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President's Letter

November 2005 - Letter from the President

The Passing of the Standard

It is hard to believe that 2005 is almost gone. We are approaching our last meeting of the year and the final meeting I will preside as your chapter president. Our October meeting yielded your new leadership team for 2006. Leading your Chapter has been a very enjoyable and educational experience for me. I would like to run down some of the accomplishments over the past two years.

Chapter Outreach Program

As a result of interest through University of Mary Washington and the Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico, a satellite membership group was formed with meetings bi-monthly starting this past March. A similar effort is under way with a group of our chapter members in the Charlottesville area. We are targeting February or March of 2006 for the first meeting there.

Richmond Joint Engineering Council(RJEC)

PMI CVC continued its partnership with the RJEC that was established in 2004 through participating with their board meetings and providing infrastructure assistance for joint meetings.

Partnership with the Greater Richmond Technology Council

Through our membership with the GRTC, our chapter members have enjoyed the programs at member prices and have received announcements of the great technology learning opportunities.

1st Annual Golf Tournament

Thanks largely to Luis Naranjo, PMI Central Virginia Chapter had its first annual golf outing. As VP-Marketing in 2006, Luis will grow this event.

K-12 Program Development

We have established a project team to develop a repeatable program to take to the high schools in the area and provide the fundamentals of project management to students.

Membership

Membership has been phenomenal. In May 2004, we had 759 members as compared to 1,192 as of the end of September 2005. This only shows how well-received and important project management is in today's working environment.

Certification

The chapter expanded its workshop to three full Saturdays at the request of our members. In partnership with the other PMI Region 5 chapters, PMI CVC has created updated workshop materials that reflect the myriad of changes in the PMBOK 3rd edition. 60% of our members are PMPs highlighting the success and importance of the Certification area.

Professional Development

With the influx of PMPs comes the need for Professional Development Units to maintain certification. The Professional Development stepped up to that challenge by offering four Saturday Seminars for a total of 18 PDUs. The seminars combined with the monthly Dinner Meetings are more than enough to keep our PMPs certified.

Your Participation

With membership on the rise, the need for additional services for our chapter constituency grows. In 2006 we add a new position to the Board, VP-Volunteerism, to help recruit and coordinate our volunteer network within the organization. This is where you can participate. Whether you have an hour a month or 10 hours per week, the Central Virginia Chapter can use you.

Summary

In closing I want to thank the members for their ongoing support, the many volunteers that have support the board objectives, and most importantly, those members who gave of their time and talents to serve as board members during my term as President.

I wish every member personal and professional success in 2006.

Respectfully,

Robert T. Berlin, MBA, PMP
President - PMI Central Virginia Chapter