'97 Conference at Newport Beach A Great Success!!!

Beverly Waldron

The 21^st annual IPMAAC conference was held at Newport Beach, California, from June 22^nd to the 26^th. The 265(?) who attended the conference don't need me to tell them what a successful conference it was. For those of you unable to attend -- you missed a great conference! The program and social activities were outstanding! Kudos and much appreciation go to Mike Willihnganz and David Dye who put together an excellent program. Mabel Miramon and the host committee matched this outstanding performance with the social activities. Both committees worked hard in preparing and presenting the conference and on behalf of the membership I want them to know that their efforts were more than successful and truly appreciated!

It's impossible to cover the entire 4½ days of the conference in a few pages, but I'm going to put on my cub reporter's hat and try to give you a glimpse into the conference and its activities. (Note: the conference proceedings, or at least as many of the conference presentations as can be obtained, are being posted on IPMAAC Online. You will also find several pages of pictures in this issue of the ACN and even more pictures at IPMAAC Online.)

Sunday is reserved for workshops. Six half-day workshops were on this year's program. This format allows for more detailed and in depth presentation of subject matter. The comments heard from the attendees indicated that the workshops were informative and useful.

This year's conference boasted five invited speakers. On Monday morning Dr. Anne Howard of Development Dimensions International provided the keynote address, The Changing Nature of Work: Implications for Assessment, which addressed the forces driving change and suggested ways in which assessment needs to change to meet the coming future.

WRIPAC's invited speaker, Dr. Paul Sackett of the University of Minnesota, spoke Tuesday morning on the on-going revisions to the Standards of Educational and Psychological Tests and the implications for personnel testing and assessment. Dr. Sackett is co-chair of the committee charged with revising the Standards. (Note: a draft of the fifteen chapters is expected sometimes this year for public comment. IPMAAC and IPMA have a committee which is reviewing and providing comments to Dr. Sackett's committee. Nancy Abrams is keeping us appraised with regular reports in the ACN. Look for additional reports in future issues.)

Wednesday provided three invited speakers. Dr. Linda Gottfredson from the University of Delaware, the MAPAC invited speaker, spoke on the "flight from g" in employment tests. Her focus was on the elimination or minimization of cognitive tests based on their disparate impact which she fears may evolve into a de facto ban of cognitive tests. The discussion was interesting enough that it continued through the scheduled 9:30 to 10:00 coffee break. After a brief coffee break, the attendees gathered again for the Presidential Address for which our President, Paul Kaiser, had invited two guest speakers to address the topic of Revitalizing Civil Service: Improving the System, Increasing Our Value.

Charles Blockett, Jr., IPMA-US President-Elect, former Director of the Classification and Selection Operations Bureau of the Michigan Department of Civil Service, and now a personnel consultant, focused on revitalizing civil service -- increasing our value. His presentation focused on the human resource manager as a consultant and provided ten practical tools to improve customer service and add value to the organization. This was followed by George Sinnot's presentation on initiatives for improving the New York State Civil Service System. Mr. Sinnot is the President of the New York State Civil Service Commission and his discussion focused on how in just one year they were able to improve the standards and delivery of merit system services in a number of areas. He discussed how the goals were set and accomplished. These changes had a positive impact on the professional staff of the department and the public's perceptions of the system.

The conference ended on Thursday with a presentation by Dr. Sheldon Zedeck from the University of California at Berkeley. Dr. Zedeck provided a "report card" on issues in public sector testing entitled The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. On issues such as test development, performance assessment, implementation of validation strategies, test use, etc., he used a smiley/frowny/ugly face system to rate and discuss overall public sector performance.

In addition to the invited speakers, there were 13 paper sessions, 7 symposia, 4 panel discussions, 2 forums, 7 tutorials (3 foundation, 3 managerial, and 1 general), and 6 roundtable discussions. This large number of presentations covered a wide variety of topics - something to satisfy everyone. In addition, the Stephen E. Bemis Award was presented to Doris Maye. Congratulations to Doris and please read Anita Ford's article contained elsewhere in this issue.

