CHEMICAL CONSULTANTS NETWORK ANNUAL REPORT FOR 2010
The Chemical Consultants Network (CCN) is a topical group of the Philadelphia Section of the ACS that is also 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 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:The mission of CCN is to form a volunteer organization to help members find meaningful professional activities for their talents, training and expertise by:
- Advising and training via talks, seminars and workshops.
- Establishing and maintaining a database of the membership that includes the members' areas of interest, experience and key word search statements.
- Providing a networking environment via monthly meetings and distribution of the membership directory and database.
- Maintaining a web site for the benefit of its members.
- Developing and implementing a publicity program.
- Maintaining standards of ethics for professional chemical consultants.
CCN has grown to over 765 chemical consultants (720 in the US) in the past year. Of these, 232 members have web pages listing information about their consulting practices on our web site (www.chemconsultants.org ). These members currently pay $25 dues per year which defrays web maintenance costs and advertising. Dues for 2011 will be $30.
CCN membership is about 60% chemists and 40% chemical engineers. Most members reside in the area between Wilmington, DE, and Princeton, NJ. Some members live as far as Florida, Oklahoma and the West Coast, and several foreign countries.
MEETINGSCCN held nine monthly meetings (the February meeting was rescheduled due to weather) with attendance ranging between 20 and 35. The meetings were usually held on the second Wednesday evening of the month, at the Cynwyd Club in Bala Cynwyd, PA. Meetings include a networking hour, a paid dinner, and a speaker on a topic relating to chemical consulting. The speakers' topics for 2010 are listed below. Our 2011 program schedule will have similar topics to 2010.
| Date | Title | Speaker |
| Jan 13 | Resources For Consultants II, A Round Table Discussion | John Newport |
| Feb 10 | Website Design for Consultants* | Steve Klein |
| March 10 | Databasing and Contact Management Systems for Consultants | Anne Toohey |
| April 14 | Janus: Negotiation Workshop | Charlie Dolce |
| May 12 | Website Design for Consultants** | Matt Thompson |
| June 9 | Open Forum | Group |
| Sept 14 | Current Views on the Global Economic Condition & General | Joe Battipaglia |
| Oct 13 | Creativity in Chemistry: What Worked and What Didn't ... For Me | Mike Bigwood |
| Nov 11 | Managing R&D for Growth at Arkema*** | Ryan Dirkx |
| Dec 8 | Strategies for Making Every Marketing Call a Home Run | Carol Wenom |
* Rescheduled to May due to weather
** Joint meeting with IEEE Philadelphia Section Consultants Network (CONET)
*** Joint meeting with Joseph Priestly Society, held at Chemical Heritage Foundation
The Consultants Networking Event, a joint meeting in November between CCN and The Joseph Priestley Society at the Chemical Heritage Foundation, organized by John Newport, had a good attendance.
Nine Steering Committee Meetings were held to plan for future meetings and discuss ways to improve the CCN. The Website Committee held its annual meeting in June to review the site and plan for future upgrades.
OFFICERS AND COMMITTEES
Ron Bihovsky served as Chairman.
John Newport served as Chair-elect.
Peter Staffeld served as Secretary.
Michael Becker served as Treasurer.
David Schwartz and John Brennan served as Members-at-Large. David Schwartz passed away in June.
Michael Bigwood contributed as Past Chairman.
Committee chairs were:
David Vahlsing (Meeting Arrangements)
William Golton (Website)
David Vahlsing (Membership)
John Newport (Publicity)
The Steering Committee is comprised of the officers and committee chairs and also served as the Nominating and Program Committee.
The following were elected in this year's election:
Treasurer - Michael Becker
Member-at-Large - Ken Rollins
The treasurer, with the assistance of the membership chairman, put a strong effort into insuring that our membership list was up-to-date and that those with web pages paid their dues. The membership committee was called on several times to review the qualifications of applicants.
WEB SITEThe CCN website ( www.chemconsultants.org) continues to provide information about CCN members, meeting notices, content of recent meetings, and other information about CCN in an attractive, user-friendly format. The site also functions as a self-service consultant resource for potential clients. A newly added feature of our website is "Consulting Information", which lists many resources (books, websites, webinars, etc) of interest to consultants.
Our web site serves both our members and the public at large. In addition to information about the CCN and its meetings, every dues-paying member has the opportunity to have his or her own page on the site as a way to be found in searches and thereby obtain consulting opportunities. A total of 232 members have their own web pages. This year, unique visits to the site ranged from 1000 to 2000 hits or 200 to 300 visits per day. Many members reported that they received leads and assignments via our website. We continue to explore ways to increase the number of leads generated via our website, as well as other marketing activities.
PUBLICITYOur weekly ad in C&E News ran through alternative issues during the year after the Steering Committee determined that this was cost effective. CCN meeting notices are submitted to the publications of the Philadelphia, Delaware, Princeton and Trenton ACS Sections, and the Philadelphia Section of AIChE monthly newsletter. These notices continue to attract new members at our monthly meetings. Meetings are also publicized by monthly mailings and email.
In late 2009, CCN initiated a LinkedIn Group to advertise our meetings and share information. It has gathered momentum in 2010 and currently has approximately 350 members.
OTHER ACTIVITIESThis year CCN presented an ACS webinar, "Success Factors for a Consulting Practice in Chemistry," which was viewed by over 1,000 people and received rave notices.
Starting in August, CCN published monthly articles on consulting in the ACS e-mail publication, The Distillate.
FINANCESCCN monthly meetings are free, but those who attend dinner pay $25 to defray its cost. CCN charged annual dues of $25 to members who want to have their own web page on the CCN site. The dues are used to pay for the website and publicity, and to complement the annual Philadelphia Section ACS budget allocation which supports program and mailing expenses.
PLANS FOR 2011Ten monthly meetings will again be scheduled.
We will continue to consider means of improving the CCN and its services. 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 have again applied to the Philadelphia Section of the ACS and the National AIChE for financial support. 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,
Ron Bihovsky, PhD
Chair, Chemical Consultants Network
