President's Message

November 08, 2008

Greetings to All,

It is with great pleasure that I greet you as the 47th President of the Chesapeake Bay Division of the International Association for Identification. It is truly an honor to serve as your President.

Congratulations to Sandy McKay, on her very successful year. Sandy's Spring Conference in Morgantown set the record for the largest turnout for a CBD conference with more than 310 attendees.

Recently, I thought about my first CBD-IAI Conference. The year was 1999, Mike Grimm was the President and Ron Smith conducted a 3-day "Advanced Palm Print Symposium." The reason those two things are still fresh in my memory is because that year Mike placed great emphasis on education and Ron's seminar certainly made me analyze latent prints differently. I came away knowing that membership in the CBD is a great investment. It was clear that education and training were important, but fun, friendships and camaraderie were equally essential. The combined efforts of past Presidents, Officers and Committee Members have consistently supported and provided excellent training for all CBD members. With the combined efforts of all, we will continue to provide a venue for professional growth, while building a wide network of support.

Our upcoming Spring Conference will be our first 5-day conference. I am very excited about having 5 days of educational training located at one of Virginia's premier conference centers and luxury hotels. "The Founder's Inn and Spa" is conveniently located near the oceanfront of Virginia Beach, the nightlife of downtown Norfolk and sightseeing in historical Williamsburg.

Working together, past Presidents, Officers and Committee Members have arranged several excellent hands-on workshops and numerous lectures for both forensic professionals and students. Attendees will have the option of daily training sessions or the full 5 days of training and hospitality at reasonable costs for everyone's tightened budgets.

Indeed, the first conference I attended left a great impression on me and I hope that my term as President will have the same effect on all of our new and existing members. My personal mission for this term is to recruit new members so that they may benefit as we have through the years. I want my term as President to be fruitful and fun.

In closing, I wish to thank you again for electing me as your President. I encourage each of you to strive for excellence, stay current with your educational training, and take full advantage of what the CBD has to offer. If you are not already a member please join today and come see us this spring at the Founders Inn and Spa!

Best Wishes for a healthy and prosperous 2009!

Linda Hileman

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