Timothy F. Hahn Message |
February 1997
Greetings! I hope that everyone has had a terrific set of holidays and is ready for what promises to be a great new year! I'd like to thank our Past President, Ken Smith, for an outstanding set of conferences last year. They were of exceptional and extremely valuable content. It was a pleasure to see many of you there. Several things are happening this year that deserve mention, both at the upcoming conference and for the Division in general.
The Division is entering its 35th year! We are larger and more active than ever before. This particular anniversary is important for several reasons ... New eras are happening in forensic science every time we turn a page. From the early days of pre-WWII "call the print guy" to the modern AFIS and DNA technology and everything in between, it's time to think about those that brought us this far. At the Spring Conference in Frederick, Maryland, we will be doing just that. All the Past Presidents that we could contact have been called and requested to attend. On Friday night it will be their time to be with us, and for us to let them know how much we appreciate what they did for this Division over the years. This conference will be loaded with good speakers, and a lot of Division history. And IAI President Ron Jackson will be the keynote speaker at the Banquet on Saturday. Plan on being at this one!
A By-Law Ammendment approved at the last conference added a "Distinguished Member" status to our Division in Randy Goodwin's name. "The Randy Goodwin Distinguished Member Award" amendment, along with an application and guidelines are included in this edition of the Examiner. The policies have been set and the committee members are ready for applications to begin hitting their desks. I hope that a great deal of time is spent at the banquet handing out a large number of these! Becoming a Distinguished Member means that your are being recognized for the contributions that you have made over the years to the Division and its members. Please take time to see if you qualify, and if so, complete and submit the required paperwork. If you don't qualify, start now to collect the points that are needed to earn this distinction.
The Board of Directors has approved a membership drive for this year. Anyone bringing in three new members will be dues-free for the next (1998) dues year. It's not that hard to sell this organization. Teaching a class? Hand out apps! Visiting another agency? Hand out apps! With full-time CJ college students now eligible for Associate membership, a lot of people should not have to pay dues next year! The only way an organization like the IAI can grow is to gain and maintain members. Recruiting now will save you money in the future and permit us to put on even better educational programs.
See you in Frederick!!
September 1997
Tina and I have just returned from the 82nd Conference in Danvers. It was a great conference, which broke all the old records for attendance and training. A pretty fair number of CBD members were there, which is always good to see. Can we break the CBD records at the November conference?
The Spring Conference was very much a success. We had a large number of Past Presidents in attendance, and having Phil Conover and his family there was a fantastic topper for a 35th anniversary!
The planning is complete for our Fall Educational Conference. Mike Grimm has put together an outstanding speakers' program again, and Mark Neal has once again outdone himself with vendor support. It promises to be a wonderful conference, thanks to the hard work of the Vice-Presidents.
Last Spring, I was privileged to give out the first Distinguished Member Awards. This award is dedicated to Randy Goodwin, undoubtedly the most Distinguished of all members. This award is not something that someone else can do for you. You have to have the drive to earn this award yourself. By earning this award, you have shown pride in our Division, and newer members notice this. By demonstrating your activity within the Division, you make the Division better and allow it to grow. Take time to determine what you need to earn this award, and perhaps discover that you have already earned it. Apply and attain this, thus demonstrating to others "what it takes" to make this Division great. Accept it, and you allow the Division to grow, allow new members to see what can be attained.
There is an application form and a requirement listing in this edition of the "Examiner". Take the time to complete the form if you meet the requirements. If not, what do you need?
Presentations require that you teach us something. Is there nothing that you do well enough that we cannot learn from it? Is there no case that you have worked that is interesting or unusual? Articles can be written that also demonstrate new methods or can show how a case was worked. Is there nothing that you have ever done that you can't write about it and introduce it to us?
Remember that the Old Salts can always learn something new. Bear in mind that the newer members may also be new to the world of forensics. They can benefit by going "Back to Basics".
I would like very much to give out several more of these awards at this Conference ...
