World Grain - December 2007 - 47

FEATURE: NEW IAOM LEADER LOOKS TO EXPAND MEMBERSHIP

Processors and Bakers did a great job
organizing the meeting. We had more
than 125 attendees representing some
25 countries throughout the region at
the conference. What impressed me the
most, though, was that the essence of
the conference was 100 percent IAOM
- with participants demonstrating a
spirit of fellowship and cooperation,
and a thirst for information that would
enhance the efficiency of their mills.
This conference could have taken place
in any one of the other IAOM districts:
the emphasis was on education and networking.
The conference was timed to coincide with the concluding conference
of the Asian Development Bank's flour
fortification project in Central Asia and
Mongolia, as well as with the Second
Annual Flour Fortification Initiative's
Eurasia Leaders Group meeting. The
synergies that resulted from the confluence of these meetings should not be
underestimated.
WG: With the new IAOM Eurasia
District showing signs of growth and the
organization already well established in
North America, Latin America and the
Middle East/Africa, what other regions
of the world do you see potential for
IAOM expansion?
Farris: IAOM is currently exploring the possibility of holding a meeting
with millers in the Asian-Pacific region
to discuss their interest in forming an
IAOM district. It is imperative that a
core group of millers in any region is
present and demonstrates an interest
in being active members of IAOM. We
have started to discuss the spring of
2009 as a target date for an initial meeting in the region.
WG: You speak fluent Russian and
spent several years living in Russia
working for the American Chamber of
Commerce in Russia (AmCham). How
has that experience helped you in your
position with IAOM?
Farris: The world continues to grow
smaller each day, and I believe that any

kind of international experience is extremely valuable in helping people with
different backgrounds to understand
one another and work together. This is
even more important in an organization
such as IAOM, where the membership
extends to people in more than 70 countries. Because of my experience living
and working abroad, I feel that I am
better equipped to operate in the international community of IAOM. When
I joined IAOM in 2004, much of the
groundwork for the Eurasia District had
already been laid. However, my Russian language skills were a definite help
in moving IAOM from the planning to
implementation stages. Being able to
communicate with people in their na-

"In order to meet the needs
of our members outside North
America, we will need to
translate our materials into local languages and adapt the
correspondence course to different regions as well."
- Melinda Farris, IAOM

tive language helps to bridge gaps and
builds relationships. These relationships
are important to the success of IAOM in
any region of the world.
AmCham was my first exposure to the
management side of an association, and
I feel that experience in particular has
served me well. Although the content
and scale of operations in the two organizations is different, the tool kit I use in
my daily work is quite similar, and the
overriding characteristic of the association - devoted members pouring considerable time and energy into projects
that benefit the whole of the community
- is absolutely the same.
WG: As IAOM's new executive vicepresident, what do you see as the top priorities of the organization over the next
several years?
Farris: I have to admit that I am still

www.World-Grain.com / World Grain / December 2007

working to acclimate myself to this
new role with IAOM. My list of priorities at this point tends to focus on the
short-term: selecting venues and dates
for our upcoming international conferences, re-establishing the regular publication of our quarterly magazine, International Miller, and maintaining the
high quality of educational offerings in
the form of our short courses and conference sessions.
In looking ahead a couple of years,
we would like to have the revised
IAOM correspondence course available to members, as well as an "operative miller" certification program. We
would also like to see our membership
expand - there is still much room for
growth in our Latin America, Mideast &
Africa and Eurasia districts. In order to
meet the needs of our members outside
North America, we will need to translate our materials into local languages
and adapt the correspondence course to
different regions as well. As our membership grows in different districts and
our leadership structures become more
formalized, I see the districts playing a
larger role in much of this work.
WG: How is IAOM progressing on
its goal of updating the milling correspondence course?
Farris: The correspondence course revisions are still under way. We are looking at having the first three units completed in the very near future. Several
professors at Kansas State University
are diligently working on revisions to the
remaining five units. Although this process has taken a little longer than originally anticipated, members of the Education Committee and others who have
been reviewing the new units are all in
agreement that the revisions will greatly
enhance the course and the overall result
will be well worth the time that has been
invested in the project.
WG: How much money has been
raised through the International Milling Education Foundation? What is the
fundraising goal of IMEF and how will
49

http://www.World-Grain.com

World Grain - December 2007

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of World Grain - December 2007