Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/712650
8 The PCB Magazine • August 2016 If you have paid any attention at all to our newsletters and other publications, you should have been aware of this month's topic long be- fore opening this magazine. We tried to reach… everybody, so we could get their thoughts on the industry for this issue. We got quite a few responses, but I wish there had been many more. Apparently the PCB industry has a huge silent majority. So, what is it? Why is everyone so quiet? What about you? No opinion, no thoughts, no ideas to share— you just keep your head down and do your job? Do you wish you were in a different industry? Trust me, you are sucked in and will always have PCBs in your blood, so you might as well just start making the most of it. When I was a newbie chairman at IPC I sat in my first CCC (committee chairman's council) meeting and was totally awed by a huge table lined with other chairmen (almost all men, of course). As usual, the meeting started with every - one introducing themselves around the room. It took all my courage to muster up my name, com- pany and subcommittee I was chairing because I feared stumbling over the words. Many people nowadays find that awfully hard to believe of me; yes, I can be pretty outspoken at some of those meetings now! What changed? Well, I de- veloped some confidence in myself but what re- ally happened was that I became involved in our industry. I cared about the standards and specs that were being developed, as well as the compa- nies and people that would be using them, and I cared (and still do) very much about where the PCB industry was headed. And if any of you had been at one of those meetings and seen the sol - der joint guys arguing, or the vehement discus- sions on adopting metric terms in documents, you would know that I was and am not alone! So I'm just saying, don't sit back and wait out your time. Put a little thought in it, a little emo - tion, and you will be surprised with the results. And now on to this month's issue, which isn't strictly "Voices;" we do have some great technical content for you too. We start off the magazine with a newly creat - ed award, the I-Connect007 Good for the Industry Award, introduced by our publisher, Barry Mat- ties. Once in a while someone or something in the industry impresses you beyond all measure by Patty Goldman I-CONNECT007 Speak Up! PATTY'S PERSPECTIVE