 |
| About Bioline | All Journals | Testimonials | Membership | News |
|
||||||
|
||||||
Australasian Biotechnology, Vol. 11 No. 3, 2001, pp. 4-5 FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Tony Coulepis Executive Director Code Number: au01032 After yet another hectic month it is now "down to business". I am delighted that, following the solid support received from the Membership at the General Meeting on the 10/5/01, we can now move forward with implementing the Business Plan that was released a few months ago. The task ahead for the ABA (now AusBiotech) Directors and myself is to ensure that the momentum initiated in July at the ABA 2000 Conference in Brisbane, which reached a peak at the General Meeting on the 10/5/01, now continues to grow along three clear pathways: 1. The first pathway is one of "strategic" direction, alliances and positioning. Peter Riddles has outlined, in his President's Report earlier in this Journal, some of the activities which have been ongoing for some time and will now be accelerated http://www.aba.asn.au. It is appropriate that I start with the third of the above pathways, namely, the "operational" activities as these will underpin both the implementation and also the strategic pathways mentioned above.
The significance of this suggestion is that we are clearly stating that AusBiotech is "the" voice of biotechnology in Australia. Therefore, we are progressing with the positioning, marketing, logo and stationery considerations, which are currently underway. We hope to launch the new image of AusBiotech at the CHIF/ABA 2001 Conference in August. In relation to the Constitution, the Directors have taken note of the suggestions that were made prior to, and also at the General Meeting on the 10/5/01. Consequently, Directors will consider and review these suggestions in preparation for the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of AusBiotech, scheduled for October 2001, when appropriate changes can be made as part of the "fine tuning" process which follows the adoption of most new Constitutions. Once again, we shall keep Members informed of developments in this area and invite further comments on the new Constitution by the end of June so that any new suggestions can be appropriately considered as part of this process. The second key operational consideration is the general upgrading and maintenance of the AusBiotech database, communications, services and interactions with Members. As we are experiencing a rapid increase in Membership, it is essential to make sure that the organisation's technology capability is upgraded accordingly and for any changes to be "seamless" to the Membership. Having said this, and being involved in several of these activities in the past, a "seamless" transition and upgrade process is a challenging task and therefore we seek the understanding and cooperation of Members should we experience unforseen "glitches" along the way. The final of the operational elements under consideration is the AusBiotech facilities that need to be reviewed in order to cater for personnel, increased workload and also to provide meeting facilities for AusBiotech business activities. Once again, we shall keep Members informed as we progress with this particular matter. With respect to the second pathway mentioned above, namely, the "implementation" of the Business Plan, one of the first essential activities is to strengthen the Membership of the organisation. This requires a focussed effort involving the existing AusBiotech Branches and also in establishing new Branches in States and Regions where Branches are not active. This will ensure that we have a strong network that is able to deliver outcomes to all Members throughout Australia. As Peter mentioned in his President's Report, we are delighted to be working with the South Australian and Tasmanian Governments with respect to the development of AusBiotech "Chapters" in these States. As the Australian biotechnology industry voice, one of the most important and critical objectives is to strengthen the Corporate Membership base so that we can indeed speak as the "industry's voice", when necessary, and to represent the needs of the industry, as required. To this end, Individual and Student Members can play a very significant role by either initiating discussions with their respective organisations, or facilitating discussions between these organisations and either myself or any of the AusBiotech Directors. The benefits for all categories of Members are defined in the Executive Summary of the Business Plan that is accessible through the web site. Should any Member require clarification of any benefits listed in the Executive Summary of the Business Plan, please feel free to contact me for further information. While Branches, Directors, the AusBiotech Office Staff and I shall actively be pursuing discussions with the Corporate Community, we welcome approaches from Companies concerning Membership in order to ensure that we can move forward with a significant industry voice. One final point on the implementation of the Business Plan is the essential element of resources. To this end, I wish to extend an invitation to all existing and potential new Corporate Members to consider supporting AusBiotech in terms of mutually beneficial sponsorship opportunities that are detailed below. Once again, while actively pursuing discussions, we welcome approaches from the Corporate Community to discuss sponsorship or collaboration opportunities. In relation to some of the strategic activities that Peter has mentioned in his Report, I shall not dwell on these but encourage Members to contact Peter, myself or any of the AusBiotech Directors if you have any comments or ideas. In conclusion, I would like to express my personal thanks to the Members who have supported and enabled the organisation to progress to the next stage of its development as the biotechnology industry voice of Australia. My personal thanks also go out the AusBiotech Directors who dedicated substantial time and effort, and were responsive to short time-frames, ensuring that we progressed according to a tight time-line of activities leading to the conclusion of the restructuring process on the 10/5/01. Finally, I would like to acknowledge Blake Dawson Waldron for their invaluable assistance and support in dealing with, and managing, the processes involving the new name and Constitution, as well as their generous contribution in hosting the General Meeting on 10/5/01. I now look forward to working closely with the Branches, Members and Biotechnology Stakeholders to resource and implement the Business Plan in order to foster the growth of the Australian biotechnology industry. The Australian Biotechnology Association Sponsorship/Relationship Opportunities Dear AusBiotech Corporate Members, As you are all aware, the Australian Biotechnology Association recently received overwhelming support from its membership to move forward as the "voice" of the Australian biotechnology industry with a new name (AusBiotech) and a new constitution. Critical to the implementation of the AusBiotech Business Plan is the essential element of building on the excellent base of AusBiotech's resources and Membership. To this end, I wish to extend an invitation to all existing and potential new Corporate Members to consider supporting the organisation through mutually beneficial sponsorship opportunities which include, but are not limited to:
While AusBiotech Branches, Directors, Office Staff and I shall be actively pursuing discussions with the Corporate Community, we welcome approaches from the Corporate, Public, Government and the Service Providing Sectors, with ideas or offers of mutually beneficial support, sponsorship, partnership and collaboration. If you wish to discuss any of the above opportunities, the resultant benefits or any other related aspects, please contact me at the AusBiotech office on: Phone: (03) 9596-8879 Fax: (03) 9596-8874 E-mail: admin@aba.asn.au Mobile: 0419-436-902 Tony Coulepis Executive Director AusBiotech "The" Australian Biotechnology Association Copyright 2001 - AusBiotech |
| |||||||||
The first
operational item relates to the outcome of the General Meeting on 10/5/01. While
the Membership gave the Directors a clear mandate to adopt the name change and
a new Constitution, with a vote of 79% and 80% respectively, Directors are conscious
of the twenty percent of Members who expressed reservations with these changes.
Consequently, Directors wish to move forward in the most appropriate way in
relation to both the name change and the Constitution, in consideration of the
views we received from all Members. Therefore, with respect to the name change,
the Directors have decided to incorporate the "history" of the organisation
within the new name, which was a suggestion provided by David Newton who was
present at the meeting on 10/5/01. David's suggestion was to simply incorporate
the organisations past identity as a "descriptor" phrase with new name as follows:
AusBiotech - The Australian Biotechnology Association