In October, I had the privilege of attending the IICRC’s Certification Council, shareholders and Board of Directors meetings in Vancouver, WA. It was three days of meetings filled with lively discussion about our organization, our industry and the best way to move forward. During these meetings, it became clear to me that we have an amazingly passionate group of individuals that have the best interest of the organization at the center of everything they say and do. We examined our motives, implemented best practices and collaborated to find ways to support our registrants, certified firms, industry partners, instructors and schools through continuous process improvement (CPI).

 

At the shareholders meeting, the new Board of Directors for 2012-2013 was elected and I’m honored to have been re-elected by my peers, along with 14 other outstanding industry professionals. I’m even more humbled to have been selected as chairman for a second term. You have entrusted me to lead this organization into its 41st year and I plan to do so with the character and integrity befitting of the IICRC and the International Trade Association (ITA). 

 

During the next year, the focus of the IICRC’s board of directors will be on refinement and implementation. There are extensive improvements being initiated throughout our programs and relationships. We’ll continue to refine our programs so they meet the needs of our registrants, instructors and certified firms. How are we going to do this? We’re going to continue to participate in industry events, get qualitative and quantitative feedback from our stakeholders and increase collaboration with like-minded organizations. The Board of Directors will also commit to persistently updating our certification courses, CECs, standards and ongoing communications to better serve the needs of stakeholders that have made us who we are today.

 

To continually refine programs, we will all work together to implement all of our plans across the IICRC. Once again, in October, we had an outstanding strategic planning meeting, where we shared ideas and formed strategies that will help update the previous plan created in 2009-2010. As the final stage of the strategic plan, the ITA’s mission and structure have been refined and implemented. The ITA’s progress and calendar of events will be informed through various media and commence in 2013. We are also continuing to evolve our standards writing process, which includes restructuring the standards committee, broadening the use of KAVI and speeding up the process for standards development. Thank you to our credentialed staff and increased volunteer participation in the development and revision of our standards. 

 

My first year as chairman was filled with accomplishments with the help of an excellent Board of Directors and you all. I enjoyed talking to everyone about the IICRC – the opportunities as well as challenges – and incorporating what we heard into our plans. We continue to set goals, follow up and communicate our progress. We are ready to activate and continue to work on our relationships throughout the industry in 2013. We look forward to seeing you in April to capture more input on the strategic plan and update you on our refinement, implementation and relationship goals. 

 

As our year comes to a close, a saying that has helped me through my life’s journey is: “Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s what it is called the present.” Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!