ABQ CofC celebrates its hundredth year
Annual luncheon looks back while forecasting bright future
“A hundred years is a great time to look back, but it is an even better time to look forward,” Meg Meister, the new chairwoman of the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce told the group at its 100th annual meeting.
Wednesday’s luncheon focused heavily on the future but recognized the achievements of the past.
“This is the best time to be alive,” said Lowell Catlett, a futurist and retired New Mexico State University economist, the luncheon’s speaker.
Catlett spoke entertainingly about changing technologies in a changing world. Now in his 60s, he has seen men land on the moon using computers that are dwarfed in power by the average smart phone. He still remembers the day his childhood ranch home got indoor plumbing and electricity. His speech, full of humor and charm, looked back at the last 100 years, reviewing population figures, hunger and food production, prevalent technologies and socioeconomic trends. The second half looked forward at the coming century. He cited robotics and 3D printing as technologies that will paint the future. “The robotics wave is coming. Get ready,” Catlett said.
Meister earlier spoke about what she sees as a bright future for Albuquerque but also focused on the challenges of the present.
“We have got to get a handle on the crime,” Meister told the Journal after the event. “And it is something that we can do.”
As the new chairwoman, Meister plans to focus resources on the Chamber’s Bold Issues program, emphasizing three major concerns: education reform, public safety and Downtown transformation. “We say transformation because it is really big,” she said.
When asked about the next 100 years for the Chamber, Meister can’t help but be optimistic.
“We will continue to see innovation. With the National Labs here and the research university, I just can’t imagine we wouldn’t be a part of that digital age innovation,” Meister said. “I mean (Dr. Catlett’s) speech was eye-opening.”
Meister also believes that Albuquerque will always be a place that sparks people’s imaginations and draws them in. She will rely on that “cache” to build a platform for Albuquerque that can last another 100 years.