Two student paper sessions were also held to present the winning paper and the 4 runner-ups. This year's Student Paper Award went to Gary J. Greguras and Chet Robie of Bowling Green State University for their paper Comparing Measurement Error of 360-degree Feedback Ratings and Rating Sources. The 4 runners-up were Laura Hamill, Old Dominion University - Structural Equation Modeling of Attitudes Toward Employment Testing; Robert Hirschfeld, Auburn University - Discriminant Validity Evidence for Conscientiousness and Work Orientation as Components of Global Trait Work Motivation; Michelle Donovan and Fritz Drasgow, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - Does Computerizing Paper-and-Pencil Job Attitude Scales Make a Difference? New IRT Analyses Offer Insight; and Seema Thakur, California State University San Bernardino - The Validity of Situational Interview Ratings as a Function of Channel Communication. (We hope to have summaries of the Student Paper Award winners in future issues of the ACN.)

The professional development provided by the conference's program is only one of the rewards of attending our annual conference. Another reward is the opportunity to network and socialize with your peers -- to see old friends and make new ones. Not only does it provide you with an excellent network of associates who may be able to assist you in the future, but it's just down right fun!

Newport Beach was a wonderful, beautiful location with great weather (A little cool for those of who think that June temperatures in the low 70's are the day's low temperature not the high - but we adapted.) Because of Sunday's workshops and some attendees taking advantage of cheaper airfares by staying over on Saturday, there were a number of IPMAAC'ers who started the social side of the conference early. Saturday afternoon several of us took advantage of the wonderful California weather to sit out on the terrace of the hotel and "network." The Hyatt Newporter is a popular wedding site and Saturday evening was no exception. From our table(s) on the terrace we were able to watch the guests arrive for a formal outdoor wedding. Certain members of our table (names not printed to protect the guilty) really enjoyed the "view." Fortunately the idea of using rating cards did not occur to them until it was too late. . .

The "formal" social activities kicked off Sunday evening with the President's Welcoming Reception held by one of the hotel's three swimming pools. This provided the first real chance for everyone to get together and many attendees took advantage of the opportunity.

Monday evening was the Host Committee's outing - a short walk from the hotel took us to the Newport Dunes and a beach party. In addition to the food and socializing there were organized team competitions, which were as much fun for the spectators as they were for the participants. (Thanks to WRIB for providing the colored visors which helped to identify each team.) Events included water balloon toss, bucket filling, a coordinated walking event, tug-of-war, and a limbo contest. The competition was fierce and despite the valiant efforts of the other participants the teal team won in the end. In addition to thrill of victory, they were awarded giant lollipops for their efforts. (Bill Rowe put to good use his experience in assessment and selection - assessing his teal teammates and selecting the right members for each of the competitions. Vicious rumors that he had a farm system or recruited from the spectators as the need arose remain unproven.) Bruce Davey surprised everyone with his flexibility - he was one of the two winners of the limbo contest! (Rumors that he is giving up the selection business to enter the professional limbo circuit are greatly exaggerated.) As darkness settled in we were presented with another interesting and spectacular image -- to the west a giant column rose in the heavens. It looked like the vapor trail from a plane but many, many, many times larger. And it glowed as if it were lit from within, almost like white neon. Speculation began as to the source of this glowing tower -- rockets were mentioned as was falling space debris reentering the atmosphere and the opening of another dimension. Suggestions were also made that we may need to grab our Nikes to catch the Hale Bopp ship. The discussion and observation continued as the iridescent column hung in the sky for almost 30 minutes before slowly dissipating. It wasn't till the news broadcast the next morning that we found out that it was the launch of a Minuteman missile (part of a training exercise) from a local military base. The glowing column was produced by atmospheric conditions and the reflection of light by the rocket fuel vapor and ice crystals. Whatever the cause, I think Mabel deserves extra credit for the great fireworks (firework?) show!

