Please describe a professional contact or friendship you developed by belonging to STLE.
TLT Sounding Board November 2009
When you meet someone you click with who also shares your professional interests, it’s the beginning of a friendship that can last a lifetime. STLE is happy to be the setting where many such friendships are formed. Many of the respondents to this month’s survey reported that friendships formed through the society have helped them advance their technical knowledge, perform their jobs better and earn more business. In many cases the friendship led to another job. That is why professional networking will always be a key benefit of belonging to STLE.
I met someone at a local section meeting who encouraged me to take the CLS exam, which I did and passed! He is now a good friend.
I met an individual at an education seminar on the Ford campus several years ago. Long story short, my company now does business with that company as a result of that initial meeting and subsequent meetings. That individual now works for a different organization that is right down the road from my company and whom we have always been extremely tight with. In the end, I like to think that we both have helped each other and each other’s places of business rather well, just from a root cause chance meeting.
I’m a past president, so I’ve met many people at STLE meetings.
I originally met an individual through a job I had, but now we have both changed jobs and STLE national is the only time we have to catch up with each other and learn about different aspects of the industry in separate geographic locations.
In 1981 I met two of the most influential people of my professional life through STLE. They guided me to do some things and avoid others and also introduced me to great contacts.
I met this person at the local section monthly meetings and at the annual conference. This person knew me very well and helped me to find my next job after I was laid off due to the poor economy.
I met a chemist with a doctorate through my local section who has become a customer and a consultant to my company.
I was representing STLE at a student career guidance workshop and a group of professionals visited and requested information on STLE. We shared information with regards to the mission of STLE. Several of these individuals requested that their students join STLE, which they did.
Developed a friendship with a senior member of STLE’s Hudson-Mohawk section. He helped with several technical issues.
I met someone at a monthly STLE meeting. He introduced me to other contacts that furthered my business. This person has helped me with product development and understanding the commercial value of making our own product.
By attending an STLE meeting I have had the opportunity to get in contact with former work colleagues that I haven’t seen in a while.
STLE’s conference is where I met many professionals who belong to the tribology and lubrication fraternity. Such networking has helped me in my doctorate research through valuable suggestions and comments—and, I hope, for a job opportunity in the future.
Many contacts and friendships have been formed through STLE, and the foremost benefit of these contacts has been learning things about the lubricant business that I have not experienced and history I have not observed. My contacts provide a broad experience base to call upon when I need a wide perspective.
I have been attending several conferences in India. I attended and presented a technical paper at the 17th annual meeting of ELGI in 2005 in Scotland. ELGI is confined only to the grease industry. I attended and presented a technical paper at STLE’s 62nd Annual Meeting in Philadelphia in 2007. The STLE audience was amazing. I met one person and developed a friendship with him during STLE. He introduced me to several scientists and industry members. I visited various exhibit booths with the guidance of my friends. This was a very good experience for me. I could explore the wider view of getting knowledge and implementing in my daily routine work. This has benefited me and our company.
I met a major oil company lube rep at an STLE workshop.
During an STLE Hamilton Section meeting I met a supplier to the lubricants industry. We met during casual conversation during the hour of mixing time prior to the dinner. This person came across as a very knowledgeable and trustworthy type of person. I’ve met several people at these meetings that have become friends and business contacts. The casual open discussions prior to the dinner are invaluable for discerning someone’s personality and going from there.
There have been a couple of individuals that I met through the years that have belonged to STLE who became friends and resources and helped me do my job better.
I have been in the metalworking fluid formulating business for over 20 years. I have met several technical reps from additive suppliers at local STLE meetings over the years and they have become a resource network for me.
I met a professor in Detroit who has given me a greater understanding of my field of interest.
Met this person at STLE’s conference in Cleveland and developed the contact. I’m working with him right now to offer our services to another organization he belongs to.
I have been an STLE member for more than 30 years and have friendships that go back to the 1970s, relationships that have expanded way beyond our obvious common professional background. In the early years these were mostly local but expanded to national and international as our careers progressed.
A sales manager with a distributor that supplied almost of the lubes to my plant encouraged me to obtain STLE’s CLS certification and also helped me prepare for the test. Because of the CLS many contacts have been made that have vastly improved my knowledge of lubrication. I will always be thankful for the help I received while working toward my CLS.
I met several good contacts at local section meetings. My chapter is 2,000 miles away, but it’s nice to make good contacts for future networking via e-mail.
There are so many I am at a loss to describe one in particular. I have met them at section and national meetings, as well as STLE functions like golf outings and education programs.
Membership in STLE has allowed me to get various papers from many authors to increase my knowledge of friction and wear and oil sampling technology. This has advanced my career in reliability management. My paper on proactive maintenance was published in TLT.
I met a professional contact who assisted me in a specific industrial application I needed. The contact introduced me to other STLE members, which helps me in exchanging ideas. I greatly benefit from their collective experience.
Through the Houston monthly meetings I have met a number of interesting people who have offered career advice. In turn, I have advised them on their careers. This is a great exchange of pertinent industry information.
Often the technical contacts made in a company offer a more objective opinion of additive efficacy. All these contacts are STLE members that I have met and continue to meet at STLE functions.
A business colleague introduced me to ASLE in the early 1980s and got me involved in the Connecticut section. I am now a past president of STLE. Looking back, it is truly amazing how one STLE member can impact someone’s career!
Which STLE-sponsored event do you feel offers the greatest networking opportunity?
Local Section meetings
37%
Annual Meeting & Exhibition
49%
International Joint Tribology Conference
15%
Other
12%
Based on responses from 113 TLT readers. Total exceeds 100% because some readers chose more than one answer.
Editor’s Note: Sounding Board is based on an e-mail survey of 7,200 TLT readers. Views expressed are those of the respondents and do not reflect the opinions of the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers. STLE does not vouch for the technical accuracy of opinions expressed in Sounding Board, nor does inclusion of a comment represent an endorsement of the technology by STLE.