Greetings, Members of The Society of Sensory Professionals!
At the end of May 2015, I provided a brief summary to you regarding the Face-to-Face meeting of the executive committee that had recently occurred. In that summary, I indicated that our primary goal for the coming year will be to grow the society, not just in membership numbers, but also—and more importantly—in the benefits that the society delivers to it members. Our desire is to see membership in the Society of Sensory Professionals become an ever-increasing value to each and every member beyond our conference that occurs every two years.
Towards that end, the leaders of our various committees have developed a series of steps in order for us as a society to realize this vision. This list is detailed below, along with the leader of each opportunity. And, of course, we need YOU to be a part of this journey as well. I encourage you to review the list below and identify an area of growth that resonates with you – one for which you have a passion for seeing the society deliver and one you want to take an active role in helping the Society to achieve. Please, then, let me know your interest area and I will pass your information along to the team that will get you involved. I have created a dedicated e-mail address at which you can contact me—My.SSP.Opportunity@gmail.com.
There is a large cache of opportunities listed, and it will be determined, based on interest, the order in which they are addressed.
I am excited about the possibilities before us, and it is my sincere hope and desire that each and every member be a part of the value-creation process for the Society of Sensory Professionals! Our diversity and our passion will be the strength that carries our group one step further.
Thank you for your dedication, your ideas, and your commitment to the society. This is an exciting time for us, and I am eager to see where the road ahead leads.
With Best Regards,
Jason W. Newlon
Chair, The Society of Sensory Professionals
Communications and Membership Opportunities – Lauren Collinsworth
- Newsletter Task Group – Develop and Design the SSP newsletter – develop relevant scientific articles, identify and recruit authors for opinion pieces, share news on upcoming events in the field
- SSP Website Development – Grow Content on the SSP Website to facilitate the access of information (the science, professional development, advances in the field etc.) for current members and to inspire non-members to join us
- SSP LinkedIn Site Development – Develop and Manage discussion topics on a regular basis to share amongst members to stimulate thoughts and ideas, nurture information sharing, and facilitate networking
SSP Virtual/Regional Meetings – Alexa Williams
- SSP Regional Group Leader – Do you wish there were and SSP Regional Meeting closer to you? SSP Regional Meetings occur wherever we have a quorum (3+) of members and 1 member willing to bring the group together. This 1 member could be you! Be a connector for SSP and build your professional network at the same time – volunteer to be your region’s SSP Regional Meeting Coordinator! Commitment – coordinate 2 regional meetings in off-conference years (1 in conference years). Time commitment: ~1 hour every other week for 6-8 weeks around the meeting time
- Regional Meeting Planning Committee – Influence and develop the content for Regional Meetings to deliver value and to make and keep the meetings fresh and engaging! Commitment: planning meetings every 2 weeks for the 2 months prior to the meeting
Global and Professional Outreach – John Castura
- Global Sensory and Consumer Connections – This new(ish) group is bringing together people from various sensory societies globally. It is focused on three initiatives: professional development leadership, communication, and student involvement. One initiative is to facilitate information sharing regarding emerging opportunities for students (e.g., studying abroad, post-doc decisions, courses).
- SSP Outreach – Identify barriers to and opportunities for membership growth globally will be an important aspect of this initiative. Also, this committee will plan and promote SSP at events that attract a global audience (e.g., Pangborn, Eurosense, Sensometrics).
- SSP/Sensometrics Workshop – The theme of the workshop, which will be presented at both Sensometrics 2016 and SSP 2016, is “Discrimination Testing in Practice”. The workshop committee is interested in hearing from members who have faced and/or addressed challenges with conducting sensory discrimination testing with heterogeneous products. Please contact us to let us know your interest in making some kind of contribution to the workshop, whether or not you will be attending these conferences.
Professional Development – Kristine Wilke
- Speakers and Workshops – Identify and recruit key speakers (for the conference, Regional meetings) and authors (for the website and newsletter) as well as workshop ideas (for the meeting) in the area of Sensory Professional Development
- Membership Survey – Develop and launch a membership survey to gauge what’s needed in the area of Professional Development to guide future Professional Development content. Will likely be an ongoing initiative (every X number of years, TBD)
Strategic Planning – Suzanne Pecore
- Connectors Program – Develop this program to support and encourage networking and mentoring among our members – connecting new members with seasoned professionals, facilitating discussion groups, and helping members find others with a particular expertise. As this project expands, critical steps will be developing the database of members’ areas of interest and expertise, managing ongoing connections between individuals, and organizing small group programs.
- Benchmarking Survey – Assist in survey development and program administration.
Finance – Candi Rathjen-Nowak
- Endowments, Scholarships, Funding – Many professional organizations have endowment, scholarship, and academic funding programs. We would love to see SSP grow into one of these organizations. This is a brand new initiative for the Society – we are looking for folks to lead and develop this idea into an actionable proposition.
General – Jason Newlon, Alexa Williams
- Vendor Directory – Our management company has the ability to maintain this directory for us, but we need to create it first. Inclusion criteria would need to be defined. Would be coordinated with the committee working on the Website.
- Recognition Board – SSP is looking for a leader and team of 2-3 to create a recognition board. This would be a precursor to the Connectors program (see above) to recognize graduating Masters and PhD students in the Sensory Sciences and connect them with professionals in the field. Consideration may also be given to resume posting.
- Government Relations – Sensory Science can impact many areas outside of CPGs, Academia, and food! Historically, sensory effort has impacted EPA, NOAA, and even Federal Law Enforcement work. Join this committee to strategize on how we reach out to key global government agencies to link them with sensory expertise than can help solve their problem!
Again, please send your interest to My.SSP.Opportunity@gmail.com and you will be directed to the right person!
