President's Corner

Hello Everyone

I would like to start by saying that I am really honoured to be the president this term and to be able to serve you in this capacity. As your chapter president, I extend a warm welcome to all of you, we are off to a great new start this year. Your Board worked hard this summer to prepare a great plan of action to serve you better starting September 2010. I have very exciting news to share with you.

We have a long list of services to offer you this coming year. In order to serve you better, we need your help. We are looking for approximately 40 volunteers. This year we have position descriptions for each volunteer position to ensure that both volunteers and VPs are clear on their roles and responsibilities. Volunteers would have the opportunity to earn PDUs so please come forward and join us and share in the fun and the responsibility.

Last year, the board achieved several major goals such as reduced operating costs by $1000 plus per month. Greatly improved the Project of the Year Program,improved our administrative and financial procedures and records, developed VP of administration program , set up two g-mail sites to share board documents and Implemented a digital newsletter. The outgoing board achieved great results in several fronts under the dedicated leadership of our past president Debbie Krownewitt-Martin. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the board and the president for doing a great job last year.

This year, during the executive board 2010 strategic planning session we decided to expand our focus beyond our paying members to cover the organizations that employ them as well as the PM community at large. We came to many important decisions. Here are some of the highlights:
 

• We are going to continue our quarterly e-newsletter to keep you informed of our progress as well as all events and activities planned. However, we intend to distribute the newsletter in a different format. We will send an email to all members with a link to the web site where you can read or download the newsletter
• We are planning to conduct a general membership survey soon. Please participate in this survey and let us know how we are doing, and what you would like to see us do.
• The board intends to provide you with a full schedule of the dinner meetings for the whole year. This will allow members to plan their attendance and have better control over their time.
• We are presently negotiating the cost of meals with the Petroleum Club. Any savings resulting from these negotiations will be passed on to the members.
• We are planning to offer 6 courses this year to help you collect PDUs. These courses cover areas that were identified in an earlier survey.
• We have arranged with the Petroleum Club to start our dinner meeting at 4:30 rather than the usual 5:30. This additional one hour will be devoted to networking for special interest groups. The goal is to share ideas on specific topics of interest to members.
• We have established a new position for “a volunteer director”. this will facilitate volunteering
• A “New member package” to explain all the services the chapter offers to members will be ready soon. It appears that there are a number of membership benefits that people may not be aware of.
• We are planning additional creative opportunities for our expanding PMP base to earn PDU's
• Look for a new and exciting chapter web page. This year we are revamping the website to accommodate new ideas presented over the last few years.

We are serious about ensuring that all members receive the maximum value from the Chapter and for their money. I hope you will find these new programs and services exciting and that we will meet and exceed your expectations. Our goal is to support our members with products, services and networking opportunities to help them in their quest for excellence in project management.

Finally, I would like to remind you that April 2011 marks a major milestone for our Chapter. Our Chapter will celebrate its 30th anniversary. You will hear more on this during our dinner meetings and in my second message to you in a few months. We are planning a great celebration for this great occasion.

I sincerely look forward to serving all members and their organizations this year. The entire VP Board and I welcome your suggestions and participation. I look forward to seeing you at our Chapter dinner meetings. I’m interested in hearing your opinions and comments positive or negative. So please send them to me or see me personally. Until next time, thanks for your interest and continued support to your Chapter.

Sami Fahmy
Sami Fahmy, PhD, P.Eng, PMP, RMP
President, Project Management Institute, Northern Alberta Chapter