IOPP President Jane Chase / Ameristar Awards!

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How can you network and grow your potential in packaging? 
who can you reach out to for that new opportunity? 
Why are Ameristar Awards so prestigious? 

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Transcript

Cory Connors: 0:31

Welcome to Sustainable Packaging with Cory Connors. Today's guest is Jane Chase, the Executive Director of the IOPP. How are you, Jane?

Jane Chase: 0:40

I'm doing well. How about you, Cory?

Cory Connors: 0:42

Good. I'm excited to interview you. The IOPP is such an awesome organization and has such a big impact on the world of packaging. But before we get into the whole IOPP thing, let's talk about you and your background. What got you to adhere to this position?

Jane Chase: 0:57

So, I've been in the packaging industry for 30 plus years, but I am a non traditional kind of packaging person, mechanical engineering degree, masters and engineering management and found my way into packaging. after doing several different roles, finally found my niche and packaging, coming in nontraditional. 1 of the important programs that has is their certified packaging professional. and so coming in, I wanted to get the street creds along with that certification to show the, all those real packaging engineers that, there's other ways to get into the industry.

Cory Connors: 1:39

That's a big deal. Yeah, well done. let's talk a little bit about, the IOPP. What does that stand for? Why is that an important acronym for packaging professionals to know?

Jane Chase: 1:48

So, I OPP stands for it's the Institute of packaging professionals and we're the largest individual membership organization in the packaging industry. there's a lot of organizations that are large, but they'll typically have companies. As their members, so they're more trade organization than individual. our mission is all about providing educational and networking opportunities to empower packaging professionals to succeed in their career. So we're all about you.

Cory Connors: 2:20

Yeah, and I've heard the same thing from many people that are members, like, like I am, and you are, that this is an opportunity to network and to build your community in the world of packaging, because between you and me, that's such an important thing in our industry to, to know who does what and how you can help each other. this industry is known for that being, very, gracious and allowing people to, spread the word organically about what you do and who you are. how do people network in the IOPP? there's events that you get together.

Jane Chase: 2:57

we have 21. local chapters throughout the U. S. and they will typically have, if not monthly 3 or 4 meetings through the year. So people in that area can, be able to get together with their peers. And network that way we have a community based discussion board where they can connect with each other are 3300 plus members can post questions to their. Their network there, and get answers. We have, about 60 percent response rate to those questions. And again, everything that's posted doesn't necessarily need an answer. We also have a mentor match program within the pack chat community. So you can go in, sign up as a mentor or a mentee and make a match there. So a lot of different ways to, connect where all the trade shows as well.

Cory Connors: 3:59

I've had a very, fortunate, string of mentors and, been very thankful for that. And now I'm repaying that by mentoring others. I think this industry, if you ask people for help, they will generally say yes. And, that's when I met you at the university of Wisconsin stout pack jam. That's what I was talking about. reach out to people, ask them for help. tell them what you're trying to accomplish and, and they will certainly almost always say, Yeah, sure, I can help you. Or if I can't help you, this is who I would recommend. And, it seems like that's an excellent opportunity. You mentioned, going to shows as well as, tell us about what you do at the shows.

Jane Chase: 4:42

Pack Expos are the main shows that we do. We'll have a booth so our membership can stop by and visit with us. We always list all of our certified packaging professionals on the back board. So we have a highlighter and want them to their accomplishment. Some of our technical committees, that's another way to network. and those technical committees will meet at the shows as well. the, MDM show that is out in Anaheim and every spring, our medical device packaging technical committee to gather a course for us, particularly around medical device packaging. So, we're there with an educational opportunity. we speak at the, different stages at Pack Expo. We'll provide speakers there. So we're very active when we are at the shows.

Cory Connors: 5:37

Sounds like a great partnership you have with, that team over there at Westpac and at, the, PMMI for, PacExpo. That's great. I can tell you, I really enjoyed your Ameristar presentation at Pack Expo, this last year. Let's talk about Ameristar awards and what they are and how people get involved with that.

