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Put Milwaukee on Your Calendar
By John Hendricksen, ISA President
This issue of Arborist News includes a preliminary schedule for the ISA annual
conference in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Take a look at the program offerings, and you’ll see
there is something for everyone. In fact, you might even have a problem choosing which
programs to attend.
Our company employees who attend the conference meet ahead of time, review the
program, and decide how to split up the sessions so that we can cover them all. Think about
doing the same: Bring another person or two so that you can maximize your learning. Besides
covering all the bases, there are other benefits in offering this opportunity to others
within your organization or family. Those people will appreciate the investment you are
making in them. It shows you care enough about them to see them learn more about the
profession.
I receive the greatest value from the friends I’ve made over the years in
both NAA and ISA. The annual conference gives me the opportunity to see those friends and
learn how they have dealt with challenges in their lives, both personally and professionally.
What I find particularly interesting about conferences are the friends and colleagues from
countries other than my own. Seeing them and how their lives are different than mine
stretches my thoughts and helps me develop new ways to solve old problems. The most obvious
example is the International Tree Climbing Championship, which has evolved from a chapter
activity known as a Jamboree to a consensus contest that brings forth the best of the best.
We have learned to compromise and to share new techniques with each other.
There are other important examples of the profession coming together and
agreeing on what is best for trees and the people who serve them and their owners. ASC-A300
and ASC-Z133 are both under revision by volunteers who selflessly donate their time to set
standards for tree care practices and safety practices, respectively, in the United States.
What a great model for sharing techniques worldwide.
You can become involved in this process by coming to Milwaukee. Committees and
boards within ISA meet at the annual conference and are always looking for new members and
fresh perspectives. At the very least, your attendance at these meetings gives you the
benefit of knowing what other volunteers and members are doing to benefit your profession.
This has been a year of dramatic change at ISA. The board is restructuring to
provide more representation to ISA professional affiliations and to the associated boards
(Research Trust and Certification). The Executive Committee is restructuring itself to
enable a better connection with the board and to be able to make the routine and tactical
decisions that the Society regularly needs. The president will now serve a two-year term.
The new strategic plan has been initiated. We ended the 1999-2000 fiscal year in a weak
financial condition. With the assistance of chapters and members, along with some dramatic
changes internally, we are well on the road to recovery. With change comes opportunity—and
by coming to Milwaukee, you can see and participate in that change.
Conference Chair Ken Ottman and his committee have worked hard with the City
of Milwaukee and the conference hotels to make this an outstanding meeting. The venues for
the meetings, opening ceremony, and ancillary activities are convenient and interesting.
For those of you not familiar with Milwaukee, it is on the shore of Lake Michigan. It is a
beautiful summer location only an hour and a half north of Chicago, one of the most
convenient cities to reach from around the world.
It will be difficult to top the successful meeting sponsored by the Mid-
Atlantic Chapter last year in Baltimore, but the Wisconsin Chapter has proved itself in the
past and has promised to do so again this year. Come and be a part of that success and learn
something at the same time.
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International Society of Arboriculture
