Hayden Provides Insight on NFRC's Spring Membership Meeting

NFRC's Board Chair, Joe Hayden, said NFRC's staff did an outstanding job of making the Spring Membership Meeting successful -- once again.

Following are Hayden's specific thoughts on last week's proceedings, in no particular order:

1.) What a pleasure to see a record attendance of 135 registrants, including 31 first-time attendees. Reports are that the economy is starting to turn around, but we all know that conditions are still tough. As such I know it can be difficult to justify the time and expense to travel to and participate in a week-long event like this. Thanks so much to everyone who attended and participated.

2.) Clearly NFRC’s major topic of interest was once again the development of rating procedures for attachment products. As is the norm for NFRC, we have many varied positions and opinions, indicated by our usual spirited debates. To say there’s much more work to be done is an obvious understatement, and in particular the issue of validation testing needs to be settled. However despite the challenges we faced this week, I believe we continue to make excellent progress at a rather remarkable pace. So once again I must commend the attachments community for the way they’ve “stepped up to the plate” to make this happen.

3.) On the other side of the coin, the minimal time we had to spend on CMA issues gave me a sense of great reward and accomplishment. Those who have been involved in NFRC for the past 5 years or more know all too well how hard we’ve worked to get to this point. It’s a great example of what NFRC can accomplish when we stay true to the consensus process. I was asked by some if it really should have taken that long, and I believe the answer is YES! Achieving true consensus is a hard thing to do, and on something as important as CMA it can’t be rushed. We must take the time to get it as “right” as we can. Once again, kudos to everyone for this great accomplishment!

4.) Congratulations to my good friend Jeff Baker for receiving the 2009 Member of the Year Award. Jeff’s unwavering dedication and tireless efforts for NFRC are an inspiration to us all. Thank you Jeff! Also, thanks to Roland Temple for coming back to present the award. It was great to see him once again.

5.) I’m looking forward to “hearing” (not seeing) everyone for the Summer virtual meeting. I’m excited about NFRC venturing into this new territory and about the potential benefits it has for us all. Please be sure to take advantage of one or both of the planned trial runs. Stay tuned for more details to come on that.

6.) Lastly, but certainly not least, I must acknowledge the outstanding job done by NFRC Staff once again in making these meetings run as smoothly as they did. Their efforts behind the scenes often go unnoticed, but they are always greatly appreciated.

Until next time, and as always (or should I say once again,) … THANKS FOR ALL YOU DO !!!

Joe Hayden