While I was serving as President Elect in the later half of 2009 it was my responsibility to update the chapter’s Strategic Plan for the next three years. That coupled with the beginning of my term as President approaching, I realized had to begin thinking about what I wanted to accomplish as President. When I ran for the position I had some vague ideas about things I had seen as a member of the chapter leadership for several years and thoughts about what could be done better. As January was approaching, it was becoming real.
Before I articulate my vision for 2010, I need to ask something from you, our members. This past year our Governance Committee reviewed and updated our chapter By Laws, which were written in 2002. Language was updated, ambiguities were removed and Board roles and responsibilities were clarified. Our By Laws require approval of 2/3 of the voting membership. Our November membership was 2720. This means we need over 1800 votes to approve our updated By Laws. This is very important. I ask you to please vote.
I have to express my thanks to and admiration for our past chapter Presidents. They have given a great deal of energy and passion to the role and to the chapter. Personally, I was fortunate to have Beth Ouellette precede me as President. Beth has been a wonderful mentor and friend. I have learned a great deal from her.
My vision as President is twofold. It takes something from the past and something for the future.
The first part focuses on continuing Beth’s vision of Building Bridges for the Future. Building relationships with corporations, academic institutions, other organizations and our sister chapters are too important to set aside because we have changed Presidents. This is where our future members and leaders will come from. And, we have so much to learn by sharing information with other PMI chapters.
The second part of my vision relates to my concerns about the economic and job situation in New York City and its surrounding areas. The chapter leadership cannot get a job for you. However, we can create an environment for you to learn new skills and reinforce existing ones. Just as many other professions, the profession of project management is changing. It cannot remain stagnant. Those companies who follow a project management methodology do not just stick solely to the PMBOK. Many also follow the Agile framework. They use what works for the particular situation.
Over 2010 you will see that we will offer a variety of chapter meetings, workshops and seminars that will satisfy your curiosity about Agile or help you become Agile. We will also be offering topics in leadership.
One change you will see is a change to the Career Development Network. No, we are not eliminating it. But, on occasion we will deviate from the standard one hour format into a longer workshop format. This will give us the flexibility to provide an occasional more in depth discussion of a particular topic.
Finally, I encourage you to communicate with me, our Board and our Program Managers. Tell us what you like. Tell us what you don’t like. My email is This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Wishing everyone a great year!
Karen
