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Newsletter
Quarterly Newsletter
Connecting ANVM Members, their Customers and Friends of Night Vision
Q4/2021 23 December 2021
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... by John Domalski, President. Now with our 2021 Annual Meeting in the rear-view mirror, one can only hope that it will be the last virtual meeting we need to hold for many years to come. I also hope that the information content shared by 13 different speakers, to include a first-in-a-long-time perspective from a U.S. Senate aide, was worthwhile. But, even strong information content cannot make up for the total lack of person-to-person human interaction that has long been a hallmark of our Annual Meetings.
My plan, therefore, for 2022 is to make up for what we have gone without for the past two years. By that, I mean making a concerted effort to return to getting together face-to-face, sharing experiences, conducting personal side meetings and in general focusing on the personal aspects of business dealings that can make them enjoyable.
As I write this, though, the outlook for the immediate future does not look promising. Just reading from the New York Times headlines that I receive every morning makes the future look even downright depressing. The following were seen on Saturday, 18 December 2021: "As COVID Surges, Experts Say U.S. Booster Effort is Far Behind," "Americans on Edge as Cases Rise…" "Virus Outbreaks Rattle NFL." (Of course, it's distress, suffering and conflict that sell newspapers so we should not expect to see headlines such as "COVID Diminishing, Life Returning to Normal" or "All Regions of Country Becoming Safe From COVID.") So, let's just trust that this exceedingly worrisome situation is not going to last forever.
In anticipation of that, I am looking at the Bi-Annual Joint Service Night Vision Integrated Process Team Meeting scheduled for 28-30 June 2022 at NSWC/Crane as a real opportunity for us all to reconnect. With six months between then and now, I think this is a reasonable possibility. Please note, this meeting is not an official ANVM event, but the Association was used as a way to promote it to industry. (With the ability to reach 31 member companies with one click of the "send" button, this makes perfect sense.) I hope a large number of member companies are planning on attending.
In addition to the events the Government will be hosting, I also plan for the Association to host a get-together/social event probably on the middle evening of the event. I got this idea from a statement made by Harry Buchanan, Edmund Optics, at the recent Annual Meeting. He mentioned holding a social event at either or all of: the SHOT Show, the SOFIC Conference and AUSA/Washington. SHOT Show is too soon; AUSA is too far out, but the Crane event looks just right timing-wise. The event I am envisioning will not be too big…just finger foods, beer, wine and soft drinks at a hotel located close to where the event will be held. I look forward to seeing many of you there.
Also during 2022, there is a real possibility for an ANVM-specific outreach event at C5ISR RTI (formerly NVESD). This was mentioned to Dr. Reago, Director, at the close of our Annual Meeting. No details yet, but I will forward them to everyone as soon as they are received.
Also, we already have the Marriott Crystal Gateway Hotel in Arlington, VA reserved for our 2022 Annual Meeting. The date is Thursday, 1 December 2022. I am hoping we can hold a live meeting because we will all want to personally honor Mike Iosue and Mike Atwood who have both been approved for induction into the Night Vision Hall of Fame. Inductions typically take place at the sit-down luncheons that are traditionally part of normal, live Annual Meetings.
In addition to hosting the 2022 Annual Meeting live, every effort will also be made to transmit the meeting virtually (in other words, a hybrid meeting) in order to maximize attendance. David Dorn, Microsoft, who has handled all of the technical aspects for the past two virtual Annual Meetings and to whom we owe a great debt of thanks, has already volunteered again to help with making the 2022 meeting a success. If anyone else would like to help, please let me know.
Of course, the quarterly newsletter introduced in 2021 will also continue to be published throughout 2022. If you would like to make an input to the newsletter on behalf of your company, please contact Jim Winkel. New product announcements, contract awards, personnel/management changes and press releases are all worthwhile content for the newsletter.
Finally, the Association has written white papers in the past on topics that had wide and common interest among members. These have included the petition to the Base Re-Alignment and Closure Commission in 2005 on behalf of keeping NVESD at Fort Belvoir, an appeal to DTSA in 2012 regarding the exportability of 17-micron Focal Plane Arrays and a paper arguing for increased night vision R&D funding in 2015. For 2022, something about reaching agreement on "how things are measured…ANVM Standards" was mentioned at the Annual Meeting. If someone could contact me and provide details on this topic, I would appreciate it. If creation of such standards would be beneficial to members, let's investigate them as they could be the subject for our next white paper.
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