thoughtleaders
BY MITCH MAC DONALD, GROUP EDITORIAL DIRECTOR
THE DC VELOCITY Q&A
upbeat on
WERC
interview with
Michael Mikitka
In good economic times and bad, says
Michael Mikitka, there will be a need for
professional education—and for groups
like WERC that provide it.
THE TROUGH OF A RECESSION
might seem an unpropitious time to take
the helm of an influential trade association, but
you won’t hear Michael Mikitka complain. Though he
acknowledges that “economics have made membership a
more challenging product to sell,” Mikitka, who was recently
named executive director of the Warehousing Education and
Research Council (WERC), is quick to point out that a downturn doesn’t diminish the need for professional education and training. As long as there
are warehouses, managers will want information on how they can refine and
improve their processes—and that is precisely what his group intends to provide.
Education is a subject close to Mikitka’s heart. He began his career as a technical
writer preparing educational materials for the Property Loss Research Bureau, an
insurance trade association. He later moved to a job developing programming for
the group’s annual conference, a job he parlayed into a similar role at WERC, which
he joined in 2000.
Mikitka, who graduated from Illinois State University with a B.A. in
industrial/organizational psychology, holds the prestigious Certified Association
Executive (CAE) and Certified Meeting Professional (CMP) designations. He met
recently with DC VELOCITY Group Editorial Director Mitch Mac Donald to talk about
