June 3, 2006

Applications for 2006 MPEA Examiners

Don't Miss the Opportunity to be Involved in the Maryland Performance Excellence Awards!

The Maryland Performance Excellence Awards program is looking for Examiners for the 2006 awards program. As an Examiner, you will:

• Receive valuable training and experience in applying the internationally recognized Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence
• Learn how leading organizations achieve performance excellence
• Develop skills that can be applied to your organization, and . . .
• Gain visibility, credibility and recognition in the state and from your U. S. Senators

Completed Application Due: June 15, 2006

Download the application www.mpea.umd.edu Or contact martys[at]umd.edu / 301-405-7173

May 28, 2006

Meeting Notice Communications

There are a number of ways that our local members are able to find out about our upcoming meetings/events in the next prgram year (Dinner or Breakfast).

1. The front page of the ASQ Baltimore website (www.asqbaltimore.org) contains up-to-date information on the next breakfast or dinner meeting. If any information changes, the latest info will be on the front of the ASQ Baltimore website.
2. The Dinner Meeting link or the Breakfast Meeting link, located on the left side of the web page (navigation menu) will always contain the latest information on the meetings. These are web pages dedicated to Dinner Meetings and Breakfast Meetings.
3. The Upcoming Events Calendar on the ASQ Baltimore website (www.asqbaltimore.org/calendar.html) contains up-to-date information on the upcoming breakfast or dinner meetings. There are web pages dedicated to Dinner Meetings and Breakfast Meetings. If any information changes, the latest info will be on the front of the ASQ Baltimore website.
4. The Mid-Atlantic Collaboration Network web site (www.partnershipevents.com ) keeps event calendar information on ASQ Baltimore and many other local quality/professional organizations.
5. The Mid-Atlantic Collaboration Network web site (www.partnershipevents.com ) allows users who register to receive emails to get notice of upcoming ASQ Baltimore events.
6. If you are signed up with ASQ (www.asq.org/members) to receive Section email, then you will receive notices for the next breakfast and dinner meetings.
7. ASQ's web site (www.asq.org) also maintains an event calendar under Networking and Events.
8. Any attendees of meetings who are not members of ASQ, can request the local section to include you in a notification mailing, keeping you informed of upcoming events.
9. At each Breakfast and Dinner meeting, details of the upcoming meeting are usually announced, if the details available.

These are the many ways your local section keeps our membership informed of our upcoming events.

Be on the lookout for all our upcoming events in the next Program Year.

Lauren Fagan, Publicity

May 19, 2006

May Breakfast Meeting: Quality in Food Service - Breakfast at Tersiguel's French Country Restaurant

Members of the ASQ Baltimore Section enjoyed a superbly served, scrumptious breakfast, and insights on fresh food preparation and customer service excellence at Tersiguel's Country French Restaurant on Thursday, April 18.

Based on feedback from participants, we will be returning here again in the fall. For recipes and other information see http://www.tersiguels.com/food_wine.html

Be on the lookout for all our upcoming events.

May 13, 2006

Maryland Performance Excellence Awards Conference and Examiners

Become a member of the board of examiners. The Maryland Performance Excellence Awards program is looking for Examiners for the 2006 awards program.

Visit http://www.mpea.umd.edu for information and application.

Attend a workshop to learn to use the baldrige criteria and how to apply for the maryland performance excellence awards.

Visit http://www.mpea.umd.edu/applicants.html for information, flyers and registration forms.

May 9, 2006

May Breakfast Meeting: Quality in Food Service - Breakfast at Tersiguel's French Country Restaurant

Information on the May 18th Breakfast meeting has been posted, titled: Quality in Food Service, presented by Fernand Tersiguel.

Please join us, check out our Breakfast meeting page to get details and make your reservation.

Check out all our upcoming events.

April 22, 2006

May 2006 Dinner Meeting - Spouses/Significant Other's Program

Information on the May 9th Dinner meeting has been posted.

Please join us for our Spouses/Significant Other's Program. Please check out our meeting page to get details and make your reservation.

Check out all our upcoming events.

April 23, 2006

Section Board Openings

These are the current Section Volunteer openings that we have coming up.

