Over 500 people attended PIMA's Leadership Conference, June 27-30, at the Sheraton New Orleans. Attendance was up some 200 people from the previous year and the spirit was definitely upbeat about the industry's future and that of the Association.
The inclusion/combination of PIMA's Information Technology (IT) Conference, as well as the powerful Dixie Division were an enormous plus for attendees.
The President's Panel, as usual, drew a packed house, as well as the CIO Panel. Another positive factor was the Exhibition & Technology Showcase-a first for the conference.
Most encouraging was a far better than average ratio of papermakers to suppliers. PIMA proved worthy of it's 2004 slogan, “Don't Just Survive-Thrive!”
While the majority of the program was on the serious side there was time for a pre-meeting Golf Outing; a Monday evening Dinner Cruise aboard the Cajun Queen on the Mississippi River and a “Fun Streets of New Orleans” party.
Congratulations go to outgoing PIMA National President, Harry Seamans of Potlatch Corp. and National Affiliate Chair, Diane Murdock of Appleton International for their hard work. Incoming National Chairman, Ralph Feck from Georgia-Pacific, and Affiliate Chair, Terry Gallagher of Nalco will head up what appears to be a revitalized organization.
Next year's conference will be held June 26-29 at the Renaissance Nashville Hotel in Nashville, Tenn. It's not to be missed.
Congratulations Ben Thorp
On a personal note, I would like extend my best wishes to Ben Thorp, Agenda 2020 Deployment Director for Georgia-Pacific Corp., who retired June 30, 2004. Ben's technical innovations to this industry have been countless and among them were synthetic forming fabrics, hydrofoils, off balance sheet power islands, soft tissue machines, as well as organizing industry and U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) support for projects converting spent liquors to energy. He is also one of the contributors to the formulation of the forest biorefinery.
Ben has been in the unique situation to observe this industry from many sides. He worked for BE&K and Jaako Poyry, as well as Huyck Corp. He also worked for the University of Maryland and served on advisory boards and foundations for many universities. He and his wife Diane Murdock have been leaders and heavy contributors to both PIMA and TAPPI.
Ben has been awarded seven patents, many of which have been commercialized. Some interesting side notes are that Ben (in his travels) attended six universities where he actually earned almost twice the credit hours needed for his degree in Physics. He is proud to tell you that he worked 48 years “without a single sick day.”
I've known Ben for 40 of his 48 working years and during that time he has been a friend and confidant. His advice and technical input has been invaluable.
Ben and Diane will reside in Richmond, Virginia where his son is a partner in a law firm. Both plan to do strategic consulting. They can reached by email at: bathorp@comcast.net
