View From The Chair...

Here it is -- another year and I'm already wondering where the time is going. This year promises to be an exciting and energetic one.  Your Chapter Officers have been busy looking over the Chapter Operations to determine where improvements are necessary as well as finding volunteers for the various committees and functions.  Some of the changes which will occur this year include: moving the Annual Seminar and Exhibits from Ricky's to the San Mateo Convention Center; relocating meetings down onto the Peninsula; operation of the new Web site; and beginning the operation of an electronic credit card machine so that the Chapter can take American Express cards for payment of luncheons and other events.

The move to the San Mateo Convention Center became necessary for a variety of reasons. A few years ago a study was conducted that indicated that within a short time frame, Ricky's would no longer have the capacity to handle the show at the rate it was growing.   The Chapter needed to make a decision as to the direction the show was going to take. The decision was that the Chapter wanted the show to continue to grow, so the search for a new home began. Additionally, Ricky's management was no longer as accommodating as in the past and the cost of having the show there was no longer realistic.  The Annual Seminar and Exhibits committee under the co-chairmanship of Paul Dubois and Brenda Knox is putting together a dynamite program for the 1999 show.   This will be a not-to-miss event.  You will be hearing more about this from them in the upcoming newsletters and the luncheons.

The Officers have decided that although this Chapter is the Bay Area Chapter, attendance is better when the meetings are located in the Sunnyvale/Palo Alto area.   To that end, efforts are being made to find suitable (and reasonably priced) accommodations for our monthly meetings.  The goal is to find a central location where we can have some consistency.  Constantly changing the meeting location does not help you, the members, know where the meeting is to be held.  The Officers are working to find a home for the monthly luncheons and workshops.

For those of you who have not checked out the Chapter's Web site, please do.  Brad Wilson and his committee have been working with an outside vendor to make this a useful tool for the membership.  There is a variety of information available. Do come visit the Web site and find out what your Chapter and Chapter Committees have been doing.

The Chapter Officers have established goals for our Chapter for this year.  They are:

• To have all committee chairmen develop and mentor a person or persons who can assume the committee for the coming years.  The goal is to get all new members and current members actively involved in the Chapter and to have a trained group of volunteers who can operate the various committees to continue the rich, successful history of the San Francisco Bay Area Chapter of ASIS.
• To produce and provide a 1999 Chapter Directory to all SFBA members.
• To establish and maintain the SFBA WEB SITE for all members.  Web site information will include the Newsletter; list of meeting days, times and locations; and list of Executive Council and Executive Committee as well as links to the National Web site.
• To have the Executive Committee research and review the ASIS Foundation regarding the status of the Jack Buckley Foundation and the E.J. Criscouli Foundation.  Executive Committee will then prepare a report with its finding and recommendations.
• To purchase an automated credit card reader to provide improved payment of ASIS-SFBA sponsored events.

Your Officers are very excited about this year.  We want to provide quality programs and valuable information. Come to the meetings and be a part of this excitement. We still need volunteers so call us.  We will be happy to put you to work.  See you at the January meeting, January 21, 1999 - Biltmore Hotel in Santa Clara.

Sincerely,
Kathy Schnake, CPP