Programs Chair

The chair of this committee will be responsible for planning and implementing programs and activities of the section, including determining the focus of meetings and programs, pursue the appropriate speakers, and coordinate with the Arrangements chair.

Arrangements Chair

Our current Arrangements Chair has agreed to take over the Treasurer's position.
The chair of this committee will be responsible for assisting the Program with the arrangement and distribution of the location, facilities and dining arrangements for the meetings/events scheduled by the Programs committee.

For further details on Board positions, see our new, updated Section board page.

Note if you are unable to chair a committee position, but are able to contribute in some fashion, contact us to let us know.

Nominating Committee

-----------------------

Upcoming Breakfast Meeting - CLOSED for Registration

April 14, 2006

April Breakfast Meeting

The registration deadline has passed and the attendance limit has been reached for this meeting. If you were unable to sign up on time, please watch out for our future breakfast meetings.

Due to the early deadline and the interest expressed, we will try to plan a similar event for a dinner meeting in the fall. Thanks to all who signed up.

Information on the April 20th Breakfast meeting has been posted, titled: Lean Tools for the Office, Support and Administrative Processes, presented by Mike Rothmeier.

Please join us, check out our Breakfast meeting page to get details and make your reservation.

Check out all our upcoming events.

Email Glitch

April 8, 2006

Website / Email communication

Due to a minor accident with a renegade Delete key, any emails that have been sent to
webmaster @ asqbaltimore.org or info @ asqbaltimore.org may have been deleted. This includes any contact performed through any of the forms on the ASQ Baltimore website.

If you have sent an email and have not received a response, then please re-send the email/correspondence.

Sorry for any inconvenience. Thanks,

Eric Finegan, Webmaster

Upcoming Dinner Meeting

March 31, 2006

April Dinner Meeting - Program by Dr. Mario Livio

Information on the April 11th Dinner meeting has been posted, with two presentations.

    Tutorial:            ASQ Recertification and Advancement in Grades - Joel Glazer
    Program topic:   The Equation That Couldn't Be Solved: How Mathematical Genius Discovered the Language of Symmetry
                                    - Dr. Mario Livio

Please join us for our April Dinner Meeting. Please check out our meeting page to get details and make your reservation.

Check out all our upcoming events.

March 23, 2006

Past Presentations Page updated

The Past Presentations archive has been updated with the presentations from the January through March 2006.

This is where copies of presentation slides or handouts are available, as well as additional resources or web sites that were mentioned during the presentation. Additional notes and comments by the presenters may also be added in the future.

The archive of past presentations is accessible through the menu bar to the left, or by clicking on this link.

March 26, 2006

March Breakfast Meeting - Benchmarks And Metrics In Healthcare

Title: Benchmarks And Metrics In Healthcare – A Case Study Of Erickson Retirement Communities.

Thanks to all who attended.

Please join us, check out our Breakfast meeting page to get details for future breakfasts.

Check out all our upcoming events.

March 7, 2006

March Dinner Meeting just announced -- An opportunity to learn and network.

Information on the March 14th Dinner meeting has been posted, with the theme: SPC Applied to Software.

    Tutorial:            Introduction to Statistical Process Control (SPC) - John Gibson
    Program topic:   Statistical Process Control (SPC) Applied to Software - John Gibson

Please join us for our March Dinner Meeting. Please check out our meeting page to get details and make your reservation.

Check out all our upcoming events.

February 17, 2006

Maryland Performance Excellence Awards Conference and Awards Ceremony

Maryland Performance Excellence Awards Conference And Awards Ceremony A Day to Learn and Celebrate Performance Excellence -- Monday, March 27, 2006, Riggs Alumni Center, University of Maryland, College Park

Since 1983, Maryland's U.S. Senators have honored the quality, productivity and business achievements of Maryland organizations by presenting the Senate Productivity Awards for Maryland. The 1997 Maryland Quality Awards -- became a new and expanded recognition and learning process for leading Maryland organizations. Both the Senate Productivity and Maryland Quality Awards are offered through the Maryland Performance Excellence Awards Program, part of MTECH .

