It is with great honor that I begin my Presidency of the Rocky Mountain Division of the International Association for Identification (RMDIAI) as of January 2019. Since I have become a member of the RMDIAI, not only have I broadened my knowledge from our current members and past-Presidents, but I have had the opportunity to both teach and attend numerous conferences put on by the RMDIAI. My role in the RMDIAI has provided me the privilege to network with other individuals in the forensic field both near and far and for that, I am very appreciative.
For the past two years, the RMDIAI Conferences have been extremely involved with our 50th Anniversary Conference that our past-president, Donald Heiduck, put on in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and the Joint Western Conference held in Las Vegas, Nevada, this past year. Those conferences were recent milestones for the RMDIAI and were extremely successful. The current Conference Planning committee is trying as best they can to make the 2019 Annual RMDIAI Conference just as successful and we can do that with the help of you, the members. This year we are planning our annual conference in Denver, Colorado. It has not been held in Denver in over 10 years and I truly hope that many of you are able to attend. We are bringing in a great guest speaker, Steve Spangler, and we are hoping to cover every discipline with the training being provided. In reference to our annual conference, I am sure that many of you have noticed, but our annual conference date has been changed to May. This decision was made because so many other conferences would often be held on or around our annual conference when it was held in the fall. With the change of the conference date to the springtime, I hope that more of our members are able to attend. It is also my hope that the RMDIAI is able to offer a 2 to 3-Day Free Fall Training to current members. If you have ideas or opinions on what you would like this training to entail, please feel free to reach out to me. I hope that the tradition of the conference and fall training can continue in the future.
My goal as your President is not only to continue to keep the organization running as smoothly as possible, but to make improvements where they are needed. I believe that some areas in our constitution can be updated and some processes can be more efficient. An example of one of the changes I would like to see made is to change the date of the elected board members to reflect them serving from conference to conference. There is often confusion when it comes to being elected and when you should get more involved in your upcoming role. A change will help clarify that and would ensure that when an individual is elected at a conference, their role of the position they are elected to would start immediately and would continue until the following election. I would also like to provide the ability to volunteer on committees even if the number of volunteers for that particular committee is met. I want to encourage every member to be involved. This organization is only as good as, what we the members, put into it. If you want to see something different or other changes be made, let your voices be heard and please be involved.
In reference to volunteering, I would like to say thank you to our Officers and members of our Board of Directors, along with several past-Presidents. The commitment of these individuals are immeasurable and are the reason the RMDIAI continues to be a success. Not only have many of them held their positions for numerous years, but several of those same individuals have stepped up to be actively involved in our Conference Planning committee and other committees that we have in the RMDIAI. I appreciate each one of you, as I understand that this is an additional time commitment and even then, you are still willing to do it.
As members, please remember, the RMDIAI is a great resource to you. Many of us have current responsibilities to our primary jobs. These responsibilities, along with lack of budget money in many departments, makes it harder for individuals to be able attend out of state training, but networking and becoming familiar with others in the forensic field is available to all of our members through the membership directory, our annual conference, and other yearly training put on by the RMDIAI.
As 2019 begins, I would like to say thank you to our outgoing President, Donald Heiduck. Don, you did a great job with your planning of our 50th Conference. Your service and commitment as our RMDIAI President is greatly appreciated!
On a final note, I want to reassure you that the RMDIAI is here to serve its members. If you have any suggestions on upcoming training or changes that you would like to see made in the RMDIAI, please feel free to contact me. I want to keep this organization progressively moving forward and ensure that the RMDIAI remains a beneficial organization that you would want to maintain a membership.
Respectfully Yours,
Heather Hatfield
For the past two years, the RMDIAI Conferences have been extremely involved with our 50th Anniversary Conference that our past-president, Donald Heiduck, put on in Cheyenne, Wyoming, and the Joint Western Conference held in Las Vegas, Nevada, this past year. Those conferences were recent milestones for the RMDIAI and were extremely successful. The current Conference Planning committee is trying as best they can to make the 2019 Annual RMDIAI Conference just as successful and we can do that with the help of you, the members. This year we are planning our annual conference in Denver, Colorado. It has not been held in Denver in over 10 years and I truly hope that many of you are able to attend. We are bringing in a great guest speaker, Steve Spangler, and we are hoping to cover every discipline with the training being provided. In reference to our annual conference, I am sure that many of you have noticed, but our annual conference date has been changed to May. This decision was made because so many other conferences would often be held on or around our annual conference when it was held in the fall. With the change of the conference date to the springtime, I hope that more of our members are able to attend. It is also my hope that the RMDIAI is able to offer a 2 to 3-Day Free Fall Training to current members. If you have ideas or opinions on what you would like this training to entail, please feel free to reach out to me. I hope that the tradition of the conference and fall training can continue in the future.
My goal as your President is not only to continue to keep the organization running as smoothly as possible, but to make improvements where they are needed. I believe that some areas in our constitution can be updated and some processes can be more efficient. An example of one of the changes I would like to see made is to change the date of the elected board members to reflect them serving from conference to conference. There is often confusion when it comes to being elected and when you should get more involved in your upcoming role. A change will help clarify that and would ensure that when an individual is elected at a conference, their role of the position they are elected to would start immediately and would continue until the following election. I would also like to provide the ability to volunteer on committees even if the number of volunteers for that particular committee is met. I want to encourage every member to be involved. This organization is only as good as, what we the members, put into it. If you want to see something different or other changes be made, let your voices be heard and please be involved.
In reference to volunteering, I would like to say thank you to our Officers and members of our Board of Directors, along with several past-Presidents. The commitment of these individuals are immeasurable and are the reason the RMDIAI continues to be a success. Not only have many of them held their positions for numerous years, but several of those same individuals have stepped up to be actively involved in our Conference Planning committee and other committees that we have in the RMDIAI. I appreciate each one of you, as I understand that this is an additional time commitment and even then, you are still willing to do it.
As members, please remember, the RMDIAI is a great resource to you. Many of us have current responsibilities to our primary jobs. These responsibilities, along with lack of budget money in many departments, makes it harder for individuals to be able attend out of state training, but networking and becoming familiar with others in the forensic field is available to all of our members through the membership directory, our annual conference, and other yearly training put on by the RMDIAI.
As 2019 begins, I would like to say thank you to our outgoing President, Donald Heiduck. Don, you did a great job with your planning of our 50th Conference. Your service and commitment as our RMDIAI President is greatly appreciated!
On a final note, I want to reassure you that the RMDIAI is here to serve its members. If you have any suggestions on upcoming training or changes that you would like to see made in the RMDIAI, please feel free to contact me. I want to keep this organization progressively moving forward and ensure that the RMDIAI remains a beneficial organization that you would want to maintain a membership.
Respectfully Yours,
Heather Hatfield