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President's Letter

March 2007 - Letter from the President

Letter from the President

We have had an exciting start to our new year! Our Volunteer Recognition meeting on January 18th was the largest chapter meeting we have held in our chapter history -- we had around 170 PMI members, volunteers and guests attend this annual event.

Our Volunteer Recognition meeting is usually special, but this event topped them all. We recognized each PMI CVC volunteer for their positive impact on our chapter and had Gail Blanke, author of Between Trapezes, Flying into New Life with the Greatest of Ease speak to us about Stepping into Our Power. Her simple question of us was “How good could you make it?” We live in a world that is more unpredictable and ever-changing than at any time before. Not only is change a constant in our lives, but the rate of change is constantly accelerating. She set out some guiding principles for us to use in our work and our lives. If you missed her presentation and are interested in learning more, she has a website www.betweentrapezes.com.

The Board is taking some very positive steps on our objectives for this year. Take a look at some of our activities below

Chapter meetings We had a robust volunteer organization in place for our West End meetings to get these meetings established this past year. We have now signed up a number of new volunteers to focus on the Southside meetings, to bring this same level of support to those meetings. This will allow the chapter to sustain and support two energetic meetings in Richmond each month, without over burdening our volunteers. If you come to our Southside meetings, please thank our new volunteers for stepping up!

In 2005, PMI CVC partnered with the PMI Washington DC chapter to support an outreach program in the Quantico / Stafford area. We have engaged with the current leaders of this effort to understand what additional support PMI CVC can provide to the group, and to solidify the communications of these events to our chapter members that live or work north of Richmond.

We have enlisted volunteers to explore having meetings in the Charlottesville area. We will be communicating with members in this area to see what meeting format would work for this region.

Certification

Each year the Certification committee, continues its improvement of the certification materials. This year is no different. The committee is already in high gear looking at new exam materials, and refining the slides for the Spring PMP Prep workshop scheduled for April 21, April 28 and May 5th.

Chapter Outreach Program

Several companies have approached PMI CVC to request that we provide additional services for their employees that manage projects. We are initiating a dialog with these groups to determine what services are needed, and identify how we can better support them.

Corporate Governance

The Board has certain fiduciary responsibilities in running a not-for-profit organization. So far this year PMI CVC has renewed its Charter with PMI Global operations, established and approved the operating budget for the year, and is currently revising the Chapter bylaws. These bylaws, once approved by PMI Global Operations, will be presented to the chapter members for a vote.

This is a small subsection of the activities the Board and our volunteers are working on to better serve you, our members, and reach out to the Central Virginia community. Please visit the website or contact any Board member for more details on any of our initiatives or events.

If you have any ideas on how PMI CVC can provide value to you or other professional organizations in the Centra Virginia area, please send me an e-mail at president@pmicvc.org or give me a call at 804-662-2792. I will be happy to talk with you or meet with you to ensure you get the most from PMI CVC!

Best regards,
Sharon

Sharon Robbins, PMP
President, PMI Central Virginia Chapter