This full day conference includes:

1. Morning presentations by state and national recipients of Baldrige-based performance excellence awards--
   • Montgomery County Public Schools: A Journey to Continuous Improvement in Education by Maryland's 2004 Senate Productivity Award Winner
   • Texas Nameplate Company: Next Level Leadership by the only small business ever to receive the Baldrige National Quality Award twice
   • Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company: Legendary Service at the Ritz-Carlton by another 2 year recipient of the Baldrige National Quality Award who is known for their legendary service
2. Luncheon and Presentation of the 2005 Senate Productivity Award and Maryland Quality Awards by Senators Paul Sarbanes and Barbara Mikulski and University of Maryland President Dan Mote
3. Afternoon workshop on How to Get Started with Maryland Performance Excellence Awards and the Baldrige Criteria presented by highly trained examiners, one is wrote an award-winning application at the state level
4. Opportunity to network with leaders of Maryland organizations who are working to improve Maryland's economy through performance excellence

Check out their website at http://www.mpea.umd.edu/ .

February 16, 2006

February Breakfast Meeting.

Kent Smedley (Director of Business & Management - CEED ) and Donna Reihl (Director of Extensions) of Community College of Baltimore County covered Workforce Development.

Added: Meeting Notes

    Presentation: Workforce Economics Trends (PDF), (PPT), Donna Reihl
    Presentation: Workforce and Organizational Development (PDF), (PPT), Kent Smedley
    Resources: Resource Sheet - One page list of resources referred to during the talk

Check out all our upcoming events.

February 4, 2006

February Dinner Meeting information posted -- An opportunity to learn and network.

Information on the February 21st Dinner meeting has been posted, with the theme: Communities of Practice.

    Tutorial:            Introduction to Community of Practice (CoP) Kevin Gilson
    Program topic:    Further Along the Road in the Quest for Quality - Communities of Practice
                           Terry Collard, Chief Strategic Officer, Chimes International

Please join us for our February Dinner Meeting. Please check out this page to get details and make your reservation.

Check out all our upcoming events.

February 2, 2006

New Style for the New Year

The web site is now being presented in this new format, which will allow the local membership to read items that they may have missed and in the past would have been removed from the website. Every entry will be dated so you will be able to see when an item occured. Any items that are updated will be added as well. Additionally, this will allow a "Year in Review" to be created, providing a timeline of your local Section's activities. Join us, read through the entries on the front page and let us know what you think.

• Most recent information posted at the top
• Dated format, easier to read and follow up on items missed
• Presents a record of past events, allowing a timeline.
• Any items added to the web page will be noted (instead of a "What's New" page)
• Any important announcements will be available to be read by the membership
• As new items are added, older items will be filed in a "Year in Review" page for archival purposes

Webmaster, Eric Finegan

January 27, 2006

Jobseekers Listing updated.

The Jobseekers listing has been updated. Please forward any information, or requests to be added to the Jobseekers mailing list to

Barb Reinhart

January 23, 2006

Past Presentations Page updated

The Past Presentations archive has been updated. This is where copies of presentation slides or handouts are available, as well as additional resources or web sites that were mentioned during the presentation. Additional notes and comments by the presenters may also be added in the future.

There are a few more presentations that need to be added, but the bulk of those in the archive are available.

The archive of past presentations is accessible through the menu bar to the left, or by clicking on this link.

January 12, 2006

Call for Volunteers: Section Board Openings

The local Section has the following openings available:

1. Section Management Program

If you are interested, or have any questions regarding this, please contact us.

January 10, 2006

Section Meetings on Quality -- An opportunity to learn and network.

The Local Section would like to thank all of those who joined us at our January 10th meeting on “Value Management and Market Leadership” with Aron Brall.

Please join us for our next Dinner Meeting in February, where our evening topic will be Healthcare. Please check out this page to get details and make your reservation.

Check out our upcoming events.

January 4, 2006

Poll: Proposed June 2006 Dinner Meeting -- Section 0502 Board wants your opinion.

Update: Poll results - 2 February 2006

It has been decided that there will no June held. If you would like to contribute to the process, please consider joining the Section Board.

January 1, 2006

Happy New Year !

December 24, 2005

December 2005 Dinner Meeting.

The Local Section would like to thank all of those who attended our December 12th meeting on “Value Management and Market Leadership” with John Weisz! ! !

Section Chair Jina Eckhardt presents John Weisz with a speaker gift.

---

Section members listen to John Weisz's talk on Value Management.

