Summer—A time to look back and toward the future

With summer comes a slower pace for many of us as well as for our local sections. It is also a time when we have a chance to receive feedback and praise for a job well done and to watch other local sections and their activities. Many resources become readily available over the summer for local sections to help them celebrate accomplishments as well as plan for the future. These include the Annual Report “greensheet” reviews from members of the Local Section Activities Committee (LSAC), web posting of annual reports for 2004, and ideas for outstanding activities in your local section.

As many of you know, reviewing Local Section Annual Reports (AR) is one of the main functions of LSAC. With the return of the greensheet reviews (around July 1 this year), the cycle of another year of reports is complete. LSAC members have a unique picture of local sections as, over the course of their tenure on the committee, they may do in-depth reviews of over 50 sections. In this context, LSAC provides support for local sections, to look at each section objectively, congratulate you on your accomplishments, and provide suggestions to strengthen your section to reach out further to the membership. The LSAC provides recommendations and resources to maximize the services of the local section to its members. So, to coincide with the return of the greensheets, take a few minutes to celebrate a great 2004 for your local section. If you have not received an electronic copy, contact your section chair or councilor. Also, examine the comments provided by the reviewer and consider any recommendations that the LSAC member has made, and please do not hesitate to contact the reviewer using the information located at the top of the review.

Another resource available by LSAC and the ACS Office of Local Sections Activities is an electronic repository of local section annual reports for the past two years. Many of our sections (including Outstanding Performance winners) agree to have their annual reports placed on the local section web site and click on Local Section Annual Report Postings . Here, you will find general information about the structure and activities of sections of your size as well as those larger or smaller by downloading Part I of the AR. More detailed information about top activities, new activities, local section concerns, and goal setting are available for you to cultivate programming ideas for your local section. LSAC encourages sections to share information and activities—one needn't reinvent the wheel to serve the membership more effectively.

Another source of great ideas was the result of a teleconference held on May 3 rd with more than 50 local section officers and ACS staff. The teleconference aimed to share outstanding local section projects from the 2004 annual reports. The events were chosen to showcase a variety of different activities and to discuss obstacles and rewards of hosting these events as well as giving the section officers ideas to bring home to their section. The events included was a discussion of a technical symposium on “Nuclear Chemistry and the Savannah River Site”, hosted by two local sections (Coastal Georgia and Savannah River), and a career workshop titled “Grabbing the Bull by the Horns: Taking Charge”, sponsored by two sections (Brazosport and Greater Houston), a division (TECH), and a local chapter of AIChE. Also presented on the call was an interdisciplinary meeting titled “CSI of the Quad Cities”, hosted by the Illinois–Iowa Section, which took advantage of the current national attention drawn to forensic science. The Columbus Section produced a promotional video that can be used by other local sections to promote National Chemistry Week (NCW) and Earth Day activities as public service announcements. The transcripts and contact information for this interactive teleconference can be found on the local section website. These outstanding activities can give local section officers nuggets of information to help stimulate ideas in their section.

I trust you are having a relaxing and enjoyable summer, and I hope that from this article you may find a resource to try a new activity or strengthen an existing one to increase the value of your local section to the membership.

If you plan to be in Washington , D.C. , for the fall ACS National Meeting, I hope you will join us as we celebrate the outstanding activities of our local sections at the ChemLuminary Awards program on Tuesday evening, August 30, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel.

Will Lynch
Chair, Local Section Activites Commitee

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