pertinent to everyone’s future!”

We have consistently had an enthusiastic response to this refreshing opportunity to talk about the most important issues facing us in our profession and to define a new path to the future of the quality profession and the global quality movement – using a very innovative conversational tool, a Café. Many people have been so engaged in talking to each other that they have continued to dialogue beyond the established end time. Some enjoyed the experience so much they asked to be notified of upcoming Cafés because they wanted to participate in another one.

Business professionals across the nation have appreciated the opportunity to learn a new means of hosting productive dialogues that are also fun for the participants, and have requested the kit offered to help them create Cafés around other subjects of interest to local members. You may also find that you can add one more tool to your “quality toolkit” – a Café approach to connecting and engaging people around meaningful questions and to harvesting the rich collective knowledge that emerges.

Given this record of success, we can promise you a memorable experience – a sense of satisfaction that you are making a real contribution to our collective future, a great chance to connect with many of your peers, and a bit of fun thrown in. After all, who says we can’t have fun while doing something productive. You’ll wish that all the meetings you attend were more like this!

A second event the same day which might also have interest:

FREE Quality Digest Panel: Surviving Outsourcing
Moderator: Dirk Dusharme, Editor-In-Chief, Quality Digest
Wednesday, April 20 11:00 am - 12:00 pm - Room 12

You can't dodge it. More and more of your customers are taking their business overseas. What can you do to identify and exploit your company's unique qualities that make it a more viable choice than an overseas vendor? Our panel of companies who have successfully fought the outsourcing dragon will tell you how.

If you are attending the Conference on Wednesday, you may as well stay for the ASQ Café because the traffic will be absolutely horrendous in that area from 4 pm through 6:30 pm anyway. I have no idea who will be in attendance to represent the ASQ, but I'll find out before the event.

 

[Marc]

I'll look into attending. Some of you may want to meet the "Marc Behind the Curtain".

But I have to ask - Why don't you folks put this stuff on the forum Calendar?

 

[Wes Bucey]

I'll look into attending. Some of you may want to meet the "Marc Behind the Curtain".

But I have to ask - Why don't you folks put this stuff on the forum Calendar?

Frankly, I hadn't planned on going. It's primarily a commercial event, but they do have a couple of free conferences that could be interesting. (If they are not, I may just make an effort to ridicule them later.)

The idea of meeting a goddess has me "ideating" (my wife, of course, just thinks I'm senile.)

Once I looked into it, I discovered the ASQ event. I've been beating up ASQ about NEVER being invited to one, despite my "senior" status (like Marc's - merely a reward for surviving 10 years or more in the industry.)

Have any of you out there attended one of these ASQ "cafè" things before?

As the time approaches, we'll count noses. Maybe we can have a "thing" - Rosemont has several interesting places to spend an evening of food, beverages, and conversation.

 

[tomvehoski]

I recall going to the "cafe" at the Quality Expo when it was in Detroit (Novi) a few years ago. I don't think it was much more than a rush/grab for a free drink and snacks after the conference - I don't recall any organization, speakers, etc. I could be thinking of something else though.

 

[Marc]

....despite my "senior" status (like Marc's - merely a reward for surviving 10 years or more in the industry.)

Actually, it's weirder than that. Kevin Mader, a few years back, attempted to get me annointed as an ASQ 'fellow'. His reasoning was that this web site was such a valuable asset to the quality community. I thought he was nuts. I mean, we had some good conversations and such here, and we 'shared' a lot of documents and thoughts, but I didn't see it as a big thing. I think that was during 2001. At the time, from the conversation I *thought* Kevin was trying to get annointed as a 'fellow' himself. At one point Kevin e-mailed me and basically said "Hey dummy, I'm wanting to get YOU to be annointed as a fellow, not me!" Actually, I dropped my ASQ membership for a number of years because I didn't feel it was of significant 'value' to me, but joined again and now - Well, I pay my dues every year. I think it was 1999 that I 'joined' again (and can't remember the reason) so I've only been a member, technically, for about 6 years. Anyway, the ASQ said not enough time in the ASQ for fellowship, or something - I can't remember much about it but there were a bunch of papers I had to fill out and I remember reading what the qualifications were but I don't remember them today. So - I ended up as a 'senior' member because of Kevin Mader.

Saying all this, I miss Kevin. He was a very valuable asset here and a very smart, sharing person. But, after the kids started coming, Kevin moved on to a 'real life'. I miss Don Winton, too. He was a great fellow. And I mess - Well, I could go on, but you get the idea. This was a very interesting place in the 'old' days - Not that it isn't still, but - well - it was 'different'.

I've been a member of the SAE for 17 years but I see the SAE differently. I do some volunteer work for them now and again - I helped out at the last Dayton air show, for example. I've also been a member of the IEST for about 18 years. I'm a senior member of the IEST and have been for years. I was 'nominated' for senior membership by several people in the local chapter back in the early 1990's. I also see the IEST differently than I do the ASQ. I see more value and less profit motive in the SAE and IEST. But that's just my view. I know the ASQ helps a lot of people in various ways.

I used to help out the ASQ local doing some volunteer CQE and CQT tutoring and classes, but I was travelling so much back then I quit doing that. The last class I gave I had driven back from Philly just to do the class, got out of Philly late, ended up in Cincy about 2 hours before the class started, was tired, I had to drive back to Philly the next day and just said 'this is enough'.

Oh, well.