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President's Letter

March 2008 - Letter from the President

Hello again PMI CVC members and Project Management community!  As 2008 gets underway, the chapter and PMI Global want you to get involved.

Region 5 Symposium
“Striving for Excellence in Project Management” is the theme for the April 2-5 event in Baltimore, MD.  Registration is open and available at http://www.pmiregion5.org. 

PMI CVC has helped sponsor this event with many chapters throughout Region 5.  Our goal is to bring high quality education and speakers to our members by partnering with other chapters.  I strongly encourage you to look at the region Website, each of the courses and instructors are interesting, educational, topical, entertaining and well-worth the registration.

Are you interested in Portfolio Management, PMP or CAPM certification, leadership and other soft skills, the new PgMP credential, Risk Management, Earned Value, WBS development, team building or Agile development?  These topics and many more will be covered in the 4-day symposium.  Hard to believe one could find a 4-day event with so many talented speakers covering such a wide variety of topics, not to mention it’s only a few hours from home.  Check out the details and get registered: http://www.pmiregion5.org.

Provide Feedback on the 4th Edition PMBOK® Guide
PMI would personally like to invite all PMPs and practicing project managers to take a few minutes to review this document and join in promoting worldwide excellence in project management.  This document is only as good and as relevant as its contributors.

Make sure PMBOK® Guide remains the profession’s premiere resource. Comment Now.

Also, comment on PMI’s Program Management Standards, Portfolio Management Standards and OPM3 Standards. These draft standards will remain open to public review and comment until March 22, 2008. 

Friendly Reminder: Keep Your PMI Messages Coming
Our communications to you are dependant on your personal information on file with PMI Global.  Membership data is sent to us from PMI monthly and we use that information to update our database and send communications to you.  Please login to the PMI.org Website and update your personal information to stay informed on your local Project Management community!

Kudos for Our Awesome Volunteers
I think we all can agree that our dinner meetings, certification workshops and professional development seminars are all continuing to improve.  How do I know?  We get your feedback and always strive to make things better.  Attendance is up, in fact, we are nearing sold-out capacity at many events.  All of this is possible through our dedicated, hard-working volunteers!!!

As time goes by, we lose volunteers as people’s lives change, they move away, become busy with family life or take on demanding professional roles.  We have recently seen a surge in new volunteers in our organization and we are very proud to see so many people step-up and give back to the community.  We also continue to cherish those who have volunteered for years with the chapter.  We depend on you as the chapter becomes larger and offers more services to the membership.  We may not be a life-saving organization like the Red Cross or United Way, but we are a life-improving organization. 

I have enjoyed all the volunteer work I’ve done for this chapter.  It is a deeply rewarding feeling to have an impact on other Project Managers, help someone find a great professional opportunity, become certified or just make new friends while working on a fun project that doesn't’t involve the stress of the working environment.  If you are not involved, I encourage you to talk to any of the board members about becoming involved now.  Don’t wait, we need your help today

.New Events in 2008
The Board of Directors is working hard to put together some exciting new services this year and we hope they are of interest to you and that you will participate at some level.  Watch for more information on:

• Our Annual Golf Tournament – this event sold out last year so get involved early!  Contact Ed Hellermann at vp.marketing@pmicvc.org to sponsor or volunteer.
• PMI CVC’s Partnership with Habitat for Humanity (HFH) – we are just starting conversations with HFH so stay tuned.  Ed Hellermann is working on this effort, so please contact him at vp.marketing@pmicvc.org.
• CVC’s partnership with members in the Lynchburg area to support events – growing demand for PDUs around Lynchburg has prompted discussions around how PMI CVC can help.  Sharon Robbins has been the point of contact on this so far, so please contact her at past.president@pmicvc.org if you would like to help.
• A possible Job Fair and Professional Development Day – we are beginning to gauge interest in such an event in Richmond.  If you would like to be involved, please contact Jennifer Perrin at vp.volunteerism@pmicvc.org.
• A possible Social Hour type of event – planning has not started, but we would make better progress if you would like to help.  Please contact Bethany Bryans at vp.membership@pmicvc.org.

Bringing all these events and services to our membership places a lot of demand on our supporting committees like Communications, Finance and Marketing.  If you have questions about what kind of help is needed, please contact the board members and ask.  We have many jobs that can fit into your schedule and areas of interest.  Our VP of Volunteerism, Jennifer Perrin, helps to coordinate our volunteers and find a person for every job and a job for every person.  Feel free to contact her as well at vp.volunteerism@pmicvc.org.

We look forward to bringing you some great and new events in 2008, but we need your help to get it done. As always, if you have any questions about anything chapter or Project Management related, feel free to contact me.

Thanks and I look forward to seeing you at an upcoming meeting!

Best Regards,
Christina Morgan, PMP
president@pmicvc.org
2008 Chapter President, PMI CVC