|
Suppose
that you have recently been asked to join a new project team developing
a new display technology, but don't know all that you would like
to know about the emission technology being implemented. Or what
if you have joined a new start-up company and in your previous position
you were required to sign a non-compete agreement so that you must
now develop a somewhat different area of expertise? Or perhaps the
large company where you have spent many years and where you expected
to retire has decided to divest your business unit, and with each
passing day the hallway rumors hint that the prospect of termination
notices is becoming ever more likely. Or, in a more positive vein,
suppose that you are making great progress and would like your colleagues
to hear about your recent discoveries. In these and many similar
situations what should you do?
It
seems that our choices are limited and easy to enumerate. We can
take the lone-inventor approach and try to solve all problems through
our own creativity and brilliance. We can try to find someone else
in our immediate project team who knows the answers we are seeking.
We can enlarge our circle and try to search out someone with the
appropriate expertise in our broader corporate organization. We
can do an extensive literature and patent search. We can attend
a technical conference or two. We can call a colleague at a university
or at another company and seek his or her advice. We can contact
product vendors or attend trade shows.
Typically
we will do as many of the above as we think will help us find the
answers we seek. That is as is should be, and that is where technical
societies such as SID become of great value.
Imagine
for a moment what our world would be like if there were no technical
societies. There would be very few technical journals. There would
be virtually no technical conferences, and consequently there would
be no conference proceedings. There would be no membership directories
to help us locate colleagues with common interests. There would
be limited opportunities to share and discuss recent discoveries.
There would be few seminars and specialized short courses. Perhaps
some trade shows and advertising- supported magazines would still
exist and maybe even try to increase their influence by publishing
more scientifically important articles. But many of the most important
sources of information on which we rely would either no longer exist
or be much harder to access. Well, fortunately, we do have technical
societies and we don't really need to worry about this peculiar
scenario. Or do we?
Consider
just a few more "what ifs." What if companies began to seriously
restrict the submission of papers and attendance at technical conferences?
What if scientists and engineers could no longer find a way to communicate
with each other at these meetings? What if additional barriers were
created to the interchange of scientific results? What if we all
had to work in isolation?
This
begins to look like a really ugly situation. Under these conditions,
it seems to me, the rate of technical progress would slow to a crawl.
The rate of world economic growth would be similarly affected. The
restrictions on technical information exchange would likely create
other economic and political barriers. All in all, it is not a direction
that most of us would find desirable.
Back
to top
Over
the last several years, the Society for Information Display has
been able to achieve healthy membership growth and has adhered to
the principles of continuous improvement in its publications, conferences,
chapter activities, and other member services. Nevertheless, we
have noted that many of our members are finding it ever more difficult
to justify their travel and active participation at key technical
events to their managers. In spite of generally healthy economic
conditions, it seems to be getting harder rather than easier to
get management approvals. Temporary budget restrictions, once enacted,
have the peculiar tendency of becoming the guideline numbers for
the following year's planning. The short-term profit culture of
many companies and the need to show aggressive cost cutting to stock
holders makes conference travel an easy target. Writing and publishing
papers is similarly easy to restrict or eliminate for not having
an immediate profit-line benefit.
Can
these small decisions eventually add up and reverse our recent growth
trends? Of course they can. Thus, it becomes our collective responsibility
to make sure they don't. SID can and will do it's part by striving
to organize technical events of the highest caliber, by continuing
to improve the quality and timeliness of its publications, by encouraging
chapter activities that allow for the building of local professional
networks, and by instituting electronic communications capabilities
that allow for the dissemination of information and for interaction
among all members of the display community. However, each one of
us must also do our part by convincing our bosses and managers of
the importance of our active participation through paper submissions
and attendance at international conferences as well as chapter meetings.
In
today's world, the lonely inventor is either already extinct or
there are so few of them that I can't seem to find even one good
one. Even large corporations, with equally large budgets, that have
tried to develop new technologies in isolation have failed spectacularly.
Only by sharing our results and interacting with our colleagues
do we seem to be able to keep up with the pace of technology progress
and contribute to it.
Back
to top
Therefore,
the development of a personal network of contacts within the display
community takes on a major and very personal significance in regard
to how successful we will be in our career growth. Once developed,
this network of contacts becomes the most efficient method for gaining
near-instant access to whatever knowledge we seek. A few e-mails
or a few phone calls (typically not more than three) is all that
is necessary for us to be guided to the best answer that current
knowledge can provide.
You
may wish to start, or continue to build, your personal network by
contacting me and sharing your work- or SID-related experiences.
Your method of contact may be any of the following: by e-mail at
Email,
by phone at 425-557-8850, by FAX at 425-557-8983, or by the traditional
(but increasingly rare) post office method at 22513 SE 47th Place,
Issaquah, WA 98029.
Close this window
|