Message from the President - June 2019

As another 10-month season comes to a close, I am reminded of all the amazing changes happening at our Chapter. As I look around, I am humbled by everyone who goes out of their way to ensure our Chapter thrives. Our membership has grown tremendously, new volunteers have come up with ways to get members engaged, and we continue to find ways to bring value to our local community. I am thankful each and every day for your trust and confidence in being your PMI Westchester leader.

We recently conducted our annual election cycle for the next PMI Westchester Board of Elections. The results will be announced at our June Chapter meeting. These positions are key for continuing the future and success of our Chapter. Ballots were distributed in May by the PMI Global Operations Center and I hope you casted your anonymous vote. Unfortunately many positions up for election had no candidate. According to our bylaws, the Board of Directors will have two options. The Board must now review those open positions and either determine if there is someone qualified to fulfill it; with a majority board vote they can step into the role until our next election cycle is conducted, or we can hold a special election if more than one qualified candidate comes forward and wishes to fulfill a specific position. If you are thinking about getting involved, do it. I can’t encourage you enough to carve out some time to help our Chapter, our community, and yourself grow. If you aren’t sure, talk to one of our current volunteers or board members and get their perspective. It may be the best decision you make!

Our Annual Business and Chapter Meeting is being held on June 11th at the Royal Palace starting at 5:30 p.m.!!! This is a free meeting for all of our Westchester Chapter members. We will review our accomplishments, financials, and other key Chapter information with those attending. Everyone is encouraged to ask questions or bring ideas to the Board for consideration. I want to hear from you on how you think we are doing in serving you and our community. As part of this meeting, election results for our new upcoming Board of Directors will be announced.

We have a special guest this month presenting. Our founding father and dear friend, Ed Mahler, will be presenting this month on MS Project Fast Track Multi Project Scheduler Training. Ed is going to share his personal twenty-five years of experience using MSP to plan, track, control, and report on multi-project portfolios on behalf of clients. He’s going to show us how it incentivized him to find the most efficient and effective ways to perform these functions to provide exactly what his clients wanted while saving himself time and his client’s money, all while having fun doing it. Don’t forget to pre-register by Sunday, June 9th at 11:59pm on our website for this event!!

After the Chapter meeting our Communities of Practice (CoPs) will meet for you earn an extra PDU. We have three CoPs for you to choose from: Career & Personal Development, Quality, and PMO. Be sure to stick around for one of them to share your expertise with your colleagues.

On Wednesday, June 19th is our next Lunch and Learn session. The session will focus on Blockchain - the Opportunities and Challenges for Project Managers. Organizations are starting to embrace Blockchain as a technology that enables ecosystems of value to increase transparency and efficiency by helping to streamline contractual relationships and the transfer of value and information. Our own Phebe Ong will discuss what we can do as Project Managers to learn more about this technology. See our website for more details and to register. You must be a PMIW Chapter member to attend this event.

Our Breakfast Roundtable team is back on Tuesday, June 25th. Raymond Francis will be discussing Organizational Change Management. With the increasing speed of change in the workplace today there is a great need for organizations to address change and assist employees in their efforts to cope. In addition to a presentation, please bring your experiences (for group participation) to this month’s BRT. See our website for more details and to register. You must be a PMIW Chapter member to attend this event.

I hope you will join me on Tuesday, June 11th for our Annual Business and Chapter Meeting at the Royal Palace in Greenburgh, NY starting at 5:30PM!!

Finally, I wish all of you a fabulous summer filled with laughter, friends, family and tons of memories. We will resume our Chapter programming on September 10th at the Royal Palace. Watch our website over the summer for details.

Brenda Horton, PMP
President