Written by Valerie Williams-Ndikintum, PMP

Competitions are one method Toastmasters International utilizes to build speaking skills among its members. Each year Toastmasters clubs worldwide host and encourage members to compete in Humorous, Evaluation, Tall Tales, Table Topics and International speech competitions. Speech contests benefit Toastmasters members by providing the speakers opportunities to improve speech skills and for the audience to learn by observing fellow speakers who have advanced their speech aptitude from the program.

On July 24th, PMI Atlanta Toastmasters’ Club held its annual Humorous and Evaluation Speech Contests. The meeting, which felt more like an event, was held at Global Payments in Atlanta, Ga. The Humorous and Evaluation contests were held as two separate competitions.

PMI Atlanta Chapter and ITMPI, IT Metrics & Productivity Institute has partnered to provide more ways to help you earn PDU’s!  Since May 2014, many lucky chapter members have received raffle giveaways and access to free unlimited webinars and PDU’s for one full year. These giveaways were generated to support ITMPI who is hosting a breakfast meeting September 11th at the Marriott Renaissance Atlanta Midtown Hotel. ITMPI is also sponsoring our August 11 Dinner Meeting event. Please step up and support our sponsors!
 
What’s happening now? PMI Atlanta members can attend the September 11 Breakfast meeting for free of charge by using code: CAI_14_ATL during online registration.  Best of all, each attendee will receive one FREE ITMPI Premium Membership good for one year of unlimited FREE PDU accredited education.  For more information and to register in advance, please click here.

Written by: Juliette Johnson, Communications Committee Writer

The workplace landscape is changing and PMI Atlanta is committed to offering programs that provide an insight on how members can position their career status. Throughout the month of July, PMI Atlanta asked sponsoring companies like DISYS, Truebridge, Prestige Staffing, Matrix Resource, InComm, CCCi, Riverwood Resources, and Daugherty Business Solutions to share their industry knowledge and experience with regard to job trends, networking, and the challenges job seekers are facing in this new social media-centric world. The Dinner Meeting Recruiter Panel kicked off the month long focus on career strategy programs.

Yvonne Byars, Chair, and Doug Guice, VP of Membership acknowledged that setting a job positioning and networking strategy was key to moving a career forward. This year, PMI Atlanta presented 8 experienced recruiters in nearly every industry Atlanta has to offer. These industry experts quickly honed in on the importance of certifications and branding your professional social media presence. Inventing and reinventing your brand and skills is critical to anyone’s career strategy. Thinking through how your business and soft skills can transfer from one industry to another as technology skills are now driving the job market in Cyber Security, Big Data, Mobile Apps, and Healthcare.