The Facts:
I am a Quality professional, currently relocating from Southern California to Austin, Texas.  My original motivation for my degree in Industrial Engineering (from Cal Poly Pomona) was to improve the relationship of the person in the workplace, as well as helping companies run things better. I've always been working towards increasing the "Blue Pen" level in companies. 

For the last 7 years, I've been with Jazz Semiconductor, where I have improved cross departmental systems, software systems, and helped to implement 4 different ISO standards. Previously, I've worked in aerospace manufacturing and metals processing.

At home, I have a wonderful 16 year old son. He recently broke a tense situation by stating that I was acting completely "Red Pen." Since I was managing my time and focus, the only answer I could give at the time was yes. From that, we were able to move on, and re-focus and get our tasks done.

Update: since completing this survey, Cindi has moved to Austin, where she recently accepted a position with Austin Energy, the community-owned electric utility and a department of the City of Austin.

In2:IN Forum Attendance. In which years, if any, did you attend our Forum and what inspired you to attend?
I first learned about the Forum from another website link, but wasn't sure what it was about until I saw Bill Bellows at my local ASQ meeting in October 2005. From there, I tried the Ongoing Discussions, and made it to the Forum in 2006, and also in 2007.

Tell us about a recent "a ha" moment
The more time I spend with the network, the more "a-ha" moments I have. This morning, I was looking at a list of the top 500 foreclosure cities in the United States. Of course someone is on the list!

What book(s) are you reading now?
Openness Works by Annie Barron. Openness is so important in organizations to be able to learn, and build upon existing diversity.   At the July Kepner-Tregoe class at Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, I met Anthony Godinez, who graduated from Redlands High school the year before me and who works for the company profiled by Annie, R.W. Lyall.

What recent book have you read that you consider both beneficial and readable?
Profit Beyond Measure by Tom Johnson. This book has been out some time, but is simply amazing in the comparison of living systems and how we run our business systems. I've been sharing so much from this book with others, from the accounting approach of Toyota to the give and receive relationships seen in living systems compared to the driving relationships in business by counting the parts as if there is no interaction.

What advice do you have for people new to In2:IN?
The network has so much to offer, from the monthly phone calls to the annual forum. The interesting thing is that the more you engage, the more you will get out of it.