Baldrige Award Ceremony is Bonus for Attendees at Quest for Excellence

Register today for the 24th annual Quest for Excellence® conference and you’ll get something extra: an invitation to attend the ceremony and reception honoring the 2010 and 2011 recipients of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

Twenty-five current and past Baldrige Award winning organizations will share their best practices in leadership, strategic planning, customer focus and more at this year’s Quest, which will be held April 16-18, 2012, at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C. On the evening of Sunday, April 15, Quest attendees are invited to participate in the Baldrige Award ceremony and reception for the 11 most recent recipients of the nation’s highest Presidential honor for performance excellence through innovation, improvement and visionary leadership.

The 2011 Baldrige Award recipients—listed with their category—are:
Concordia Publishing House, St. Louis, Mo. (nonprofit)
Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, Mich. (health care)
Schneck Medical Center, Seymour, Ind. (health care)
Southcentral Foundation, Anchorage, Alaska (health care)

The winners of the 2010 Award are:
MEDRAD, Warrendale, Pa. (manufacturing)
Nestlé Purina PetCare Co., St. Louis, Mo. (manufacturing)
Freese and Nichols Inc., Fort Worth, Texas (small business)
K&N Management, Austin, Texas (small business)
Studer Group, Gulf Breeze, Fla. (small business)
Montgomery County Public Schools, Rockville, Md. (education)
Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital, Downers Grove, Ill. (health care)

Quest will feature two in-depth plenary sessions featuring the senior executives of the 2011 recipients, as well as numerous concurrent sessions from which to choose, including:

• Presentations by each of the 2011 recipients on their successful use of the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence;
• Special topic sessions on establishing and maintaining long-term customer relationships, innovation in health care, workforce engagement and building capacity for student success;
• Extended how-to lessons on getting started with Baldrige, executing Baldrige strategies, and using the criteria on a daily basis to maximize performance excellence; and
• Discussions on “Baldrige impacts” in business, health care and education.

Pre-conference workshops are available the afternoon of April 15, 2012, for beginner and intermediate users of the Baldrige Criteria. To enhance the learning environment, attendance at the workshops is limited, so early registration is recommended.

To register for or get more information about Quest, go to www.nist.gov/baldrige/qe. For more about the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, call (301) 975-2036 or e-mail baldrige@nist.gov.