Since I became STLE’s president only a short time ago, I have attended two industry events: the NLGI Annual Meeting in June in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and the STLE Philadelphia Section golf outing. In addition to receiving congratulations from many people, I have been asked numerous times about what the job entails. Because of my short tenure, I’m not exactly well-qualified to answer that question, but I’ll give it a shot.

Certainly there is a time requirement, which can be stressful when added to time with your paying job and your non-work life. So far that has not seemed to be a large burden. It helps to have an understanding family (especially my wife) and employer (especially my boss).

I have been asked if it is a difficult job. My answer has been that it could be, but it doesn’t seem to be because of the tremendous support from the STLE staff.

The STLE Executive Committee and Board of Directors discuss and decide what the organization should do, and the STLE executive director and staff do the work to make it happen. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank them:

Rebecca Lintow, executive director
Rachel Fowler, director of external communications
Nicole Gleeson, marketing manager
Susan Luers, professional development assistant
Robert Morowczynski, director of professional development
Bruce Murgueitio, communications manager
Emmett Murphy, accounting
Julie O’Rourke, membership manager
Karl Phipps, community engagement manager
Nadine Sanchez-Colón, member services assistant
Myrna Scott-Perez, senior manager of technology and operations
Tracy VanEe, national sales manager
Bacon-Hedland conference staff

I would also like to thank the STLE staff in advance for their future assistance. Their contact information can be found at www.stle.org under the About tab. My experience has been that they are very responsive. This is a very short list considering the size of the organization that they serve.

I mentioned the STLE Executive Committee and Board of Directors, but there are numerous other volunteers. I count 27 administrative committees and 24 technical committees. Some have been around for years, and some have been formed only recently, to adapt to the ever-changing landscape of our industry. There are also 19 STLE local sections. All of this adds up to hundreds of people willing to contribute time and effort into fulfilling the needs of our members.

So, my final answer is that I don’t yet know all of what the job entails, but with the help of the small, efficient staff, and the large group of volunteers, I look forward to a productive and successful year for the society.

Kevin Delaney is global sales director for the Petroleum Group at Vanderbilt Chemicals, LLC, based in Norwalk, Conn. You can reach him at kdelaney@vanderbiltchemicals.com.