And check out our upcoming events.

December 20, 2005

Happy Holiday Season to all members in the local section - ASQ Baltimore 0502.

December 5, 2005

Geoffrey Withnell resigning as Section Chair

Unfortunately, due to personal reasons, Geoff Withnell has tendered his resignation as Section Chair. He has remained on the Section Board as Recognition Chair.

Jina Eckhardt, our current Vice-Chair, has taken over as Chair of the local Section.

November 8, 2005

November 2005 Dinner Meeting.

The Local Section would like to thank all of those who made our November 8th meeting on The Impact of Quality and Innovation in Space: Servicing the Hubble Telescope with Mr. Frank Cepollina, Deputy Associate Director, NASA's Hubble Space Telescope and the tutorial with Kevin Gilson/Ron Savoie on “The Economic Case for Quality”

Vice Chair Jina Eckhardt making the introductions

---

Kevin Gilson and the Economic Case for Quality

---

Question by Joel Glazer

---

Frank Cepollina presenting the Hubble Telescope

And check out our upcoming events.

November 17, 2005

Breakfast Meeting: ISO - WHY and HOW?

Gary Tichnell (Manager of Product and Process Control at the Northrop Grumman Advanced Technology Lab) covered a brief view of what is behind ISO and who controls it?, i.e. why are the Europeans ahead of us in the ISO world. He described the Maryland ISO Consortium and how it can help local companies become certified abd what the challenges, strategies, and approaches becoming ISO certified are as encountered by an ISO 9001 registered company.

November 1, 2005

Online Registration.

ASQ Baltimore's new online registration system is now up and running. Please click on "Dinner meeting" on the menu to the left of the screen in order to access it. If you have any questions or comments, please contact us here at the site.

November 1, 2005

Web Site re-vamp.

Welcome to the newly designed ASQ Baltimore Section 0502 Website (www.asqbaltimore.org - aborg for short). The site will be under a period of transition that will hopefully be complete by the end of the year. If you find any problems, please let us know (webmaster @ asqbaltimore.org) or go to the Contacts page. Thank you.

October 20, 2005

Breakfast Meeting: Making Measurement Meaningful

About the Program: Creating measures is one thing, creating measures that are meaningful is another. Do your metrics measure what the customer wants, what you want, or what your company wants? Do they contribute to the effectiveness of the organization or to selling your service? Do you in the quality organization measure what the Quality area does for the company? How much does Quality contribute to the bottom line? How do you measure that? The ability of the Quality Department to provide measurements that are meaningful to the customer and company determines how much they can contribute to the company's success. Mark discusses how quality can take a more effective role in providing these measurements which in turn show how Quality adds value to the organization.

About the Speaker: Mark Berron is the Senior Manager of Quality Analysis for ARINC, Inc. He oversees a staff in measuring communication availability and performance for various services between airlines and their aircraft. He has worked for over 10 years in the Quality area for both Computer Sciences Corporation and ARINC, and is certified as a CQE and CSQE by ASQ. In addition, he has worked on several CMM/CMMI projects, and completed assessments of Earned Value Measurement Systems.

October 15, 2005

The Quality Profession – Where Is It Going?

The Chapter would like to thank all of those who attended the October 11th meeting on "The Quality Profession – Where Is It Going?” and made it a great success ! ! ! Please join us for our breakfast meeting on October 20, 2005.

Make a point to attend our next meeting, The Impact of Quality and Innovation in Space: Servicing the Hubble Telescope (Program)/ The Economic Case for Quality - a Baltimore Section Exploration(Tutorial).

September 15, 2005

Breakfast Meeting: How PHH Arval Transformed Six Sigma into a Service Methodology

John Karolenko, Director of Project Development with PHH Arval, shared how a large service provider is adopting and adapting Six Sigma in servicing its portfolio of Fortune 500 clients. The program focused on why PHH chose to implement a Six Sigma-based program, how PHH transformed Six Sigma to address the challenges service organizations face, and PHH's progress to date.

About 35 people participated including PHH/Arval employees. Thanks to John Karolenko for an informative presentation, which will be uploaded to our website.

September 1, 2005

Donation to the American Red Cross

Last night, the Section Board donated $1,000 to the American Red Cross for Hurricane 2005 Relief.