PAPOR has an illustrative history - with a small cadre of researchers and academics starting the chapter in the 1960's. The early years started with Mervin Field, who started the California Poll; Bill Nicholls, director of SRC; Will Pilcher, who worked for Levi Strauss; and Berkeley academics, among others.

The early years had intermittent conferences or one day sessions at the university. By the late 1970s and early 1980s, PAPOR was resuscitated with the help of Chuck Rund, president of Charlton Research. During that time, more members were recruited, and an attempt was made to have yearly conferences at Asilomar, not far from Monterey. It was a small group that talked and debated over hot political, academic, and research issues of the day. The weekend conferences were stimulating and successful. But it was not a cohesive group - most of the members at that time were from Northern California, with a smidgen of Southern Californians thrown in and no interaction once the conference was over.

In the mid-1980s, a group of public opinion researchers continued what Rund had started, including Mark DiCamillo, director of the California Poll, Debra Jay, President of Field Research, and myself, because we realized how important it was to share new ideas and problems presented to researchers, network with other researchers, and also to see what new, interesting research was being done.

To keep the chapter alive, we four would alternate executive council positions. We would also put on programs, alternating between northern and southern California. Plus a yearly conference was still held at Asilomar. This went on for a number of years, with just a small number of members trying to get PAPOR on its feet.

In the late 1990's, AAPOR, the national organization, became more active in helping the chapters, and they gave us the names of members who lived in the western region of the United States, as well as guidance as to how to motivate our members. Starting in 2001, with Pinkus as president and Rund as vice president, PAPOR became a more active Chapter. We enlarged the membership to include researchers from the western states (Utah, Arizona, Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Nevada) and got more of the members involved. Mollyann Brodie from the Kaiser Foundation became the first president of the new, improved PAPOR and with her enthusiasm and activism, the Chapter thrived. PAPOR now has over 100 members with more than 50 attending the yearly conference held in San Francisco.

We have panels that are important to the industry as a whole (i.e., cell phone usage, non-response rates, politics), including panels that also have significance for the western region; we also offer a short course at the conference, which has included courses from Don Dillman and Jon Krosnick. Plus we have a plenary that has brought AAPOR presidents to the conference.

For me, it has been such a joy to see PAPOR blossom. I feel like a proud parent watching the chapter grow. I hope you get a chance to come to our conference in December to network and interact with the members.