Cherry blossoms won't be the only things flowering in Washington, D.C., during the first week in April. Quality, innovation and performance excellence will be in full bloom at the 23rd annual Quest for Excellence Conference. Registration is now open at https://secure.asq.org/conferences/quest-for-excellence/2011/registration.html for the April 4-6, 2011, event that will showcase the best practices and lessons learned of the seven 2010 Baldrige Award recipient organizations along with those from past awardees as well.

The conference will kick off with an in-depth plenary featuring the senior executives of the 2010 recipients, followed by 60 concurrent sessions from which to choose. In these sessions, current or past Baldrige Award recipients will present their proven strategies and real-world insights on:

• improving an organization's performance results, including product outcomes, student learning results and health care outcomes;
• enhancing leadership effectiveness;
• building customer and employee engagement;
• increasing organizational innovation to gain and sustain competitive advantages;
• improving process management;
• creating an environment that fosters social responsibility and ethical behavior; and
• increasing organizational sustainability

Pre-conference workshops are available on April 3, 2011, 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.

The 2010 Baldrige Award recipients—listed with their category—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)

For more about the 2010 Award recipients, see the Nov. 23, 2010, announcement news release "Seven U.S. Organizations Honored with the 2010 Baldrige National Quality Award" at http://www.nist.gov/baldrige/baldrige_recipients2010.cfm. For questions about the Quest for Excellence Conference, contact the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program at (301) 975-2036 or baldrige@nist.gov.