SUE LORD'S GREAT NORTHWEST REGION CONFERENCE WRAP-UP
The recent Great NW Region Conference, hosted by the Greater Anchorage Chapter of ARMA was a great success! Under the capable leadership of Anchorage Chapter President Larry Hayden, Seminar Co-chairs Renee Salvucci and C’Les Jensema and their Planning Committee arranged for the highest quality of speakers and an enjoyable Alaskan experience. Anchorage Chapter of ARMA should be commended for their hospitality, efforts and hard work. It truly was a “Real Adventure” in Records Management!
The conference, held at the very nice Anchorage Sheraton Hotel, was attended by over 100 people. There were 12 vendors present where attendees were able to stop by their booths and have an opportunity to discuss RIM products.
The conference was opened by ARMA International President-Elect David McDermott who presented a motivational talk entitled “Life is a Juggling Act”. Dave likened three areas of our lives – family, work and volunteerism – to juggling of different kinds of balls. The analogy was interesting. The “work ball” may be made of clay. Like clay, our work life can be molded into different shapes. If the clay ball is dropped, it can be re-shaped again. Dave said the “volunteerism ball” could be made of rubber. If it gets dropped, it can bounce back and be juggled again. However, the “family ball” is made of glass. If the glass ball gets dropped, it may break. Dave advised, “Don’t drop the glass ball!”
The conference contained two “tracks” of educational sessions. As an attendee, I found it very hard to choose between speakers! All of their presentations sounded very interesting. There were eight educational sessions on both Monday and Tuesday and two, including an interesting panel discussion, that closed the Conference on Wednesday. In addition, the conference featured cultural activities such as a troupe of Alaska Native Dancers who performed at opening ceremonies; a visit to the Alaska Native Heritage Center; and live music at Monday’s lunch and at the Conference Banquet on Tuesday evening. Great dancing music, it was, too!
One of the classes I attended was entitled “Privacy v. Security – A Delicate Balance” given by Juanita Skillman, former ARMA International President (2002-2003). What made this presentation so interesting was that Ms. Skillman compared privacy/security issues that we deal with here in the United States to our counterparts in Canada, Australia, and the European Union. For example, “Opt-In/Opt-Out” practices are not mandatory in the United States, but they ARE in the EU and Canada. Juanita explained that Americans tend to “tell anybody everything,” but Europeans, Canadians and Australians look at privacy very differently. So those countries “have instituted stringent new governmental regulations at the same time they are severely regulating private businesses and mandating increased security of personal information,” she said. Because of our culture, Juanita said, we are not so ready to put similar restrictions in place.
Alaska is a very beautiful state. If you ever have a chance to visit, GO! The next Great NW Region Conference will be held in the spring of 2006 at a location yet to be announced. Our region seems to have the habit of presenting very excellent conferences. I hope you will plan to attend the next one - it will be worth it!
Very truly yours,
Sue Lord
Great NW Region Manager
Communications by and for the members of the Greater Seattle Chapter of the Association of Records Managers and Administrators (ARMA), International. The chapter's Web site is at http://www.armaseattle.org. Earliest messages are at the bottom; later ones were added above them. Read from the bottom up.
