Visiting virtually but looking toward Orlando
Dr. Ken Hope, STLE President | TLT President's Report April 2022
Virtual STLE Local Section meetings have been successful, but members around the world are excited to come together in person at the STLE Annual Meeting.
We have all been visiting each other virtually for two years now, and it seems like it has been so long since normalcy was here. I was on a call just the other day visiting with colleagues in Europe, and we remembered fondly the last time we met in person. Alas, we are not fully in person—yet! One of the activities I was really looking forward to as STLE president was visiting with the different STLE Local Sections—getting to know new people and meeting with old friends.
So far, though, I have been virtually visiting, and it gets things done, but we all have to admit that there is just no substitute for being in person. So far, I have virtually traveled to these STLE Local Sections: Central America, Houston, Detroit and Philadelphia. I also will be meeting with the Pittsburgh, Canton, Northern California and Cleveland Sections coming up in the next few weeks. There also are others that I wasn’t able to fit in due to scheduling. During these meetings, I gave updates on STLE activities, conferences and strategy development. I also reviewed the STLE Emerging Trends Report, which is available at
www.stle.org. We actually are developing the next report already. All of this would have been great to share in person, but then I wouldn’t have gotten to meet others’ pets, nor would they have been able to hear my puppies growling at deliveries that always seem to happen in the middle of a call. Honestly, I wasn’t the one growling at all, even though some remain unconvinced. Perhaps I should think of it as a continual take your dog to work day!
So, why am I mentioning/lamenting the virtual meetings? Well, so I can point to the STLE Annual Meeting & Exhibition, May 15-19, at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort in Orlando, Fla. We are having a real, genuine in-person conference again! This year’s conference registration is trending well along with our last in-person conference in 2019. Do you remember that far back when we had an in-person conference? It was in Nashville, Tenn., and we had a wonderful meeting. The exhibits, technical presentations and attendance were fantastic!
This year, we plan to have more than 400 technical presentations, application-based case studies, best practice reports and discussion panels on technical and market trends. You can sign up to attend 12 industry-specific education courses offered on two days of the conference. The popular exhibition and Commercial Marketing Forum are back as well. You can register for the STLE Annual Meeting & Exhibition at
www.stle.org/annualmeeting and make your hotel arrangements as well. So, let’s all plan for another fantastic meeting, and I look forward to seeing you in person in May!
Dr. Ken Hope, CLS, is global PAO technical services manager for Chevron Phillips Chemical in The Woodlands, Texas. You can reach him at ken.hope@cpchem.com.