Illinois Water Environment Association
NEWSLETTER
Volume 26, No. 2 - Summer 2005 page 2

The Zman Says...

Larry Ziemba
IWEA President

Is change necessary? In my last forum, I indicated that it was if we are to meet the challenges we face in today's complex business world. To be successful, any organization needs to continually improve on what they do and how they do it. I believe the primary challenge our Association faces is competition for our members' time. For our long-term success, we also need to focus on and adapt to the needs of younger generations to acquire their active participation. They are a valuable resource since they are optimistic, talented, well educated and achievement-oriented. They are forcing organizations, like our Association, to update and change how they do business since they have very high expectations for the value of their time - more than older members have demanded in the past. They're unlike older members (me included), who have had jobs that lasted 30+ years and knew what career they would be in for most of their life. We canít expect many "Life Members" from this younger group. We must focus on providing them what they are demanding in exchange for their involvement. If we do, we will also have happier older members involved as well. It's a Win-Win situation! But if they don't find friends in this Association or we don't give them something meaningful to do, they will move on to one of the many other options they have available.

So how do we begin? We can start by addressing three critical areas by: 1) offering more opportunities to our members to choose from, 2) providing expanded services to the others, and 3) providing mentoring to those that demonstrate leadership potential. What have we started and what are we planning to accomplish this? We are moving our Annual Conference south next year and partnering with the Illinois Section American Water Works Association. This will allow greater statewide participation, offer a greater variety of events, and provide speakers from state government and academia (e.g. the U of I, Champaign-Urbana). We are also reaching out by presenting more specialty seminars throughout the state. The Plant Operations Committee has presented seminars in Upper and Lower Illinois this summer and the Collection Facilities Committee is planning specialty seminars this fall in these Northern and Southern Illinois locations. Our new member initiative has started and veteran members are being asked to serve as mentors, focusing on the job ahead!

Enough of this soap box stuff. It reminds me of the old days at Washington Square Park, Chicago, also known as Bughouse Square. So whatís new and what have your Committees and Executive Board been up to? Since the last issue of this newsletter, Executive Board meetings were held on April 29 and June 30. For complete minutes of all the Executive Board meetings go to our website www.iweasite.org and link to "Governance". Highlights of these meetings and other items of interest (some of which require your assistance) follow.

Appointments were made for the Secretary and Treasurer for the fiscal year beginning July 1 as required by our Constitution and Bylaws. Mary G. Johnson was appointed Secretary and Dennis C. Priewe was appointed Treasurer. Both are from Rockford's Rock River Water Reclamation District. At this meeting, the Board recognized Herb J. Anderson, Jr., Secretary-Treasurer from 1992 through 2001, and Secretary from 2002 through 2005. Herb has served in a noteworthy manner and helped promote the status of the Association, furthering our efforts and programs to maintain and improve the quality of Illinois water resources.

Planning is progressing "full speed ahead" for our Joint Water Conference with the ISAWWA March 13-16, 2006 at the Springfield Crowne Plaza. By partnering in a single conference, it allows the opportunity to present a multidisciplinary approach to addressing the challenges facing both the water and wastewater industry. This is the first-ever joint conference of the IWEA and the ISAWWA, and by combining the annual conferences of the two Associations; it will be the largest single event for water and wastewater professionals in Illinois. One hundred-sixty exhibitors will present equipment and services incorporating the latest developments in the water and wastewater industry. Also, the Joint Programs Committee is planning a full day of plant operators' sessions. The Joint Program Committee has adopted a comprehensive list of educational and technical paper categories. These include, in addition to potable water and wastewater topics, joint categories such as regulatory issues, operations, management, planning, customer service, engineering, and a research forum. Ensure that you highlight these dates on your calendar so you won't miss this historic conference!

The Executive Board authorized the contribution of $750 for Tsunami Relief to Water for People to help in the long-term rebuilding of water and sanitation infrastructures in areas of Southeast Asia and India devastated by the December 26, 2005 tsunami. The WEF had endorsed Water for People as the organization for member association consideration.

Also, the Executive Board authorized the contribution of $250 to the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF). With our contribution, we are assisting WERF's municipal and corporate subscribers in increasing the life of infrastructure, improving processes, using less expensive rehabilitation methods, avoiding costly fines and remediation expenses due to compliance problems, and providing the best available science to regulators for educated water quality standards.

Your contributions are needed! No, Iím not referring to monetary considerations. Karl Pajak, Chair of our History Committee has started archiving Association materials. If you have any documents, photos, etc. that you believe may be important to the history of our Association, please contact Karl. Don't forget to provide subjects and dates with photos. Karl can be reached at 847/651-7078 or karlpajak@hotmail.com. I know that there are past presidents and committee chairs that can contribute to this effort.

We are developing a group distribution list of email addresses of all members to keep you informed of new developments, scheduled events, and occasionally ask your assistance and opinion on new initiatives. This list is derived from information provided on your membership applications and renewals and will not be provided to third parties. Approximately 2/3 of our membership has provided their email addresses. If you would like to be included in this group distribution, just include it on your membership renewal or email me at larryziemba@direcway.com.

In closing, remember we are a volunteer organization and rely on members to contribute their time and effort to be successful. To these volunteers, the IWEA offers many opportunities to develop broader skills and foster personal and professional growth. To learn how you can take advantage of these opportunities, see the Personal and Professional Growth Opportunities which are listed elsewhere in this newsletter or see our website. Your support and assistance is crucial. A handful of individuals cannot do everything, but everyone can do something!