Welcome to the California Blood Bank Society website. I consider it an honor and a privilege to serve as the president of the CBBS this year. We have a great organization with an important yet simple mission, to help save the lives of people who need blood. The vehicle we employ to accomplish this lofty goal is quality education. Our Mission Statement goes on to state that CBBS supports health care professionals involved in Transfusion Medicine by providing objective education, strengthening professional relationships, responding to regional issues and encouraging collaborative efforts.

This has been a difficult year for many of us. Failing financial markets, business closures, layoffs, loss of property value and the reduction of government programs have all taken a toll on our economy. In addition, changes in the business climate have affected the ability of some of our institutional members to send their employees to some of our educational events.

I am happy to let the membership know that despite the difficult economy, the CBBS is fiscally sound and will offer the same high value educational programs with no increase in membership dues or registration fees for the next year. I wish to remind members of the Educational Fund which is available to assist individuals in attending seminars and the annual meeting. There is a simple application process outlined on our website, and the benefit is available to both members and non-members who wish to apply.

CBBS provides our individual and institutional members with incredible value. Benefits include discounted registration for our Regional Seminars and Annual Meeting, the CBBS Today publication, and member access to the CBBS Website. Institutional members are able to post job openings on the website, and can send a representative to the meetings at no charge. The Board of Directors is working with the Membership Committee to further enhance benefits for all of our membership.

Our educational programs feature excellent speakers from within our organizations as well as experts from throughout the U.S. Our planning committees put together high-quality programs to meet the needs of individuals who work in all areas of blood banking. Seminars include specific information for donor recruiters, administrators, collections staff, product management, laboratory staff, compliance and quality assurance staff and physicians. Specialty areas such as bone and tissue banking and hematopoietic progenitor cell transplantation are also covered. As our planning committees develop the programs, they refer directly to topics requested by our attendees and thus are able to provide our membership with the information that they request in a timely manner.

Our website has many outstanding features. The CBBS e-Network Forum encourages collegial discussion among blood banking and transfusion medicine professionals. 2010 marks the 10th year that the forum has been operated under the expertise of Ira Shulman, M.D. The job listings available on the website are an excellent resource, as are the fast-breaking news postings. We appreciate receiving partial support for the website from the American Red Cross.

We are fortunate in California to have many well-know experts in the field of Transfusion Medicine who are able to share their expertise with the membership. In addition to these experts, many excellent speakers within our organizations are ‘discovered’ as they are first asked to write articles for CBBS Today or speak at regional seminars, and then are able to share their knowledge at the annual meeting. Because we operate with a shorter lead-time in planning our educational seminars, we often are the first to directly address cutting-edge issues.

What is unique about the CBBS is that we are able to accomplish our lofty goals through the hard work and dedication of our membership. I liken it to a pyramid scheme – not the kind that brought down our financial markets, but a positive pyramid, where the membership actively contributes to the success of the organization. As each of us works for the good of the organization, each of us receives immeasurable benefits in knowledge, relationships, networking, and experience in communication.

In my 20 years as a part of the CBBS, I have found that the more I give to the organization, the more I get out of it, enhancing my own professional career. I am impressed with the number of members who have volunteered countless years for the organization, even after serving on the Board of Directors, many of our veteran members continue to contribute to the CBBS through committee work, through speaking and writing, and through assisting at our events.

What is even more exciting to me is seeing new professionals in blood banking get involved in the organization. I joined CBBS at the urging of my Manager and Medical Director, and I would like to ask institutional members to encourage their staff to join CBBS. In addition, I would like to encourage each of our individual members to become involved – join a committee, volunteer to write or speak, help out at a seminar. That is where the strength of our organization is found.

I look forward to seeing many of you at our regional seminars this fall and winter, and to seeing all of you at our 56^th Annual Meeting on April 21-24 at the Hyatt Regency Orange County.

Carol Wilson, MT(ASCP)SBB
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Los Angeles, CA
July 23, 2009