Jane Chase: 5:57

the Ameristar program, part of our, networking and education is we're also about recognizing the accomplishments of the packaging professionals in the industry. So, every spring, we sponsor what is, the Ameristar awards. it's 1 of the most prestigious. awards and the most broad based in the industry, because we are in so many different categories, whether it be beverages, food and beverage, drug and pharma, medical device, health and beauty, cosmetics, industrial, we have 17 different categories. so there's something for everyone. 2 years ago, we added a sustainable packaging category. So, that is a category, above and beyond, the reason that it's so prestigious is because it's very rigorous and it's judging you're judged by, subject matter experts, your peers in the industry, we have a very broad. judging criteria that the packages need to meet, whether it's economics, the environmental impact, innovation, marketing, package performance, product protection. So it's not just, does the package look pretty, it's gotta be something that, that really, is. And add to the industry

Cory Connors: 7:19

was that's great. It's great to hear. It's not just a beauty contest. It's a function is important as well. absolutely critical. So you'll hand these awards out again at Pack Expo in Chicago.

Jane Chase: 7:32

Yes, absolutely. Yeah, I'm had 1 of the forum stages. last time we were in Chicago, we expect to do the same thing. it's always wonderful to get everybody together to, celebrate the other thing that we do is at the show. we pick a, the people will stop at the booth. We will have on display all of the Ameristar awards, and they can vote for the people's choice. So they actually get to pick their favorite. last year, best in show was very much an environmental winner. they won an Ameristar in the sustainability category, but Annies certified industrial compostable. Molded fiber a cup. I had to use their description won not only a sustainable Ameristar, but also the best in show. So we're very that they took that home.

Cory Connors: 8:23

Very beautiful containers, but very functional containers and incredibly sustainable. I know the team over there has been working on those for several years. that's an impressive, performance. Also, my friends at Scotch Cushion Lock were, won an award as well. That was fun to see. And, they very well deserved, the people that I saw rewarded were innovations that were, I was very impressed with. So that was exciting, to see that the winners were really, a big deal in the industry. Well done. your team has done a good job selecting.

Jane Chase: 9:00

Well, and the thing that excites me is we're able to give recognition to these packages. we do the press release. So it goes out there. We partner with. packaging world magazine makes the announcement. So it's out in the world there. we have over 24, 500 followers on LinkedIn. so anyone who's not following us, please go in and follow us because that's where you'll find out everything that we're up to. but we post each of the winners on our LinkedIn page and, they can use that as their foray to get that out to all of their followers. So it's a great way to. To get that recognition for your packaging and yourself,

Cory Connors: 9:40

right? and LinkedIn has become such a great way to network and to explain to the community, which is a very robust community on LinkedIn about sustainable packaging and sustainability in general. And. Well, packaging in general, I should say. so that's exciting. How do people sign up to be members of the IOPP?

Jane Chase: 10:01

You can just go on to our website. I O P P dot org and there's a join button right in the middle of the home page. Click there and you can become a member. I always have an issue with the whole membership thing because we have so many different benefits that are so broad and every benefit is not going to be. Applicable or speak to everyone. So I would really encourage people to go on the website and just look at the breadth of what we do. it's an organization that's been really good to me early in my career. I had the opportunity, the first IOPP meeting that I showed up, at the Minnesota chapter. I walked away as the treasurer, nine months later, I was the president and then got involved in the national organization early on. It was huge in me, building my network. And then I think you get to a certain point in your career where there's a switch that. Lips a little bit and it's like, you are really good to me. You helped and to your point. It's people are more than willing to give back and really I'm thrilled to be helping build the next generation.

Cory Connors: 11:18

Yes. and I feel the same way. Yeah. I'm excited about it. It's an honor to be able to help younger people in the industry, grow and learn and be more sustainable and, help their customers be more sustainable. So, yeah, well said. Anything else that you wanted to tell us before we let you go?

Jane Chase: 11:36

No, I'm just thrilled to have been here and I'm had the chance to chat with you. our meeting at, the Jamboree was fortuitous. I appreciate you having me on and I so appreciate every podcast you do everything you do to help get the message out on sustainability and I'd love to have the Ameristars. Help out to get the recognition to those sustainable packaging that they deserve.

Cory Connors: 12:03

Thank you. Jane. I appreciate your wisdom. I appreciate what you do in the industry and, I'll encourage people to reach out to you and the team at ILPP. Thank you. Excellent.