Greetings,

Summer has come to a close and with it the end of 3rd quarter 2014. I am happy to share the accomplishments of the past few months with you!

Our volunteers are the engine that makes the Chapter run. This past quarter the Volunteer webpage was enhanced and the Volunteer Relationship Management System (VRMS) continues to allow professionals to search for volunteer opportunities. Planning for the Volunteer of the Month Recognition Program is complete with the launch scheduled early in the 4th quarter.

The Chapter maintained its rank as the 4th largest in the world and 3rd largest in the United States with 778 new members joining year-to-date. During the 3rd quarter, “Newcomers” events for approximately 45 new members were conducted and membership was promoted during the monthly Dinner Meetings via a committee promotional table and Table Networking activities.

The Chapter celebrated Career Month in July including the annual Recruiters Panel Dinner Meeting and the Quarterly Networking Social. These events, open to members and non-members, provided an opportunity to meet and interview with Atlanta metro area recruiters. “Speed Recruiting“ was the highlight of the event with 75 of the 126 attendees participating. The event was a great success and is in line with the Chapter’s goal to provide valuable networking opportunities to the membership.

Professionals interested in taking the Project Management Institute (PMI), Agile Community of Practice (ACP) Exam may join a study group to prepare for the exam and meet others who are preparing for the exam. The purpose of the group is to allow group members to share their knowledge with other group members. In the study group sessions for presenting the material will be conducted by two or more group members. LeadingAgile coaches will facilitate all sessions. The first session will be organizational to allow group members to sign up for topics to be presented. The second session will cover the different Agile Practices. The following 6 sessions will follow the knowledge domains as outlined by the ACP Test Outline document, the last 2 sessions will be question and answer with a practice exam.

Written by Glenn Boylan

The August PMI Atlanta Technology Forum was held on Tuesday, August 26th, at the Hewlett-Packard office in Alpharetta. The Forum welcomed Tina Teree Baker to speak about enterprise content management solutions.

The meeting started with some chapter business. Venkata Patt reviewed some of the changes to the new chapter web site, Steve Kruger discussed the opportunities available for volunteers, especially with regard to helping with registration and getting (or being) speakers for upcoming meetings. Perhaps most important, the members in attendance unanimously agreed the pizza from the new supplier was delicious.

Nancy Berlin introduced Ms. Baker, who is President and CEO of the Cadence Group. Her presentation was titled “Considering an Enterprise Content Management Solution (CMS)?" and provided an excellent overview of what companies should look at when implementing a CMS solution.

by Mike Ososki, PMP, Communications Committee

It was cozy and energized, wrapped in deep wisdom and good humor. Presenter and teacher extraordinaire Andy Crowe wowed us all with his warmly engaging stage presence, sharing many things of motivation. And who can’t relate to that topic?

Mr. Crowe suggests, “There are so many motivation theories, it numbs the mind.” Epicurus and Aristotle may have started it with concepts like net pleasure, attraction/avoidance, and the idea of happiness for the sake of happiness. Most of these ideas still hold true today.