Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Great Northwest Region Manager, November Message

Congratulations to the Boise Valley and Puget Sound Chapters!

I’d like to thank Cindy Fredrickson for her wonderful region message. Cindy may “bite her tail” and shake a bit, but all of us who know her, know that she has the heart of a lion and the courage to handle the task!

There is another form of courage that I would like to mention. It is the courage it takes to put ones self out on the line and compete for ARMA International’s awards. Whether we win or not, it’s good for our chapters and our members. Why? Because it means we try harder to produce an outstanding communication and a better chapter. We strive to do our best to promote our profession, our organization, and our chapter. And we seek to provide our members with the education, network, and growth that they need.

This year the Boise Valley and Puget Sound Chapters did just that. Boise Valley competed for the Medium Chapter Website of the Year while Puget Sound competed for Large Chapter Newsletter and Chapter of the Year honors. All of their submissions were competitive and scored well. Good job!

Sometimes when we summon up the courage, good things happen. This year Puget Sound was honored as the 2008 Large Chapter of the Year! Way to go Puget Sound!

And then there was a very special award. The Distinguished Service Award is only given to those individuals who through a body of work and commitment have distinguished themselves.
This year Boise Valley’s ‘favorite son’, the Great Northwest Region’s own Dave McDermott received ARMA International’s Distinguished Service Award. Dave has shown outstanding leadership and, yes, courage throughout his years in ARMA. Dave is truly deserving of this great honor.

On behalf of the Region Team I want to congratulate the Puget Sound Chapter and Dave McDermott on their awards!

Very Truly Yours,
Marc J. Simpson, Manager
Great Northwest Region
of ARMA International, Inc.

Great Northwest Region Treasurer, Message

Message from the Great Northwest Region of ARMA Treasurer – Cindy Fredrickson

Greetings to the Region Chapters! What an honor for me to be able to share a message this month from the Region Team. It is a month that we can reflect on those things that we are thankful for. For me, I am still reeling in what has transpired for me since Marc asked me to be the Region Treasurer. My first reaction was like the Cowardly Lion in that Land of Oz when seeing the mighty wizard. I wanted to flee and was scared that I would not be able to do justice to the position. Right after that call, I was offered a new position at work which meant a job change and relocating to another city. After accepting these two life changes, then I happened upon a third. I had a car accident which totaled my car which meant getting used to a new vehicle too. All of this happened within a month. Needless to say, I was chewing on my tail and did scare myself a few times biting it. I did find that courage though to get through these challenges. I have been able to view these challenges as opportunities places before me and am thankful every day for the fact I have the strength and courage to carry it out.

What does this have to do with records management you ask? We all have that inner courage to deal with new challenges especially when it comes to implementing a new records system, getting ready for the CRM exam, or when we have to train employees on correct or new record keeping practices. Those are just a few situations which should bring a shudder to anyone’s fur. We do have that intestinal fortitude to take records management to the next step. As the wizard pointed out, we can be under the unfortunate delusion that simply because you run away from the unknown and challenging, you have no courage. That "delusion" is a strongly held belief that is in fact completely wrong. We can confuse courage with wisdom. Those that have courage show this by taking their fortitude out of mothballs and parade it down the main street of the city. They show off their medals. Our "medals" refer to any worthy or deserving behavior or actions, while both "extraordinary valor and conspicuous bravery" and are fancy words for great courage. For example, getting the certificate for putting in the long hours of research for taking the CRM exam, getting thanks for the hours volunteering on a position or committee on your local chapter board, and the benefits you receive from your company in taking the hours to work with various staffs to implement a new electronic record keeping system. Again, those are just a few of those conditions in which we can show that inner courage of ours.

In the world of records management, what is needed at this point in time are those that are willing to experiment with creative combinations of ideas, old and new, who are courageous enough to speak out and form partnerships with information specialists, auditors, risk managers and others, whose language and methodologies are different; who are motivated to learn new skills; and ultimately, who are committed to developing strategies for managing electronic records; and who will commit to attending Leadership and Region conferences to network with other records professionals, no matter where this journey may lead them down that yellow brick road. In my case, I am taking that leap of faith to be accountable to you all for the Region’s financial affairs and “Aw shucks, I’m speechless”.


Cindy Fredrickson
GNW Region Treasurer

Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Value Proposition for SharePoint

Program Title: Value Proposition for SharePoint

Date: Thursday, December 4, 2008

Time: 8:30-9:00 Breakfast; 9:00-10:00 Program

Cost: $20 (Continental Breakfast); presentation only $10

Location
: Best Western Executive Inn (200 Taylor Avenue North). For directions, see below.

Program Description
With increasing legislative compliance and Rules of Federal Evidence, the sheer volume of electronic documents and email created with Microsoft OFFICE has steamrolled any idea of safely filing inside the Windows Directory.

Microsoft SharePoint, and the Microsoft OFFICE SharePoint Server, through use of databasing, allows one method to accurate file and share common electronic documents. But is it enough? Learn how the Clearview ECM solution (clearviewecm.com) empowers SharePoint to overcome fundamental challenges in security and user adoption, while fully leveraging the current investment in enterprise software license agreements.


Speaker Profiles
Peter Frix, Principle of the Frix Technology Group, has automated business processes for 25 years. The Frix Technology Group is a locally-owned group of companies joined together to co-locate a wide band of microfilm and electronic document management solutions under single management. ImajNet was founded in 1999, initially to integrate document management with SAP that was followed by a conversion project for Microsoft Legal & Corporate Affairs. In 2006 FreeDoc, a document scanning service bureau, was acquired. Western Micro Services, founded by Forrest Smith in 1977 joined the group in 2007, and was re-named WesternMICROFILM.

Formal Education

· BA Management, University of Portland, 1980.
· Certificate Document Imaging Architech (CDIA), CompTIA, 1998.
· Certificate Electronic Information Records Manager (CEIRM),
· University of Washington, 2000.
Register: This program is open to all professionals interested in learning about the Digitial Records Recovery. Please register by Monday, December 1, by emailing registration@armaseattle.org and include your name, organization, and phone number; or Sue Gunderson at sgunderson@datasitenw.com


Directions to the Best Western Executive Inn: From Interstate 5, driving north or south, take the Mercer Street exit (Exit #167). At the bottom of the ramp, bear right (onto Fairview) and then go left at the stoplight. After crossing 9th Avenue, you will pass through a short tunnel and the street becomes Broad Street. Stay in the left lane as you proceed on Broad Street. The first opportunity to turn left is a left-turn lane pull-out, which you should take (onto Taylor Avenue). The Best Western Executive Inn is on the left (East) side of the street.

Parking: There is on-street metered parking available. (We can no longer offer parking for our members in the hotel’s garage.) You may also take Metro buses 3, 4, or 16.

I hope you will consider joining us for this meeting!

Andrea Bettger