(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- Interested in improving your organization’s excellence? Then sign up for one of the two 2011 Baldrige Regional Conferences. This year, they’re being held in Missouri and Alabama.

Senior leaders from the seven organizations selected for the 2010 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, as well as representatives from previous award recipients, will share their best practices and results during the events on Sept. 13, 2011, at the Westin Crown Center in Kansas City, Missouri, and on Sept. 27, 2011, at the Renaissance Birmingham Ross Bridge Golf Resort & Spa in Birmingham, Alabama.

Participants can network with the recipients and gather valuable tips on organizational improvement, innovation, and performance management, as well as advice on how to successfully apply the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence.

The 2010 Baldrige Award recipients, listed with their category, are:
• MEDRAD, Warrendale, Pennsylvania (manufacturing)
• Nestlé Purina PetCare Co., St. Louis, Missouri (manufacturing)
• Freese and Nichols Inc., Fort Worth, Texas (small business)
• K&N Management, Austin, Texas (small business)
• Studer Group, Gulf Breeze, Florida (small business)
• Montgomery County Public Schools, Rockville, Maryland (education)
• Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital, Downers Grove, Illinois (health care)

Each of the regional conferences will feature an in-depth plenary session with the senior leaders from four of the 2010 award recipients, along with 18 interactive breakout sessions with leaders from current and former recipients.

A preconference workshop is being offered on the day before both conferences to familiarize those new to the Baldrige process with the basics of the Baldrige Criteria, the benefits of self-assessment and the resources available to help organizations begin an organizational excellence program. The workshop is not a prerequisite for attending the conference.

For more information about the conference, or to register online for it, go to NIST’s website. You can also contact the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program at (301) 975–2036 or baldrige@nist.gov. An early registration discount is available for the Missouri conference until Aug. 23, 2011, and for the Alabama conference until Sept. 6, 2011.

The 2011 Regional Conferences are co-sponsored by the Excellence in Missouri Foundation, the Alabama Productivity Center, and the Alliance for Performance Excellence.