The process of writing and speaking is a core part of the Quality profession. Only through these activities can we truly contemplate and learn from our accomplishments to propel us forward to new heights.
There are some great speaking opportunities for folks around the Boston area coming up:
BOSCON is November 6 and 7th and is looking for speakers. I’m a huge fan of this regional convention and strongly recommend it. Submissions are due August 15th, 2023.
The ASQ’s Quality Innovations Summit (formerly the Quality 4.0 Summit) is September 19–21 in Boston, MA with a theme of “Innovations and Future Trends for Excellence.” Submission deadline is June 9th, 2023, with more information here.
I’m quite happy to help coach potential new speakers, both in the development of your proposal and in your presentation.
Presentations are critical part of sharing and growing as a professional. I’ve gone on the record more than once stating that to truly grow you have to get as comfortable as possible presenting. But it is not merely enough to present, we need to strive for great presentations.
So coming out of WCQI a fw thoughts.
Our Slides are Mostly Awful
Powerpoint is your co-facilitator. Use it well. Do not use powerpoint as a wall of text. I actually hear a speaker this week say he put lots of text in a slide so folks can use them without hearing him speak. Oh no. Stop that.
Great advice in this post about acessibility, something we should always be standardizing.
I love the index card idea. I will be using it my next presentation.
Every Presentation is a Training
While we may not do level 3 or 4 assessments (or even formal level 2), take the attitude that each and every presentation is a training and strive for effectiveness in design.
Presentations are a Continuous Cycle of Improvement
No one was born as a good trainer. Get a coach. Ask for help. Realize that your first presentation will not be as good as your second and etc. Put the time in.
Look for Opportunities
You have done something that others are interested in. Take pride in it and share. There are always great opportunities, like BOSCON, so find them and put in a proposal. You may not get accepted, but as I said above, it is a cycle of improvement.
Share your knowledge and experience with your peers!
Proposal Deadline: August 15, 2023
About the event
BOSCON is a key event for local, national, and international quality professionals to hear speakers discuss different quality topics and network. Each year hundreds gather at this BOSCON quality conference to share best practices, expand their network, and further develop their professional and personal growth from experts and professionals in multiple quality related fields. This year BOSCON 2023 will be held on November 6th and 7th, 2023.
We invite you to join us as a key contributor to the success of the 41st BOSCON Quality Conference hosted by ASQ – Boston. It encompasses two days of presentation by the most knowledgeable and innovative quality professionals at all levels.
Presentations will be offered in 4 tracks:
Technology and Innovations
Quality and Regulations for Lifesciences
Quality Tools and Continuous Improvement
Reliability, Maintenance & Managing Risk
Format
Presentations must be 50 minutes plus up to 10 minutes of Q&A. Presenters must be on site and receive free admission to the conference, the Exhibitor Hall, keynote addresses, and lunch. The Conference Committee will evaluate all proposals, but there are only 12 time slots available each day.
September 3rd: Applicants will be notified if the submitted proposal was accepted, confirmation requires a signed speaker agreement.
September 15th: Sign speaker agreement and submit.
October 8th : Submit final set of slides by October 8th.
Speaker Proposal Form
1. Title: (Max 50 characters)
Provide a clear and concise title to list and publicize your presentation. Consider including a tag line, e.g. – “Raising the Bar to Excellence – a CAPA journey.”
2. Description: (Max 100 Words)
Show the prime focus of your presentation and what the attendee(s) will learn.
Provide a short description of your session that will be posted on the conference website and distributed electronically to registrants. Consider identifying the intended audience (Management, Engineers, Quality Professionals, etc.) and what they will learn. Think of this as an advertising blurb to capture people’s attention and make them want to attend.
3. Session Abstract(s): (250-300 Words)
Please provide a more detailed overview of your proposed presentation for inclusion in the conference materials. Abstracts should include the following:
Introduction of the topic, including context and background (don’t repeat the Description above)
Objectives in terms of what you intend to communicate; what problem(s) are you addressing?
Approaches you intend to use to get your message across, e.g. – case studies, data analyses, tips & tricks, etc.
Key takeaways the audience should expect to learn.
4. Biographical Sketch: (150-200 Words)
Please provide a summary of your career and credentials for publishing in the conference proceedings. This information should be composed from the third person perspective. You may also include a link to your LinkedIn profile or website.
5. Contact Info & Credentials:
Name, address, email, phone, organization, title, and LinkedIn profile link.
6. Additional Info:
Anything that may increase the value or credibility of your proposal, for example, presenter’s relevant credentials or experience in the related field, etc. If the proposed or similar presentation has been presented in another venue, preferably a national venue, it will add to the credibility and interest to our audience; if the organization or the presenter has won relevant industry recognitions, such as awards or press citations, this will be of benefit in attracting attendees. Attachment of your presentation or an outline slide is welcome.
I would like encourage new speakers at BOSCON, and at ASQ events in general. I will make myself available to assist and coach individuals who want to speak. I will help you refine your proposal, review and propose edits to your slides, and do some speaker coaching. Let me know if you want some coaching through this blog’s Contact or on LinkedIn.
Ugwem Eneyo’s keynote this morning was interesting and the type of inspiring keynote about the importance of quality that I love to hear.
QMS for Data-Driven Decision-Making
Charles Cox starts up being a little by blurring the differences between a Quality Management System (QMS) and an electronic Quality Management System (eQMS), but quickly solidified his topic of how to foundational build digital data into the QMS in an iterative approach for decision data decision-marking and growth.
I appreciate a quality-function-deployment (QFD) approach, a tool-set that I feel folks take a little for granted and don’t utilize enough. Charles co-wrote a useful text on QFD back in the 90s, but I really haven’t read a lot from him in recent years, so this presentation is an excellent example of a practical application, updated for today.
The focus on thinking today about the needs of the future is one that we cannot stress enough. Future sense-making is a core competency for quality professionals and one we do not spend enough time discussing and performing deliberative practice on.
Aligning Organizational Structure with Quality 4.0 by Jane Keathley
I’m always surprised when folks refer to open office plans in a positive light. The research is pretty definitive on the destructive aspects here.
Thinking about the various organization chart structures is key. In pharma, the regulations are pretty clear on the need to do this, I think a lot of organizations struggle on how to build their organizations for quality. Color me a bit pessimistic here, but I want to see network structures work but have not had the experience.
The four criteria or organizational structures influence on performance: formality, hierarchy, complexity, technology.
Provides three perspectives for organization design: Strategic, Operational, Tactical.
I think there could have been a whole session just on the vision matrix. Same for organizational network analysis. Both of these are tools I do not think enough quality folks are comfortable with. Would make a good workshop.
tratVision Matrix – the Strategic Perspetive
And I got a free book for being a know-it-all about holacracy, which means I now have 2. I’ll keep this copy because I’ll get it signed, and pass off the copy at home.
I should put McKinsey on my junk science bingo card. Support for a criminal enterprise seems to be pretty garbage.
Key message – push decision making and autonomy down as low as possible.
The process owner is a central part of business process management yet is often the one we take for granted. In this session, the speaker will share through case study how organizations can build strong process owners and leverage them to drive improvement in a highly regulated environment. Participants in this session will learn: ~how to identify process owners and competencies for success, ~how to build a change management program that leverages process owners as the guiding coalition, and ~how to create and execute a training program for process owners
2022 ASQ WORLD CONFERENCE ON QUALITY & IMPROVEMENT
The presentation I gave at the 2022 World Conference on Quality & Improvement.
Investigations of a Dog 