CHEMICAL CONSULTANTS NETWORK ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2003
The
Chemical Consultants Network (CCN) is a topical group of the
Philadelphia Section of the ACS that has also been recognized and
supported by the National AIChE. It was organized in December 1994, and has held monthly meetings since February 1995. It is run by a Steering
Committee consisting of its elected officers, committee chairs and two
members at large. We believe that CCN is the first and only organization for consultants within the American Chemical Society. The name “Chemical Consultants Network” was adopted to reflect the purpose of the group which is to enhance members’ opportunities to use their professional expertise as consultants.
MISSION: To form a volunteer organization to support members in
expanding the meaningful use of their expertise, by:
2003 SUMMARY:
CCN held ten monthly meetings with attendance ranging between 25 and 40. During the year, membership was an estimated 480 consultants. We continue to attract new members at our monthly meetings as well as directly through our web site.
The membership is about 60% chemists and 40% chemical engineers. Most members reside in the area between Wilmington, DE, and Princeton, NJ, although there are a few US members from as far as Florida, Oklahoma and the West Coast. In addition, we now have international members residing in Canada, UK, Australia and Japan. Meeting notices are published in the publications of the Philadelphia, Delaware, Princeton and Trenton ACS Sections, the Philadelphia Section of AIChE monthly newsletter and the Philadelphia Inquirer.
The CCN website www.chemconsultants.org continues to provide member data for all interested in CCN member skills, meeting notices and other information about CCN in an attractive, user-friendly format. An additional purpose of the site is to function as a self-service consultant resource for potential clients. More than 190 of our members have information about themselves on the site, which receives an average of 138 visits per day. Many members have reported inquiries and jobs that originated from the web site.
In addition to the web site, a paper directory, that includes key words about each member's specialties, is distributed to all members and currently contains information on over 500 chemists and/or chemical engineers.
MEETINGS
Ten meetings were held in the evening, usually the second Wednesday of the month, at the Cynwyd Club in Bala Cynwyd, PA. They consisted of a social hour, a dinner, a business meeting, and a talk.
| Date | Topic | Speaker |
| January 8 | Open Forum On Future CCN Activities. | |
| February 12 | AstraZeneca: New and Exciting Therapeutic Developments. | Dr. David Goodale |
| March 12 | Government Contracts-How To Find Them; How To Bid; How To Win; How To Deliver. | David deLesdernier |
| April 9 | Personal Branding - Take Control of How You Are Perceived. | Catherine Crusade |
| May 14 | A Review of Stem Cell research in the US. | Dr.Ihor Lemischka |
| June 19 | Annual Picnic | |
| September 10 | Persistent Organic Pollutants. | Dr. Richard Brown |
| October 8 | Estate Tax Planning and the Use of Trusts | Mr. Brian McGowan |
| November 12 | Speaking Skills and Using Them to Sell Your Consulting Services | Mr. Michael Iorio |
| December 10 | Growing your Business through Market Research | Penny Leidtke |
OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES:
Mr. Henry Clancy, former Chair, served as interim Chair until November when our new Chair Elect (Mr. David deLesdernier) assumed the Chair. Dr. Smith resigned his position as Secretary and Mr. Dave Vahlsing agreed to serve as interim Secretary until the Fall Elections. Dr. William Retallick served as our Treasurer. James Holton served the second year of his two-year term as Member-at-Large and Dr. Donald Koestler began his two-year term as Member-at-Large.
Committee chairs were Janet and Stanley Bell (Meeting Arrangements), William Reuter (Publicity), Mark DeLuca (Webmaster), William Golton (Website) and David Vahlsing (Membership). The Steering Committee also serves as the Nominating and Program Committee. All committee chairs serve on the Steering Committee.
Elections for Chair Elect, Secretary, Treasurer, and Member-at-Large (2 positions) were held in November and the following results announced at the December meeting.
Chair Elect Don Koestler Secretary Marty Jacobs Treasurer Bill Retallick Member-at-Large James Chan Member-at-Large James Holton
MEMBERSHIP:
In 2003 we altered our annual telephone and email effort to contact current and prior members by using a prepaid postcard requesting updated information. The response was outstanding and we were able to substantially clean up our membership database. After a reasonable period of time for receipt of late dues, all names scheduled for removal from the CCN web site were circulated within the CCN steering committee for final approval prior to removal. The membership committee was called on several times to review the qualifications of applicants who are not chemists or chemical engineers. Those reviewed were accepted as members due to the fit of their business expertise with the objectives of the CCN. The Steering Committee will review and rule on all future non-chemist and/or non-chemical engineer applicants in the same manner.
PUBLICITY:
Our weekly ad in C&E News ran throughout the year. We also ran an ad in the 2003 ACS Show issue of ASC New York Section’s newsletter, The Indicator.
FINANCES:
In 2003, CCN continued its policy of charging dues to members who want to have their own web page on the CCN site - $25 for ACS and/or AIChE members, $35 for non-members. The dues are used to pay for the website and publicity, and to complement the annual ACS and AIChE grants that supports program and mailing expenses. There are approximately 170 dues paying members in the CCN. In addition to the support from the Philadelphia ACS, the National office of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers also provided funding in 2003 to help with program, publicity, web site expenses, mailing expenses, guest speaker dinners and supplies and equipment. To assist the Philadelphia Section of ACS, we purchased a computer for their admin secretary.
PLANS FOR 2004:
Ten monthly meetings will again be scheduled. The success of prior joint meetings with the Delaware Valley Professional Societies (AIChE, ACS, IEEE) will probably lead to more such meetings. We are also considering holding one of our 2004 meetings at the Chemical Heritage Foundation.
We will continue to consider means of improving the CCN and it's services. We are planning to conduct a seminar on consulting at the ASC annual meeting in Philadelphia in August 2004. In addition we will present a poster at the Division of Professional Relations portion of Sci-Mix. The website will be updated regularly and publicized more effectively. Dues will be collected from CCN members to support web site activities and member web pages and we will again apply to the Philadelphia Section of the ACS and the National AIChE for financial support. We have reduced our ACS funding request by 27 percent to help the Philadelphia section with their budget. We will continue to work with ACS and AIChE officials at the local and the National level to improve services for and recognition of consultants in the chemical professions.
Respectively Submitted,
David L. deLesdernier, Chair