Hi Jim,
You write:
>While the IPC-related expenses of most members are underwritten by their
>employers, those of us who work for smaller companies in which we are
>typically shareholders, the fees effectively come out of our pockets.
A: True, IPC fees for small companies and individuals are disproportionately
high. You just have to determine whether having input and direct access is
important enough for you and your company.

>An even greater burden for individuals like myself is the necessity to
>contribute large amounts of time pro bono on committees whose decisions
>are ultimately determined by employees of the giant corporations.
A: False and circular argument. If you are not willing to contribute your
time and experience to committees, you have no leg to stand on complaining
that, "decisions are ultimately determined by employees of the giant
corporations." But in reality, even this is not true. Any member can
spearhead any effort for which a suffficient need or interest exist in the
membership. It is much less likely that a 'giant corporation' will have more
than one committee member [=one voice/vote], if any. The days of large
numbers of empoyees at an IPC meeting are over in today's economy.
I have been an IPC member for some 30 years, initially as the employee of one
of those 'giant corporations', the last 13 as an individual. Other than the
resources you have as an employee of one of those 'giant corporations', there
has been no difference in my ability to have my point of view heard.
I certainly was not happy with the initial tone of IPC's approach to the
lead-free issue, since I as well as many others perceived many of the
problems early on; and I do not think that the IPC leadership and perhaps
many of its members have fully grasped the problems with lead-free.
It clearly is a self-defeating attitude to not be an IPC member and thus have
no impact on issues of importance to you.
I certainly fully agree with Brian Ellis' view regards IPC--I am not quite as
pessimistic as he regarding the lead-free issue.

Werner Engelmaier

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