Professional Development for the Information Professional Part 2 - The Professional Development Plan

This is a reworking of a post that I originally wrote for the AIIM blog. Because of its length, I'm breaking it into two parts. The first post presents a professional development framework. In this part, I'll present a matrix that can be used to turn the framework into an individual professional development plan. 

Your Professional Development Plan

What if we train our staff and they leave? What if we don’t – and they stay?

-- Often attributed to Henry Ford

Your final step is to put all of this together into your own professional development plan. Every information professional – in fact, every professional – needs a professional development plan. You have to stay current in order to stay relevant. And relevance is relative: there’s a difference between staying where you’re at – treading water – and setting out to get a better position, more pay, or increased responsibilities. You’re the only one who knows what road you’re on – meaning you have to take responsibility for your own professional development plan.

I can’t tell you exactly what should go into your plan, but I’ve put together a framework that is comprehensive, yet flexible, to allow you to develop a plan that makes sense for you and your professional goals.

I’ve already talked about some of the learning mechanisms like conferences, webinars, and training. These are more formal options insofar as they are scheduled, cost money, etc., but this is only one approach. Many professionals have found success through less formal and more experiential sorts of approaches, such as on-the-job training, mentoring, and coaching. In addition, professionals should always cultivate and maintain an understanding of the foundational works within a discipline – industry standards, best practices, books that capture fundamental practices and processes, and so forth. And there are a variety of other less formal resources available, including industry magazines and blogs from associations, vendors, and individual thought leaders.

This framework recommends that individual professionals look at professional development through a matrix. The individual employee would determine what skills to work on in each of the different competency areas, and then would select learning mechanisms based on availability, timing, budgets, etc. This might be reviewed by the individual’s manager, particularly where approval for travel, a training course or conference, etc. is required, but ultimately, it’s the responsibility of individuals to determine their own appropriate learning paths and outcomes.

Here's a template for what this might look like:

And here's what my personal plan looks like for 2022: 

Couple of points. 

• There's no column for degrees, as that's not something you'd do every year. 
• There's no row for organizational competencies, as there aren't really training, webinars, certifications, etc. for those. 
• My columns for coaching and mentoring and OJT are N/A because I'm not focusing on the first ones this year and as a solo consultant OJT isn't really relevant to me (or, alternately, every day is OJT!)

I'll write another post in January that addresses costs and how to pay for things, including some grant opportunities that are out there. 

Professional Development for the Information Professional Part 1 - The Framework

This is a reworking of a post that I originally wrote for the AIIM blog. Because of its length, I'm breaking it into two parts. This first post presents a professional development framework. In Part 2, I'll present a matrix that can be used to turn the framework into an individual professional development plan. 

Once you stop learning, you start dying.

-- Albert Einstein

If you're active in the industry at all, you’ve probably heard dozens of presentations about how much information we create, how much faster we create it, and how much harder it is to manage. While these statistics are all true, we as information professionals can help organizations to clean up their digital landfills, start treating information as a valued asset, and improve business outcomes.

But where do you begin?

What Information Professionals Need to Know

Part of the challenge associated with effective information management is that it’s just so big. There are so many different disciplines, processes, and a seemingly limitless variety of software and hardware solutions. With so many options, how do you determine where to focus your learning?

There are a lot of different information management / information governance / records management / etc. bodies of knowledge out there, and obviously that angle depends on what you want to be when you grow up. (I still don't know.) It's not reasonable to expect to be a deep dive subject matter expert at everything, but I think it's helpful to have at least have some familiarity with the various different information-focused disciplines. 

But these are only one piece of the puzzle. I believe that to remain effective, information professionals need to keep learning in several different areas of competency. 

• Domain competencies. These are specific to a particular sector or industry, or to a particular horizontal work process. For example, individuals who work for an HR consulting firm could work to improve their domain skills in employee onboarding or compensation, while those who work in upstream oil & gas could deepen their understanding of the exploration & development processes.

