A Message From the Great Northwest Region

A Message From the Great Northwest Region…

Ask any program chair or anyone who has chosen speakers for a seminar or conference. Trying to find a balance of topics that appeal to members of varying levels of expertise is quite a challenge. Next, factor in our ailing economy. Fewer members are receiving financial support from their employers. For many chapters, attendance at meetings and seminars has been down. The result is less revenue for the chapters to provide programs and seminars. And while the revenues from such events have been down, the cost to put them on has risen. Now add this wrinkle. The Baby Boomer generation is retiring and more and more Generation X and Y people are members and assuming leadership roles in our organization. We Boomers love our monthly meetings. We love the face to face interaction. It is how we networked for years. But the Gen X and Y people grew up in an electronic world. They want things fast, quick, and on demand. Many would opt for a webinar versus a seminar. And their preferred networking is on Facebook versus face to face. Boomers meet, they tweet. There’s nothing wrong with either. We’re just a bit different. So how do we, the chapter and region leaders blend those things together to provide quality education to all of you? And when I say all of you, I mean all of you. We have a number of members in our region who don’t attend monthly meetings because they live too far away to do so. It wasn’t until I visited the Greater Anchorage Chapter last May that I realized that their members in Fairbanks are an 8- hour drive away. The members in Juneau can’t even drive to Anchorage. The only way to travel between the two cities is by boat or by air. And similar situations are repeated in all four states. How do we provide educational opportunities to all of you? This is the very question that we tackled last June when the chapter and region leadership met for our annual GNW Leadership Conference. I am very pleased to tell you that from our discussion, we formed a task force. Their goal is to put on an educational program that will be sent out to as many of the members of the region at the same time as possible. Just imagine our eight or so members in Fairbanks getting together and ordering pizza, the folks in Seattle brown bagging it and our friends in Boise sitting down to a buffet, while we all watch the same program. It is an ambitious undertaking. But it’s one that once successful, could open new avenues to bringing fresh programs and speakers to our members, wherever they are! I am very excited about that.

While we’re on the subject of educational opportunities, I should mention that the 55th Annual ARMA International Conference and Expo is right around the corner. This year it will be just a bit later than usual. If at all possible, I urge you to attend this premiere event. Check out the details at arma.org. I hope to see you all November 7-10 at the Moscone Center West in San Francisco!
Another point that we discussed at Leadership last June was how to attract the younger professionals into our organization. How do we reach them? We reach them on their “turf”. The Great Northwest Region is looking into our own page on Facebook. From there we hope to point people to our region website.

Speaking of our website, have you visited it lately? If you haven’t, you should! Our webmaster, Denise Simons, has been very busy working to make the site a more valuable asset for all of us. It’s looking great and some new features are coming soon, so check it out at armagreatnorthwest.org.

The ARMA of the future will certainly look different than the ARMA of the past. We in the Great Northwest Region leadership are doing all we can to meet the needs of all of our members. If you have a new idea or a suggestion on how we can improve on an old one, please let us know!

Very truly yours,
Marc J. Simpson, Manager
Great Northwest Region
ARMA International