STLE’s ‘No Skimping’ strategy
Edward P. Salek, CAE, Executive Director | TLT Headquarters Report April 2009
These are challenging times for our industry, but having a trusted professional partner like STLE can be beneficial.
Business networking is an invaluable part of the STLE meeting experience.
In the March TLT Dr. Robert Gresham, STLE’s director of professional development, wrote a column that made the business case for attending STLE’s 2009 Annual Meeting & Exhibition. Bob spelled out 18 compelling reasons why people from all segments of the STLE membership—sales and marketing, research and development, senior management and consultants—should view the meeting as a business priority despite the recession.
There’s a version of the business case column posted on the STLE Web site, and in looking at the column again the other day, one sentence jumped off the page at me: When times are tough, that is when maintaining the focus and disciplines that made your organization successful in the first place are most critical.
Here’s why. Those of us at STLE headquarters know what our membership is going through this year. We also know that our organization will feel the effects of your pain in things like reduced meeting participation, advertising revenue and membership renewals.
Faced with this reality, the question becomes: How should STLE react? The answer, in my mind, is clear. I call it the “no skimping” strategy. The 2009 version of STLE’s Annual Meeting & Exhibition, which takes place May 17-21 at Disney’s Colorado Springs Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., has not been downsized.
STLE’s Annual Meeting Program Committee has solicited more than 350 technical papers that form the heart of the five-day (Sunday through Thursday) meeting program. This will enable attendees to select the combination of research-oriented papers, applications-based case studies, best practice reports and panel discussions that is right for their professional career needs.
This 2009 location has afforded STLE the opportunity to partner with the world-famous Disney Institute to create a keynote session built on the theme “Inspiration to Innovation.” Don’t miss the chance to learn some of the business development secrets that have made the Disney organization a commercial success and how to apply them to your business.
STLE’s annual meeting also is the place to enhance your professional skills with 10 one-day education courses taught by world-class instructors. Business networking is an invaluable part of the STLE meeting experience. For many people, STLE relationships are the No. 1 problem-solving resource they use in their jobs every day.
Of course, our ability to pursue this strategy is made possible by the fact that hundreds of individuals and organizations have made and are sticking to their commitments to participate in the 2009 meeting. We are grateful for their support, despite the many business pressures that might argue for the opposite.
The “no skimping” strategy doesn’t stop at the annual meeting. If you can’t make it this year, there are many other ways to use STLE. Stay current on technical information and industry news by reading TLT magazine each month. Check our new Web site (
www.stle.org) and find the program dates and meeting topics for the STLE local section that may be an option in your area. We are not skimping on these services either.
Staying true to your company and personal mission is easier when you have an organization like STLE dedicated to its mission of being the professional partner for people in the tribology and lubricants business—in good times and bad.
You can reach Certified Association Executive Ed Salek at esalek@stle.org.