• Information role-related processes. These are specific to your job function, and as noted above, really depend on what you're doing and what you want to be doing. As a records manager, this would include things like conducting a records inventory or updating the retention schedule. For a privacy manager, this might include how to conduct a privacy impact assessment or respond to a data subject access request. 

• Information-related technologies. These are the tools you need to do your job. These could be very specific to a particular role, like understanding HR information management systems for the HR consultant. They could also be broader-based, such as Visio for anyone who needs to create or consume flowcharts, or SharePoint as a content repository. These skills will need regular practice and periodic refreshing as the tools, and the processes that use them, change or are updated over time. 

• Professional skills, or soft skills, or whatever you choose to call them. These focus on skills that make for a more effective employee, no matter the role. These include but are not limited to things like project management, change management, communication, and budgeting.

• Organizational competencies. These focus on the nuances of doing your job at your current organization. If you change organizations, or even departments within the larger organization, you may need to relearn these. These might include things like an understanding of the organization's risk tolerance, the terminology and acronyms regularly used, how a tool or template is configured or used, etc. 

Different Paths to Professional Development

Now that you've started to identify WHAT you want to learn, you must choose HOW you would like to learn it. There are a variety of options to suit any budget, learning style, and time frame.

Academic degrees. I'm not a fan of focusing on degrees for a number of reasons: 

• They are the most expensive and time-consuming option by far
• They are often significantly more abstract and theoretical compared to other options
• The industry is moving so fast, a degree program is outdated before its first student graduates

In my mind, a degree is generally proof that you were able to put up with a bureaucracy for 4 years or however long it took you. In terms of practical application, I just don't see the value; my degree is in Political Science and it's been and will be completely irrelevant to my past, present, or future success. 

Conferences are a much different proposition than what they were just two years ago. For many even producers, the conference format has been translated to a virtual structure. For me these are a mixed bag - it opens an event up to a broader audience, and is generally cheaper because there is no travel involved, but I think many struggle with engagement. 

I believe that the best learning doesn't always take place in breakout sessions or keynotes. Often, it’s the networking, hallway conversations, meetups, and "birds of a feather" sessions, where you get to learn from your peers. I’ve learned a lot from my colleagues at the hotel bar or while waiting for my turn at karaoke!

Webinars and podcasts can be a great alternative when you’re short on time and money, but still desire great content on timely topics. There are a lot of them out there - vendors, associations, thought leaders, it seems like everyone has something to say on a regular basis. That said, time is the one thing you can't get back - so if the ostensibly educational webinar becomes a product pitch, vote with your attention and leave. 

The market offers numerous sources of research on market trends, developments in information management, and benchmarking against your peers. Great sources include industry associations like AIIM, ARMA, and IAPP; analysts and analyst firms like Gartner and MER; and even solution providers. While these last need to be taken with a grain of salt sometimes, they are often written or ghost-written by industry experts and can provide significant value. 

Training courses can provide you with a deep dive into a specific topic in a fairly short period of time. Instructor-led courses are always a good option because they offer that same peer-to-peer dialogue and learning as a conference. As a trainer myself, I learn from my students at every class I teach.

If you don’t have the time – or the travel budget – online learning can be an effective way to learn or reinforce skills on your own schedule. There are a lot of different options for training in the market - associations, independent consultants and training firms, and vendors all offer quality educational assets. 

There are a number of free- to low-cost microlearning offerings to consider as well. These tend to be significantly shorter, often focusing on just one topic or even one facet of a topic, and are mobile-friendly so they can be consumed whenever you find yourself with a few minutes. 

Certifications are a bit of a different beast. Certifications are designed to demonstrate a candidate’s knowledge and understanding of a topic. This means that there are many different routes to get that knowledge and understanding, including but not limited to the ones I’ve outlined above. Getting a certification puts you in some pretty rarefied company, depending on the specific certification; it also serves as shorthand to an organization or a hiring professional that you know your stuff, and you can hit the ground running.

