I am sure we are all glad that February has come to a close - too many snow storms wreaking havoc with our schedule of events. I want to thank all of you for your patience with our rescheduling of the February chapter meeting, especially our speaker Lee Lambert, his team and our Programs and Logistics teams. Although I could not attend due to a prior commitment, I understand the rescheduled meeting was terrific. And, of course, due to the blizzard we had to also cancel the February Breakfast meeting.
We are midway into the voting cycle to approve the amendments to the chapter By Laws. As you know from the email blasts and discussions, approval of the amendments to update our By Laws from their original drafting in 2002 is very important to the chapter. I thank those of you who have already voted and thank you again if your vote was to approve the amendments. If you have not as yet voted, please vote to approve the updated By Laws. You have until March 19 to vote. If you did not receive the SAFEVOTE email or you are unable to access the site, please contact Dillip Agnihotri, Director of Governance, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
The Programs and Learning & Development Teams are working hard at putting together some very good events and workshops for you. Lee Lambert will be returning on March 17 for a full day seminar on “Inspirational Leadership: Surviving in a Matrix Organization”. And, you can stay for the chapter meeting starting at 5:30 which will feature Jerry Manas speaking about “Managing the Gray Areas: Broader Perspectives”. But, make sure you register!
On April 12 the first of our new extended CDN meetings will happen. Dr. Jerry Julian will present “Facilitating Project Performance Improvement”. This presentation takes from Jerry’s new book of the same name. I have read it and it is very informative and educational. The CDN will be 2 ½ hours and cost $60 to members.
In response to the requests from many of you, the Learning & Development team is putting together webinars and workshops devoted to the Agile Framework, including Certified Scrum Master training. Watch the calendar for the dates.
The Professional Development Day (PDD) team has already started planning this year’s event which will be held on Friday, September 24. If you attended last year, you know this is great opportunity to network and hear some very good speakers. Save the Date!
Our friends across the river in the NJ chapter have scheduled their annual Symposium for May 2nd & 3rd. The theme is “Business Savvy Project Management”. Check
One issue I would like to address is the recurring situation of registration for the monthly programs filling up very quickly. I have put together a committee to look at the facilities that we looked into last fall plus any other larger facilities to see if we can move to larger space. An important fact that I want to make all of you aware of is that it may be necessary to begin charging a nominal fee to offset the costs of renting a facility and audio-visual equipment.
Before many of you start yelling at me about having to pay for meetings because you pay your $35 annual dues, you should know that NYC is the only chapter that presently offers three monthly meetings at no cost to the membership. The chapters surrounding us in the metropolitan area offer one dinner meeting and members must pay to attend.
Another project that is going on behind the scenes is that we are writing role descriptions for all Board, leadership and staff volunteer positions. This important to all of you because we want you to volunteer or run for a chapter officer position. You need to know what is involved in taking on one of these roles – skills needed, time commitment and benefits aside from the ability to earn PDUs.
I look forward to seeing you at our chapter meetings. If we have not as yet met, please come over and say hello. Also, feel free to email me at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Spring is Coming!
Karen Fox, PMP, CSM
President
