Thursday, July 10, 2008

2008 Leadership Conference “Five stars! It was the most engaging, inspirational and motivational presentation I have ever been to!"


2008 GNW Region Leadership Conference (June 20 & 21 in Tacoma, Washington) was a success -- I give it two thumbs up and five stars! It was the most engaging, inspirational and motivational presentation I have ever been to --Tina Brickley, ARMA member of Greater Seattle Chapter.

The conference had a Hollywood theme, and the different segments were separated with "Take 1, take 2, etc." Leading lady Susan Lord (Great Northwest Region Manager and incoming ARMA International Board Member) was mesmerizing with an all-star cast: the charismatic Sharon Alexander-Gooding, an educator from the University of West Indies and on the ARMA International Board of Directors made the long journey from Barbados to Tacoma to co-star and gave a very informative, inspirational talk on ARMA International. She truly made the audience feel the impact of ARMA on the world and broadened our horizons about what ARMA is doing worldwide.

Another shining star Susan Whitmire informed us about the ARMA International Education Foundation, which is an organization dedicated to "advance the knowledge in the field of information management through the funding of research and education." (See Foundation Mission Statement). The foundation has scholarships you can apply for and they are happy to accept donations, contact the organization to find out more
at http://www.armaedfoundation.org/. Also, Susan was selling $5 drawing tickets for winners to receive admission to the ARMA conference coming up in Orlando (2009) after the Vegas (2008) conference. If you want a drawing ticket, please contact Andrea Bettger, who has the tickets locally and she will bring them to the August 15 meeting.

Also making a memorable and impressive appearance was Tom Killam, ARMA International Director of Member Services. Killam encouraged all of us to tap into the ARMA resources available to us, especially the ARMA online courses and information about RIM accreditation. There are so many resources available to us to improve and broaden our knowledge in our field and be better at what we do. Killam also gave us thought provoking ideas and encouraged us to contribute our ideas to develop better, stronger chapters that work more effectively. He also encouraged us to not only focus on our membership drive to attract new members, but also to keep the existing members engaged by keeping in touch with them and encouraging them to participate in various activities.

Dale Mask, a trainer from ALLIANCE also gave us thought-provoking ideas about the different kinds of leaders and managers that we work with and how to deal with them effectively by recognizing their styles and knowing how best to get positive results by working with them using the right methods. I feel I gained knowledge that I was able to take to my job and benefit me the very next week! He also gave us assignments as
individuals and as small groups and we found that the results we achieved as teams of people pooling our ideas together for the answers tended to yield better results than when we tried to solve problems alone as individuals.

We were even further in awe of the high-spirited appearance of Marc Simpson (incoming Region Manager) who got the audience involved in a "game show" about how to hold better board meetings, chapter meetings, and how better to treat potential new members. In general, we learned how to be better ARMA members as caring, professional individuals and as a group working together. We also learned that sometimes when planned speakers can't be present for meetings or something unexpected happens at the last minute, it's a good idea to have a back-up plan for a meeting. This way it is productive for the people that took all the trouble to get there and to still have a positive meeting.

There were numerous shining stars in the "game show" scenarios acted out. I think one actor deserves an honorable mention for “best comedic performance” in making us laugh with his wit that he interjected into his skit, and that is Andrew SanAgustin. Andrew, thank you for making us learn and laugh at the same time. I'd like to also give honorable mention for the "most enthusiastic game show contestant category" to Michelle Morrison (ARMA member from Idaho). Michelle also contributed some great ideas about things to make chapter meetings more effective and efficient in our more serious part of the seminar.

I'm sorry I cannot mention all the names but there were many wonderful shining stars that made it all possible. Everybody there, including the audience were truly shining stars and I was so glad to be a part of it as I learned so much and truly enjoyed every moment of it! I would without question, highly recommend a leadership conference to any ARMA member interested! It was extremely worthwhile for me and has truly made a change in how I manage not only my ARMA matters, but also my professional work matters and my personal matters with people I deal with everyday.

“Five stars! It was the most engaging, inspirational and motivational presentation I have ever been to"--Tina Brickley, ARMA member of Greater Seattle Chapter.
Photo (Left to Right: Fran Blaylock, Marc Simpson, Tom Killam, Susan Lord, and Sharon Alexander-Gooding)

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