Self-study. We've been learning from the written word for eons. There are some very, very good books in the marketplace - and of course some bad, terrible, awful, not very good ones as well. This is a cheap way to get a deep dive on a particular topic, but it only works if you read the book - simply having it on your desk or bookshelf is not enough! And it's not just printed books - digital ones count too, as do things like standards, guidelines and checklists, templates, case studies, etc. 

With all these options, what’s the best choice for you? I say, “Yes.” It depends on where you are in your career, what you’re trying to accomplish, your budget (including time and travel), and your interests. For me, it’s always been a combination of all the above. 

Social learning. There are some really, REALLY smart people out there blogging, and Tweeting, and Instagramming, etc. I follow several amazing learning management system vendors who regularly post awesome stuff on adult learning, I also participate in collective social events like Tweetjams, chat forums, and meetups (in-person when possible, online when not). 

Coaching and mentoring. These are closely related terms that refer to working with someone else to improve your job performance. Coaching is more structured and designed to elicit specific performance improvements and results within a specific timeframe, while mentoring tends to be less structured and more holistic and with more focus on overall development. Kent State offers a good comparison here: https://www.kent.edu/yourtrainingpartner/know-difference-between-coaching-and-mentoring

On-the-job training. This last option is ideal to ensure that you are learning exactly what you need to in order to do, or improve how you do, your actual job. But it takes a very mature organization to offer this; most organizations don't want you unless you can hit the ground running. I think that's short-sighted, because it overlooks the potential for an employee to move over or move up into new responsibilities. 

Up next: How to combine what you want to learn with how you want to learn it and create your own professional development plan. 

Records Management and Information Governance Assessments and Maturity Models

This post is an attempt to gather all of the publicly available assessments and maturity models in one place, for my own use as well as a resource to others. There is a pretty strong bias towards public sector models because they are the ones that are publicly available. 

If you know of one I'm missing, please let me know - language is not an issue, geography is not an issue, and if it's behind a registration or pay wall that's OK too. Even analyst or vendor assessments and maturity models are OK - provided the assessments and models are. In other words, no 10-question "assessments", no super sales pitches. Send them to me at jwilkins13@gmail.com.

If you are aware of a maturity model for a discipline that would fit under the broader IG umbrella besides RM, e.g. IM, privacy, eDiscovery, etc. let me know about those as well and I will either list them at the end or make a separate post. 

Archives New Zealand Information Management Maturity Assessment - https://www.archives.govt.nz/manage-information/how-we-regulate/monitoring-and-audit/information-management-maturity-assessment 

ARMA International The Principles Maturity Model - https://www.arma.org/page/PrinciplesMaturityModel This is available through the ARMA Bookstore for USD $70 for non-members and free for ARMA Professional members. 

CGOC Information Governance Process Maturity Model - https://community.ibm.com/HigherLogic/System/DownloadDocumentFile.ashx?DocumentFileKey=fa0b2e30-817b-b948-1833-c097d6eb651e&forceDialog=0 Note that CGOC seems to have gone dormant, so no idea how long this link will be valid. 

Iron Mountain IGHealthrate - https://www.ironmountain.com/ca/en/resources/best-practice-guides/m/measuring-enterprise-ig-maturity-with-ighealthrate Note that this is more of a framework than a formal assessment and maturity model. The assessment itself is available from Iron Mountain. 

Public Records Office Victoria Information Management Maturity Measurement Tool - https://prov.vic.gov.au/recordkeeping-government/learning-resources-tools/information-management-maturity-measurement-tool-im3

Scottish Parliament Records Management Maturity Model & Road Map - https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/files/record-keeping/public-records-act/element13-SP.pdf

State Records Office of Western Australia Information Management Maturity Model (IM3) - https://www.wa.gov.au/government/announcements/new-draft-src-standard-and-supporting-tools Note that this page links to the proposed draft RM standard, RM plan template, and IM3. 

