ASSE Asks, 'Are You In?'
Long recognized as one of the strongest U.S. safety shows, the annual ASSE Professional Development Conference & Expo has this year pulled out the stops and made a concerted effort to attract an even wider audience than usual to its gala event happening in Baltimore, June 13-16. One of the ways organizers are doing this -- and thereby hoping to get affirmative answers to their thematic question, "Are You In for Safety 2010?" -- is by introducing a new Executive Track of sessions designed for supervisors, managers, and others who may have only a peripheral involvement with safety at their sites.
"If safety professionals want to bring their boss, or maybe their VP of operations or plant manager, these are sessions that have been specifically designed so they can see what the safety professional is doing and to provide insight about that so that when they go back to the facility it will help with making changes at that facility," explained PDC Committee Chair Diana Stegall. "For that plant manager or VP to be able to hear the head of OSHA say, 'This is the direction we're going, and this is what we're working on directly,' it's just going to make it that much better when they go back to the facility and are able to work hand in hand with that. It's going to help give them a kind of 'big picture' about some of the things they can be doing with their organization to move things forward from a safety standpoint."
Another way developers are making the event enticing is by offering some of its best-ever activities for family members, children, and other guests so they can expand their horizons while their safety professionals are busy doing likewise in the roughly 220 educational sessions in 22 tracks.
Among the guest outings planned is a behind-the-scenes "youth and parent tour" of all areas of Camden Yards; an all-day trip to Washington, D.C., with stops at the U.S. Capitol, Lincoln Memorial, and museums; a separate all-day trip to Mount Vernon and Old Town Alexandria for a glimpse of 18th century Virginia; and yet another trip to Annapolis, Md., for a walking tour of the historic city and the U.S. Naval Academy. A final guest trip is slated to Boordy Vineyards, Maryland's oldest family-run winery, but children are not allowed because the afternoon's agenda involves more than just looking at the wine.