Inside Behavior Analysis
Volume 1 | 2009 | Number 1
Organizational Behavior Management Network
By John Austin
The OBM Network, founded in 1982, exists in order to develop, enhance, and support the growth and vitality of Organizational Behavior Management through research, education, practice, and collaboration.
Since 2002, I have been Director of the OBM Network, and now it is time for me to step down and hand the organization over to Dr. Heather McGee, who will serve as the new Director. We have seen great change in the organization since 2002, mostly thanks to the OBMN officers (mostly graduate students and faculty) who have volunteered their time to help the organization to grow.
The membership year of the OBM Network begins and ends on January 1. Year-to-date in 2009, the Network has approximately 200 members. In 2008, we had approximately 300 members.
In 2006, the OBM Network adopted a graduated cost membership plan, similar to that of ABA, based on the GDP of the potential member's home country as relative to the US-GDP. More information on membership and how to join can be found at www.obmnetwork.com (Membership Coordinator: Sarah VanStelle).
The OBM Network has been working at improving the dialogue between academics, consultants, and business professionals. In this regard, we held our first annual OBM Network conference in Cocoa Beach, FL, in February, 2009. 150 people attended the conference, which featured speakers such as Leslie Braksick, Aubrey Daniels, Howard Lees, Scott Geller, Bruce Faulkner, Terry McSween, Jon Bailey, Bill Abernathy, Nicole Gravina, Manny Rodriguez, and Steve Roberts. Feedback from the conference was quite positive, indicating that attendees really appreciated the event and found it worthwhile.
The OBM Network Web site (Webmaster: Doug Johnson) has consistently grown in size and number of visits over the past years to between 50 and 60,000 hits per year.
Some highlights from the Web site include a new look; on the newest version of the Web site, there is site search capability; a Journal of Organizational Behavior Management information page; and a store/donations page. There are numerous free resources on the Web site about OBM and more are added every month. Finally, our Google discussion group – established in 2006 – on which all members of the OBM Network can post messages and anyone from the public can read dialogues; now has approximately 500 members.
Three issues of the online newsletter (Newsletter Editor: Krystyna Orizondo) are sent to members each year. Many articles published were contributed by leaders in the field including: Tim Ludwig, Dave Wilder, Manny Rodriguez, Bill Redmon, and others. Most newsletter articles are viewed hundreds of times within six months of being posted in the articles section on the Web site. In addition, through a cooperative agreement with Taylor & Francis, all OBM Network members receive four hard copy and electronic (on-line access) issues of the Journal of Organizational Behavior Management each year.