Message   from   the   president
First Quarter, 2011

Dear valued member of ISM-SEM,

I am writing this quarterly newsletter to keep you informed of activity that your Board of Directors (BOD) is working on, and to highlight plans for the remainder of 2011. 
At our first formal BOD meeting on January 10th, I outlined 3 key goals for 2011:

       1.  Strengthen the engagement of membership/ BOD
       2.  Strengthen the ISM-SEM brand
       3.  Build membership through education

I believe that the fulfillment of these goals will get us closer to our True North.  Let me briefly touch on the components of these goals:

Strengthen the engagement of membership/ BOD
As you are aware, the Southeast Michigan economy has taken a tremendous hit over the last several years.  The severe recession took its toll on our membership numbers, through no fault of the BOD or our membership. 
Over the last twelve months those numbers have maintained a steady level, and are slowly increasing. 

--"Member-Get-A-Member" Campaign

To assist membership growth, we have implemented a "Member-Get-A-Member" campaign.  This campaign is a year-long effort to solicit names from our members of those folks that may benefit from joining ISM-SEM.  As a member, all you have to do is send us the names of people you work with or associate with who might enjoy the benefits of our Association.  We will award prizes at the end of the year to those members who send us the most names.  That's all you have to do!  Keep those names coming!   Let's all do our part- every ISM-SEM member should submit at least one name. 

--Keynote Presentations/ Plant Tour

The results of the membership survey have been used to refine and focus our keynote speakers and presentations.  We are committed to providing informative and interesting presentations not only on strategic and career issues, but on tactical topics as well, through our pre-dinner sessions.  In addition, a significant number of you desire a plant tour.  Plans for a plant tour are in the works, with a tentative tour date in early May.  More details to come.

--Recognition of Past Presidents

Selected Past Presidents will be recognized at the September membership meeting.  More details in the  next newsletter.

--Improved Membership Communication

I am committed to improving communication with our membership!  I believe that you need to hear directly from your President.  One of the ways that communication will be improved is through this quarterly newsletter, and informing our membership of important Supply Management events.  Starting with next quarter's newsletter, we will include an "Ask the Board" question from our members, and the response from our board.  Please send your questions directly to Sue Peters, our Business Manager.

Strengthen the ISM-SEM Brand
Organization brands are critically important (as our February keynote speaker reminded us!) 

--LinkedIn

Director Rob Blauet has strengthened the ISM-SEM LinkedIn site; if you haven't joined us on LinkedIn, please do so today!

--Affiliate Agreements

One of the ways to strengthen our brand is to identify organizations that share similar interests and have them promote ISM-SEM activities (and vice versa).  I am pleased to report that we are close to executing an affiliate agreement with the Project Management Institute- Great Lakes Chapter (PMI-GLC). 

--Call/ Contact Campaign

BOD members will be contacting Automation Alley companies to market the benefits of joining ISM-SEM.

--Supplier Diversity Event

If it's March, it's Supplier Diversity night.  Join us on March 17th as we celebrate "The Power of Inclusion" and welcome Metro Detroit minority and woman-owned companies, and visit their exhibit tables.  Albert Louis, Supplier Diversity Manager for Johnson Controls, Inc., is the keynote speaker. 

--Sponsorship Opportunities

We are looking for companies/rganizations that are interested in sponsoring an ISM-SEM membership meeting.  If you know of a company or organization that is interested, please contact us.

Build Membership Through Education

--Student Activities

When I was assigning roles and responsibilities to this year's BOD, I created a Director of Student Activities.  Students and student chapters are the incubators for future ISM-SEM members, and this emphasis will be a major focus of the 2011 BOD. 
Michael Greenlee, our Director of Student Services, is very busy with efforts to create ISM-SEM student chapters at Wayne State University (WSU) and the University of Michigan- Dearborn.  Michael and I recently visited Professor Yi-Su Chen's Supply Management Operations class at WSU, where we presented the benefits of ISM-SEM student membership. Some of these students have already registered as student members of ISM-SEM as a result of the class visit.  We will soon be visiting Professor Lori Sisk's WSU class as well. 

Members of Professor Tim Butler's class, as well as Professor Sisk's class, were special guests of ISM-SEM at our February membership meeting.  In all, 74 students enjoyed the networking and first exposure to a ISM-SEM membership meeting. 
Michael and I are working on an affiliate agreement with the University of Michigan-Dearborn, and will soon be visiting one of their Supply Management classes.
Our efforts have been recognized by ISM's national VP of Affiliate Support, who has added the "Director of Student Activities" position to ISM's suggested positions for all affiliate BOD's.

--Satellite Seminars

The satellite seminar at Wayne State University was a success, with good participation.  We are working on plans to host future satellite seminars at Schoolcraft College's VistaTech Center.   The next satellite seminar is April 28th- "Legal and Contracting Insights for Today's Supply Professional."  Location to be announced.

--Lease Review Seminar

April 14th- full day seminar on "How to save Money on Leases: Contracts, RFPs, and Negotiations".  See our website for details!

In conclusion, I  want you to know that it is a privilege to serve you.  We will do everything in our power to optimize the value of your ISM-SEM membership.  I also want you to know how excited I am to work with this year's Board of Directors.  This is a group that is professional, hard-working, and very passionate about ISM-SEM.   

The 2011 board is strong, and next year's board will be even stronger.  That is the way it should be—continuous improvement is the way to reach our True North.
See you in March!

Yours in total cost of ownership,

Brian J. Smith, CPSM
President
ISM-Southeast Michigan, I