Message from the Great Northwest Region Manager

SUSAN LORD REPORTS ON ARMA INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE AND MORE

Happy autumn to you! The Puget Sound geographical area just had a fabulous fall weekend with mostly sunny skies and mild temperatures. To celebrate this weather, my husband and I raked and scooped over 2000 pounds of horse chestnuts off our lawn and hauled them to the municipal yard-waste station. Oh my aching back!

It wasn’t that long ago that some of us were in sunny California at the 49th Annual ARMA Conference and Expo. What a terrific event! I had the pleasure of arriving a couple days early in order to attend ARMA International’s Board of Directors (BOD) meeting and to participate in Region and Chapter Leadership training. What a pleasant experience that was! On Friday, I was honored to be able to deliver an oral report on behalf of our GREAT NW Region to ARMA’s Board of Directors. It was an opportunity to highlight the accomplishments of our chapters in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington states. I was also able to relay to the Board, in person, a few concerns that members of our Region expressed to me. In addition, I was able to deliver positive messages about ARMA International from the Region. If you ever get a chance, do consider sitting in on an International Board of Director’s meeting as it is quite interesting.

Saturday was absolutely non-stop as it involved many training sessions for Region leaders as well as chapter leaders. I met many new people and continued to learn a great deal about ARMA.

For the first time, ARMA conducted a General Membership Meeting prior to the beginning of the conference on Sunday. While modestly attended, I think it was very appreciated by those in the audience, including myself. The meeting was led by President Dave McDermott. He delivered a comprehensive presentation on the current state of and goals of ARMA. One of those goals is called “Transparency” where the BOD is delivering to the Association information on what it is doing, including posting its agenda and “discernment” items on the International website. Mr. McDermott also discussed what the BOD believes to be the top twenty issues that have impact on our organization. This list is called their “Radar Screen” of issues. The top four issues are considered to be of the highest concern. The “Radar Screen” should be posted at arma.org and the Board is asking for comments from the members. After the formal presentation, the audience was invited to bring questions to the BOD. To be sure, there were some lively discussions!

I also attended the “Candidate Forum” that morning. This was a venue for those candidates running for ARMA International BOD positions in 2005. Each candidate had an opportunity to give a brief “stump” speech then a Q & A period followed. One of the candidates for a Board of Director seat is Bonnie Nadler from the Bellevue/Eastside Chapter. Good luck Bonnie!

I have to admit I was pretty tired BEFORE the actual conference got started, however, I never, NOT ONCE, fell asleep during an educational session! I believe the courses in Long Beach were really the best! I don’t think it was luck, either. I believe the Conference Program Committee really had its “finger on the pulse” of the membership and arranged for top-notch speakers with very pertinent subject matter. Some of my favorite courses were: “Access Rights to Business Data on Personally-Owned Computers” by John Montana; “Discovery, Spoliation, and Legal Holds: Issues Affecting Your RIM Policies” by John Isaza, Esq. (both of these topics were results of projects sponsored by ARMA International’s Educational Foundation); “Retention of Client Files in Law Firms-Ethics Opinions” by Beth Chiaese; and one of the most valuable courses, for me, was called “RIM 101-Technology Basics” by Rick Stirling.

Especially nice was a chance for the members of the Great NW Region to have lunch together on Monday of the conference. I believe there were nearly 50 of us there! It was so very nice to meet and greet the members of our Region. We are a lively bunch and that lunch hour went by too fast, I believe! I would like to extend my thanks to Great NW Region Coordinator Leslie Sturgeon for making all of the arrangements for the Region Luncheon. Her efforts were appreciated by us all!

There were evening events, too! I attended a “Welcome Party” aboard the Queen Mary. What a beautiful ship! I also attended the very nice Awards Banquet. While there were no awards given to our Region’s chapters this year, many of us met after the dinner and “toasted” our Region and the GNW Chapter Members of the Year. Sadly, I missed the Canadian Party, as prior to the event, I accidentally erased all of the Conference images I had taken on my digital camera. I was so remorseful, I couldn’t bear to go to the party!

The Conference was great! The educational sessions were outstanding! I expect the same next year in Chicago. If you have an opportunity, do plan to attend the 50th Annual ARMA International Conference and Expo in Chicago next September.

Very truly yours,
Sue Lord, Manager
Great NW Region