Greetings PMINYC Members,
It is 2009, and we find ourselves with many new opportunities and many challenges. As I sit at the computer to write a note, many thoughts cross my mind. They say that in chaos and crisis there is always opportunity. Is it a simple choice?
Charles Dickens wrote in “A Tale of Two Cities,” “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, …” There are many parallels to the current world we find ourselves, and again it seems like a choice we have to make.
Building Bridges across our Rivers includes connecting with other PMI chapters. We have already worked and planned with the NJ Chapter and LI Chapter. The NJ Chapter is offering NYC members special pricing to attend their May 4, 2009 Symposium as well as their Seminar@Sea event at the end of August. The LI Chapter is working with us on an exciting event that we hope to announce soon. We have been to participate and collaborate with other area chapters from New England to Pennsylvania. In kind, the NYC Chapter will offer special pricing to our Professional Development Day planned for October 2nd. We also hope to grow and leverage our partnership with the PMI Headquarters. As such, we have engaged Diane Fromm, part of the Educational Foundation as a keynote speaker at our April 8th event.
Building Bridges across our Oceans, includes events like the Chinese delegate meeting this past fall, and Corporate Outreach serving as a liaison with corporations in Ireland and England. We also met with a representative from Germany interested in starting a new PMI Chapter, and have been asked to consider being a Sister Chapter to a few other PMI Chapters. Our potential here truly untapped, but is as wide as the oceans.
Building Bridges across our Communities includes the array of monthly opportunities right here in New York. From our Breakfast Round Table, to our Career Development Network, to our Chapter Meetings, we have a variety of offerings, subject matter, and competency levels available to our community. On March 25th, we have a seminar “Secrets of Leadership Communications” that promises to be quite valuable. We have also ramped up our Community outreach to include not only Corporate, but also Academic and Neighborhood. You can find offerings to “pay forward” through our Neighborhood Outreach Program by working in the local soup kitchen or putting on the paint frocks and helping out at the Volunteers of America, and as spring comes come help plant some trees and increase the beauty of our fabulous city. We are delighted to share a first-time Community Outreach event, in partnership with one of our Academic Sponsors, CUNY School of Professional Services, on April 8th, “Career Transition Event” which includes a local Author, Pamela Skillings, as a keynote speaker. These are just a few of the monthly and special events that the chapter is hosting. I know you will want to be a part of this excitement.
In Dickens’ “A Christmas Dinner” (1836), he pens, “Reflect upon your present blessings – of which every man has many – not your misfortunes, of which all men have some.” Here it seems more of an admonishment, rather than a choice.
We have many opportunities for you to invest in your PMI community and Build Bridges for our Future. I hope that you will join the events, keep current with your membership, invite your colleagues and friends to join, share the excitement with others, and chose to “reflect on your blessings, of which we have many!”
Help us to move toward the vision of our organization: “To grow our membership in numbers, knowledge, in skill and in competence…” the evidence of this is in the array of offerings above, and those we will continue to post on the web site, and inform you via email and announcements. We need your personal contributions too. Whether it is to take on a project with PMINYC or serve as a one-time volunteer to assist with a meeting registration, or anything in between, we treasure and appreciate your assistance and partnership.
Therefore, as we Build Bridges for Our Future, across our Rivers, across our Oceans, and across our Communities, we can truly ROC New York City! Moreover, through our Community Outreach Programs: Corporate, Academic, and Neighborhood, we CAN make a difference!
Our Chapters’ potential is just beginning to be realized. Thank you for being part of the excitement and growth. We are the Greatest City in All the World and we are working toward being the Greatest Chapter too!
Beth Ouellette, PgMP, PMP
Chapter President
