An Open Letter to the Industry: On Education, VoIunteetism, and Coatings Shows

摘要

Why would you attend, or enable one or more of your colleagues to attend, an American Coatings Show and Conference or to register for any other educational forum dealing with paint- and coatings-related issues, for that matter? Aren't well-educated, well-informed, and up-to-date coatings personnel all that more vulnerable to headhunters who are looking for such people in an increasingly formulator-starved marketplace? It's an interesting point of view, sincerely espoused more than occasionally by serious people within our industry. My personal reply would be, "Because well-educated, well-informed, and up-to-date coatings personnel are of great value to their current employers, and are likely to remain with those employers for a lot longer than might otherwise be the case as a result of the opportunities for education and personal enrichment that attendance at educational seminars, symposia and global conferences affords them." As the old saying goes, "Prove me wrong."