See you all in November.
Greetings! I hope that everyone has had a terrific set of holidays and is ready for what promises to be a great new year! I'd like to thank our Past President, Ken Smith, for an outstanding set of conferences last year. They were of exceptional and extremely valuable content. It was a pleasure to see many of you there. Several things are happening this year that deserve mention, both at the upcoming conference and for the Division in general.
The Division is entering its 35th year! We are larger and more active than ever before. This particular anniversary is important for several reasons ... New eras are happening in forensic science every time we turn a page. From the early days of pre-WWII "call the print guy" to the modern AFIS and DNA technology and everything in between, it's time to think about those that brought us this far. At the Spring Conference in Frederick, Maryland, we will be doing just that. All the Past Presidents that we could contact have been called and requested to attend. On Friday night it will be their time to be with us, and for us to let them know how much we appreciate what they did for this Division over the years. This conference will be loaded with good speakers, and a lot of Division history. And IAI President Ron Jackson will be the keynote speaker at the Banquet on Saturday. Plan on being at this one!
A By-Law Ammendment approved at the last conference added a "Distinguished Member" status to our Division in Randy Goodwin's name. "The Randy Goodwin Distinguished Member Award" amendment, along with an application and guidelines are included in this edition of the Examiner. The policies have been set and the committee members are ready for applications to begin hitting their desks. I hope that a great deal of time is spent at the banquet handing out a large number of these! Becoming a Distinguished Member means that your are being recognized for the contributions that you have made over the years to the Division and its members. Please take time to see if you qualify, and if so, complete and submit the required paperwork. If you don't qualify, start now to collect the points that are needed to earn this distinction.
The Board of Directors has approved a membership drive for this year. Anyone bringing in three new members will be dues-free for the next (1998) dues year. It's not that hard to sell this organization. Teaching a class? Hand out apps! Visiting another agency? Hand out apps! With full-time CJ college students now eligible for Associate membership, a lot of people should not have to pay dues next year! The only way an organization like the IAI can grow is to gain and maintain members. Recruiting now will save you money in the future and permit us to put on even better educational programs.
See you in Frederick!!
September 1997
Tina and I have just returned from the 82nd Conference in Danvers. It was a great conference, which broke all the old records for attendance and training. A pretty fair number of CBD members were there, which is always good to see. Can we break the CBD records at the November conference?
The Spring Conference was very much a success. We had a large number of Past Presidents in attendance, and having Phil Conover and his family there was a fantastic topper for a 35th anniversary!
The planning is complete for our Fall Educational Conference. Mike Grimm has put together an outstanding speakers' program again, and Mark Neal has once again outdone himself with vendor support. It promises to be a wonderful conference, thanks to the hard work of the Vice-Presidents.
Last Spring, I was privileged to give out the first Distinguished Member Awards. This award is dedicated to Randy Goodwin, undoubtedly the most Distinguished of all members. This award is not something that someone else can do for you. You have to have the drive to earn this award yourself. By earning this award, you have shown pride in our Division, and newer members notice this. By demonstrating your activity within the Division, you make the Division better and allow it to grow. Take time to determine what you need to earn this award, and perhaps discover that you have already earned it. Apply and attain this, thus demonstrating to others "what it takes" to make this Division great. Accept it, and you allow the Division to grow, allow new members to see what can be attained.
There is an application form and a requirement listing in this edition of the "Examiner". Take the time to complete the form if you meet the requirements. If not, what do you need?
Presentations require that you teach us something. Is there nothing that you do well enough that we cannot learn from it? Is there no case that you have worked that is interesting or unusual? Articles can be written that also demonstrate new methods or can show how a case was worked. Is there nothing that you have ever done that you can't write about it and introduce it to us?
Remember that the Old Salts can always learn something new. Bear in mind that the newer members may also be new to the world of forensics. They can benefit by going "Back to Basics".
I would like very much to give out several more of these awards at this Conference ...
See you all in November.