Dear CRS Members,
What an exceptional meeting we had in Valencia! We are grateful to María José Alonso for proposing Valencia, and María Vincent and the outstanding members of the Annual Meeting Programming Committee for planning such an excellent and joyous event. It was a pleasure to see so many of you there. More of you registered for this meeting than in New York City in 2018 and Boston in 2017! Many of you shared memories on social media and the CRS Board is thrilled that so many of you felt it was one of the best meetings you have ever attended. Please tweet your pictures and memories @CRSScience and use #seeyouinVegas2020. Valencia will be a tough act to follow! Steve Little, chair of the 2020 Annual Meeting in Las Vegas, and his committee are relying on your feedback to make next year an even better event, so please take a few minutes to complete the 2019 annual meeting survey by clicking here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/WPRZYHB
I am excited and honored to serve you as this year’s President of CRS. María José Alonso did a remarkable job as president last year, which makes my job easier at the same time raising the bar on expectations for the coming year. This is a good “problem” to have, and we are excited to work to meet your high expectations. The Board and I will be focused on our mission – helping our members succeed. The Board’s strategic plan contains several initiatives that we will be implementing to achieve that important mission. Among those initiatives are:
Increase Member Value: We are constantly thinking of new ways to help our members succeed. The initiation of the Focus Groups was the fruit of just such efforts. To help us do more, we are assembling a team composed of young and seasoned members to help identify effective new ways to increase the value of your membership.
Increasing the involvement of focus groups and young scientists in critical society initiatives: We have seen an incredible amount of energy and enthusiasm generated by the leaders and members of our focus groups and the young scientists committee. I acknowledge Steve Little for his tremendous leadership of the Focus Groups over the past year, and welcome Katie Whitehead as she takes over Steve’s critical role as Director of the Focus Groups. We will continue to support the growth of these groups and will work with them to add fuel to the energy they have already created to add more value to membership and to recruit and involve new members.
Strengthening our Partnership with CRS Chapters: The CRS Local Chapters also created a great deal of energy and buzz in Valencia, including a fantastic scientific session; the CRS Board is grateful for the stellar leadership of Avi Schroeder and Ilva Rupenthal. We will be working closely with our chapter partners this year to develop and implement ways to strengthen our common bond.
Strengthening our partnership with industry: Our annual meeting would not be possible without the generous support of our sponsors and industry partners. We will be working closely with our Industry Advisory Group, under the outstanding leadership of Cornell Stamoran, to add value to our partnership. I am excited to announce that we recently began a new Corporate Member campaign. This program has an array of benefits for our partners. Charter Corporate Membership can be obtained at a reduced fee up until the Annual Meeting in Las Vegas. Please join me in welcoming Catalent as the first, of what I hope will be many, CRS corporate members!
Evaluate and Revise the Structure of Annual Meetings: CRS has a rich history of successful Annual Meetings. The past, however, does not always predict the future. If we are to enjoy continued success, we must continually revise and fine-tune our meeting format to make it more interactive and richer in relevant content.
· Make Vegas 2020 the best CRS Annual Meeting in history! This will be no easy task given the amazing science, energy of our members, and breathtaking venue of Valencia. However, Steve Little created the Focus Groups that have added so much value to our society, so let’s see what surprises he has up his sleeve as chair of the 2020 annual meeting! Please let him know your ideas and let your colleagues know that we will #seeyouinVegas2020!
These initiatives and others will only be successful with strong member input and involvement. Please let me know how you would like to become involved in one of these important initiatives by tweeting @JustinHanesPhD and @CRSScience, or by email to Gabrielle Copperwheat, COO of CRS, at gcopperwheat@controlledreleasesociety.org, with cc: to hanes@jhu.edu. I would also like to hear your thoughts other things we could be doing to help you succeed.
Thank you in advance for your support and effort to make this year a great success for the CRS and all of our members!
Very Best Wishes,
Justin Hanes