I can't provide you with a direct report on Tuesday night's PTC/Southern California sponsored reception -- a couple of us skipped out and went to Los Angeles to see the Dodgers play. Reports from those who attended suggest that it was also a great success. I must ask a question of those of you who drive the South California freeway system on a daily basis -- are you nuts??!!! You have my admiration(?) and I doubt if I will be so quick to complain about the tourist and elderly driving challenges of Florida. I was also impressed with the compliance of drivers in not violating the car pool lane restriction. My assumption is that they seriously enforce the $271 minimum fine. (One more question: 271??! How did they come up with such a neat, round number?)

The last night of the conference brought the WRIPAC sponsored reception on the hotel's golf course. In addition to food, friends, and liquid refreshment; a disk jockey got the group dancing. The program said the reception was from 5:30 to 7:00 but at 9:30 the dancers were still rocking. They did the chicken dance, the electric slide, a conga line, the maccarena and all sorts of things in between. (Be sure to check out the pictures at IPMAAC Online.) I think I can safely say, a good time was had by all!

One of the perks of being the IPMAAC President is the suite you stay in for the conference. In addition to performing his/her presidential duties it has become traditional for the President to host an open house/hospitality event one night, usually the last night of the conference. This year in Newport Beach was one of extravagance. The president's suite turned out to be an impressive villa complete with its own pool and terrace with 6 or 7 tables and chairs. Not only were the accommodations extravagant but Paul was extravagant with his generosity in opening up his "room" to the conference attendees every night. Each night you could find a group of IPMAAC'ers enjoying Paul's hospitality. Thank you, Paul!

Over the years a number of events, bizarre or unusually interesting, have occurred at IPMAAC conferences and gone on to become legend, a part of IPMAAC lore. There is the overhead projector incident and from last year's conference in Boston, the worm. (For those of you who have not heard them these two pieces of lore appear at the end of this article.) This year another legend was added to the lore - the water ballet!

Following Monday night's beach party a large number of people decided to keep the party going by reconvening at the Presidential villa. Several people decided to enjoy a dip in the pool. I'm not sure exactly what synergy took place but the next thing you know, we have water ballet! Harry Brull, Jeff Feuquay, Thomas Johnson, and Paul Kaiser put on a truly spectacular performance. The style, the pointed toes, the gracefully pirouetting hairy legs -- truly a site to behold! My only regret is that there are no pictures of this dazzling display...its only recording is in the legend that will undoubtedly live on.

(The overhead projector incident. At one conference a university professor was making a presentation and wished to share some information with his audience via the large screen in front of the room. To this end, he placed his pad of paper on the overhead projector and then became annoyed and confused when no image appeared - in fact the screen had gone totally dark! It was politely explained that tablets of paper were opaque and that you needed something transparent for the light to pass through to project the image on the screen.

The legend of the worm. One evening about 20 to 30 IPMAAC members were visiting with each other in one of the conference hotel's liquid refreshment establishments when a young woman challenged the men in the room to an arm wrestling competition. Two IPMAAC members answered the challenge and defeated her soundly. Seeking another means for establishing her superiority, she quickly moved the furniture aside to create a long open corridor down the middle of the room. She then placed herself face down on the floor and proceeded to undulate her body across the floor in an imitation of a human inch worm. Seeing the look of disbelief on so many faces, she repeated the performance. She may not have established her superiority but she did secure a place in IPMAAC conference history for herself.)

I know I haven't done the conference justice on either front but I hope I've given you a peek into what a great conference it was - both in program and social contexts. Please try and join us next year in Chicago. Jean Tozer, next year's Program Chair, will soon be issuing the call for proposals. Give some thought to presenting or to helping out on the Program Committee. Renee Jones has charge of the next year's Host Committee and I'm sure she would greatly appreciate your assistance. See you in Chicago!