Mot du président
By Eric Hosking, Senior Consultant to Shainin, ASQ CQE, CSSBB and CQA
Our last event included the General Annual meeting. Although no longer mandatory per ASQ HQ, we chose to host the GA as a way of talking about what it is that our leadership teams does throughout the year. Of course most of our members are familiar with the events we hold during the fall, winter and spring but we have a number of obligations to fulfill with respect to HQ that bear on the administration of the section. We also manage the media streams that allow us to communicate with you and we offer educational services as well. One of the key elements of the GA is the announcement of the new executive that will carry the section forward in the new year.
I have served my two year mandate and am pleased to welcome Chantale Simard as my replacement. She has been a Chair of the section in the past so she is well qualified. She is the author of the 2021 business plan and the brains behind the funding we secured to help expand our French activities and a strong proponent of our drive to be a truly bilingual section. She also has many new ideas that will transform the section so I look forward to her leadership.
Congratulation to Veronica Marquez who steps up to be Vice Chair. Raymond Dyer stays on as Secretary and I will move to replace Robert Fairbairn as Treasurer.
Robert was a Section LT member in the past and rejoined to be our treasurer. I would like to thank Robert for the two years he has given us this time. In addition to keeping the books straight and reporting on time, such that we again were recognized by HQ for top notch administration of the section through the Performance Excellence Program, he generously hosted us in his boardroom until COVID forced us into a virtual world. He also attended our events and sat as a panelist during one of them. I would like to thank Robert for the time and energy he brought to the section, and I would like to wish him well. Robert, the door is open should you want to rejoin the LT in the future.
As was said during the GA, renewal is a preoccupation of the LT, to ensure that we have the right amount of volunteers to allow us to live up to our business plan and to deal with the vagaries of life, such as COVID. 2020 saw both additions and losses from the LT and we will see additions and maybe losses in 2021. Guy Plouffe, a veteran from Section 404’s LT team and Annie who is new to the LT join effective January 1, 2021. A very warm welcome to them.
In closing, I have mixed feelings about not having to write this column anymore. Of course it is easy to say it is one less thing to do each month. But it has been a means for me to let people know about how much effort the whole LT puts into making quality vibrant in Montreal. And I believe we, the Leadership Team, can be justifiably proud of what we do.