Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1480758
26 SMT007 MAGAZINE I OCTOBER 2022 in view of our goals, considering all the crazy developments we've all had to experience the last couple of years with the pandemic, the economy, and so forth. It's been a challenging time. I took office in 2019, about five months before the pandemic hit, and then in March 2020, everything shut down. We went into cri- sis mode on the SMTA board, where for a time we were meeting every single week to make decisions. Do we keep holding expos? Do we cut back completely? Do we hunker down? When they teach you how to be a board mem- ber, there's nothing in the manual that teaches that. We were working very closely as a group, observing data, combining our knowledge of the news and our own personal experience in our respective businesses, trying to figure out what was best with SMTA. I'm happy to say, we've come through the experience a stronger organization, and our membership is up. Shaughnessy: I attended SMTA Dallas and SMTA Atlanta this year, and I saw more young people on both of those trips than I remember seeing at previous shows. Do you see that? Boguski: Yes, and that's intentional. We have several initiatives to encourage and attract younger engineers and technical people into both the profession and SMTA with con- nections that will help their careers. We are revamping our career center, meeting or matching people looking for a job with those offering jobs. ere are a lot of job openings right now, as we know. We have events that are tailored to younger engi- neers, what we call SYPs— students and young profes- sionals. ese are people in technical and engineering programs who are about to graduate and younger engi- neers who are in the early stages of their careers. We're laser focused on that because it's the life- blood of our organization. A lot of the veteran members are retiring. ere's turnover and we've got to encourage and attract new mem- bers. To do that, we must be relevant to what their concerns are and to what's going on in the industry. Shaughnessy: I know a lot of people are excited about SMTAI this year as it's in a new venue. Boguski: New place, and a new venue in Min- neapolis. It's not the warmest place in Novem- ber, but it's a nice convention center. We're at a good point where people want to get out. ey've been cooped up for two years, and they're looking for an excuse to see their friends and colleagues, share the knowledge, start mingling again, and meet face-to-face. We've all done Zoom. We do that every day. at's probably here to stay, whether we like it or not, but there is some merit in face-to-face meetings. We're not doing a hybrid event this year. It will all be face-to-face. We'll have the Expo and the Technical Program all in person. We hope to get 100 exhibitors for the Expo. It looks like we have about 120 to 130 technical papers submitted for the technical conference, so that's very encouraging as well. Shaughnessy: I'm looking forward to it. I've never been to Minneapolis.