| A Message from the Vice-President of Membership — Alex Hamer, PMP |
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Last month our new president, Vijay, offered you his vision on three pillars for the Chapter for 2010. It should come as no surprise that membership forms the first pillar. My perspective is that it is also the most critical -- after all, both our volunteers and our finances come from membership! Vijay has asked me to write an article introducing myself and also expanding on his initial thoughts in this area.
Professionally, I have been working in IT in one form or another for 15 years now: as a programmer, as a project manager, and most recently as a software development director. Although I'm not longer a PM full-time, I still manage projects (I can't get away!), and recently I have been exploring the use of agile concepts and Scrum to manage software development. I am currently managing a major conversion project to modernize much of my company's technology.
At the end of 2008 I was elected as the VP of Membership. I see my primary role as an advocate for membership at the board level. In the past year we have initiated some new activities to help us better understand and gauge what you are seeking from the Chapter, and this year we are looking to increase our activities in this area. A primary focus we have at the board level is our membership attrition -- every year about one in four members chooses not to renew their membership. Our belief is that we need to increase our membership engagement and our understanding of what you want in order to reduce this attrition rate.
This year we will be running several new programs directed toward this purpose. The most important one will be the introduction of small, informal networking opportunities which will also serve as focus groups. We will be randomly inviting members to these events as attendance will be capped at 15. In addition, expect to see more volunteers circulating at our monthly speaker event, asking questions and looking to learn more about you and what you want out of your chapter. Our expectation is that both of these activities will provide a much richer level of feedback than a widely distributed survey (although you can expect one of those as well!).
On a final note I'd like to add that the onus doesn't just rest with the board of directors in increasing membership engagement. We are all equal members of the Chapter, and any one of you should feel free to contact any member of the board to share your opinion, good or bad, on how we're doing and what we're doing. If you feel strongly enough about something, you might end up becoming a volunteer in order to see it happen, but that's the beauty of a membership-driven association.
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| Announcement |
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Beginning in March, CWCC PMI will be launching a new Quarterly Newsletter. It will be accessible from the Chapter's website as a PDF file. We encourage Chapter members to share their expertise with the project management community by submitting short, interesting articles.
Article requirements:
- MS Word format - from 300 to 1000 words
- Free of commercial content
- Not previously published; or, if previously published you must have the rights to re-publish it in the Chapter Newsletter
- An optional short biography of the author, with contact information, may be included
- Sample topics: Communications in a Virtual Team; Selling Yourself as a Contractor; Leveraging Social Media
- Submit articles to director.publicrelations@pmi.bc.ca
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| Program Events |
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DETAILS for all Monthly Program events
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| Education |
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Two spring PMP Exam Prep Courses! Starting March 20 - every 2nd Saturday. Five-day boot camp from March 22 - 26. Register now at http://pmi.bc.ca/
Are you interested in taking your Project Management skill to the next level? PMI-RMP certification might be a solution for you! For details http://pmi.bc.ca/Default.aspx?tabid=1120
Congratulations Jeff McKay - the 4th CWCC PMI member to receive the PMI-RMP designation. The Chapter will be offering our own in-house PMI-RMP exam-prep course later this year. For details Click Here
If you are a PMP, a CWCC PMI chapter member in good standing, and keen to give back to the profession as an Instructor, we would like to hear from you. Contact education@pmi.bc.ca
DETAILS for all Education initiatives
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| Professional Development |
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| Topic: |
Practical Portfolio Management - Selecting & Managing the Right Projects |
| Date: |
Friday March 26, 2010 |
| Location: |
Holiday Inn Express Hotel Metrotown
4405 Central Boulevard, Burnaby Map |
| Speaker: |
Jamal Moustafaev, MBA, PMP
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| What You Will Receive: |
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- In this interactive workshop you will learn how to manage and balance project portfolios and how to link them to corporate strategy
- 7 PDUs for this event
- EARLY BIRD rates end March 4th 2010 - Limited spaces available
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| To register: |
http://pdeventmar2010.eventbrite.com/ |
Information: Click here |
DETAILS for all Professional Development Events
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| Volunteers |
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Spring Volunteer Orientation Seminar: Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Are you a new Chapter volunteer - or just thinking about volunteering? Expand your professional network! Sharpen your leadership skills! Watch for registration details soon at http://www.pmi.bc.ca.
DETAILS for all Volunteer Opportunities
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| New Members |
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The Chapter has New Member Orientations. Sessions are held each month at the Vancouver Central Library!
DETAILS for New Members
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| Toastmasters |
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The Chapter has started a Toastmasters Club and meetings are now being held on a regular basis!
DETAILS for all CWCC PMI Toastmasters Club Events
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| Mentorship |
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There is a NEW mentorship program starting in Jan 2010.
DETAILS for both Mentorship programs
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| Communications |
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Network with fellow Canadian West Coast Chapter Members on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com
DETAILS about what LinkedIn can do for you!
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| Board Meeting Minutes |
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CLICK HERE for Board Meeting Minutes (Members Only)
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| Platinum Sponsors |
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Click here to download a free trial of Microsoft Project Professional 2007
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| Corporate Sponsors |
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If you want your own webpage on our site, or to review other sponsorship opportunities, check out our Sponsorship info. For specific questions,
send a note to publicity@pmi.bc.ca.
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registered on the website yourself. We are using an automatic DEP import to create and manage Chapter Member accounts.
Your User ID and, initially, your password are your PMI ID. Please Unregister any additional accounts you have created.
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