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The ISRI safety department, for instance, has been working on many fronts to make our industry more safety-minded. Take the ISRI Safety Pledge, which provides a simple reminder for us to work "Safely or Not at All." There's also the Scrap Safety Blueprint program, offered free to ISRI members who sign the pledge. This program reviews members' safety efforts, identifying strengths and areas for improvement. There's also ISRI's National Safety Council, which gives scrap safety professionals a forum to brainstorm solutions to common problems.

Beyond the safety department, ISRI has a government affairs team that's second to none. Our state legislative monitoring program, for example, looks for potentially detrimental legislation, protecting members' interests in all 50 states. ISRI also boasts an active grassroots political effort, which lobbies for recycling issues from the ground up. At the federal level, ISRI is a respected player on Capitol Hill, as the recently organized recycling caucuses in the U.S. House and Senate demonstrate.

Every member knows something about ISRI's meetings staff, which organizes invaluable networking and training events throughout the year. The highlight is the annual convention, the biggest recycling industry show in the world. Much of the convention's success has to do with the exhibit hall, which provides one-stop shopping for all of our equipment and service needs. Talk about feeling like a kid in a candy shop! Last year's record-setting convention in Las Vegas will be a tough act to follow, but if the virtually sold-out 2007 exhibit hall is any indication, ISRI could test that record in New Orleans next April.

As for communications, ISRI's talented wordsmiths produce many informative, award-winning resources, including this magazine, the ISRI Focus newsletter, The Monday Report and The Friday Report, the ISRI Membership Directory and Industry Guide, and so much more.

I haven't even mentioned other ISRI departments, including membership, which tends to the needs of all members, and finance, which keeps ISRI's fiscal ship aright, among others. Just know that every ISRI department and every ISRI professional is working hard, every day, for you.

I am often asked if being ISRI chair is as demanding as I expected. Though the position does take time, most of the work is done by ISRI's talented and dedicated staff.

I now know how Phil Jackson felt coaching Michael Jordan when the Chicago Bulls were world champions. Believe me, it's a good feeling.

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