Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1367446
14 SMT007 MAGAZINE I MAY 2021 been, it has been an opportunity for the com- mittees to turn something very negative into a positive through networking opportunities across the world. ey're chatting like they're old friends—and that's what they have become. ey are friends on the calls, they know each other's voices and recognize phone numbers on the Teams login. For the most part, the morale has been very good; again, turning a negative into a positive. Johnson: Can we expect some level of ongoing video connection in the future for committee and standards work? Rowe: Absolutely. We've oen said, we have two face-to-face events a year, IPC APEX EXPO and SummerCom, and they're roughly six months apart. We are finding that our com- mittees are meeting at least once a month out- side of those face-to-face activities or at some cadence in order to keep their progress mov- ing forward. Very few of them are saying, "I may be at APEX EXPO. I'll see you at Sum- merCom. We'll just work on our action items until then." Johnson: Teresa, all these teams need leaders, of course. How do you become a leader? Rowe: Leadership roles are for IPC members. We look for people in a group who are inter- ested in leading, who want to take that next step, be engaged in that effort, and who have the time to commit. Volunteers and commit- tee members might say, "I'll take on an action item. I'll do something." But a leader is working with the staff liaison much more closely, espe- cially as we move toward a publishing activity. To become a leader, raise your hand and say, "I'm ready to take this next step. What do you have for me?" We're always looking for people who are excited about the topic, and who are willing to make the commitment to carry that through to the time a document publishes. Johnson: So, the prerequisites are to have an interest and a passion, to want to see this move forward within the industry, and to basically reach out and be ready? Rowe: Yes, it is activities and interest in the topic. When you get differing opinions with agendas in the room, a leader needs to really be able to focus, rein that conversation in, and still keep it moving forward. Johnson: And if those are the prerequisites, then committee leadership is open to virtually anybody wherever they are in their career. Rowe: It is. We do look for IPC members, and they have first dibs at it. We do have leaders who aren't IPC members, but we look at that very closely and encourage those people [and their companies] to consider membership. Johnson: I've also noticed, in the past year or so, IPC members who are early in their career— still engaged in the Emerging Engineers pro- gram, for example—are also in leadership roles on committees. Rowe: ey are and it's great. We've embraced our Emerging Engineers program, and devel- oping the leadership skills in our younger gen- eration that is just entering standards devel- opment. When we see a position open up, As awful as the pandemic has been, it has been an opportunity for the committees to turn something very negative into a positive through networking opportunities across the world.