U.S. National Archives and Records Administration RIM Program Maturity Model - https://www.archives.gov/records-mgmt/resources/inspections.html The linked site includes a guide to self-evaluation, a guide to the maturity model, and the actual questionnaire. 

ARMA to Update the Certified Information Governance Professional (IGP) Program in 2022

 I received an email today asking me to participate in the IGP Task Analysis survey. More on that in a second. When I went to the main IGP page, I saw the following notice at the top of the page: 

NOTICE:

An updated IGP exam is underway!

If you are applying for the exam or purchasing materials for the IGP exam, please note the current version of the IGP exam will only be available until April 2022. All IGP education materials will become null at that time.

No further details were available as of this writing, and since I'm not directly involved, what follows is speculation based on my experience developing and updating the CIP and other industry certifications. 

1. It could be that the current IGP will only be available through April 2022, but this does not mean that the new exam will be ready by then. In fact, I'd be shocked given that it usually takes more like 6-9 months from kicking off the job task analysis to the exam going live. 

2. Technically the current IGP materials will be outdated insofar as some things will be dropped, some will be added, some will be refocused. If you're heavily relying on the materials to prepare for the exam, you should wait for the new ones (and no timeline was provided for that), but the core elements should be similar if you're just using them as a reference or guideline for good practices for your organization. 

3. Whenever a certification is updated, it's also an opportunity to update the program: qualifications, costs, etc. So watch for those to be announced as well. 

TL; DR for this section: If you're well down the road to preparing for your IGP, you should take it sooner than later so it's the same exam you've been studying for. If you wait, you'll get the freshest stuff, but you may be waiting a while if you need official study materials to prepare. Also, I expect ARMA will do a beta exam as they did last time and is typical. This usually translates to a reduced exam fee in exchange for a delay in score reporting because they have to use the beta exam results to validate the exam and set the passing score. 

About that survey. I wish I'd output it to PDF so I could review as I typed this. I found the original IGP to be pretty easy - if you assumed that a records manager would be leading an organization's IG efforts. I know people whose title is RM-ish but who are doing IG; I didn't get that sense from the questions at the time. 

The survey questions seemed to be moving away from that, so that's good. However, there were a ton of questions for which I selected "Not applicable" because IMO IG professionals aren't doing them. Again, some may be, just like some CRMs drive forklifts on occasion; unless I'm sorely mistaken, there are no forklift driving questions on any of the CRM exams. Same thing here. I think ARMA has significantly missed the boat on the role of an IG professional and turned it almost into a slightly more strategic CIP. As the former "Mr. CIP", I can appreciate this, but I view IG as a much more strategic thing than all the tactical implementation things listed on the survey. 

I do encourage anyone who gets that email from ARMA to complete the survey. It took me about 20 minutes, so it isn't onerous, but as you do, think about what you expect from IG vs. some amalgamation of CRM and CIP. If it's to be that amalgamation, why have it at all, since those two cover those areas in much more detail?

As always, I welcome your thoughts as a comment here or directly to jwilkins13@gmail.com, and happy to chat or share your thoughts, including anonymously. 

My Look Back at 2021

I don't see nearly as many of these retrospective blog posts as I used to, which is unfortunate. I like seeing what others in my industry and community though was relevant or important. I especially liked the ones that bookended a year with a prediction for the year to come, and a look back at the end of the year with how accurate they were. I'm nobody to predict the future, so not sure I'm ready to take that on, but I will take a look at how 2021 shook out. 

January. I spent most of January, and in fact most of my last months at AIIM, working on what would become AIIM+ Pro. I also held virtual training / office hours sessions for a private client; 2 of the 3 attendees were successful in attaining their CIP before I left AIIM. Oh - and I recovered from COVID-19 (tested positive in December 2020). 

February. Finished off the private class, hosted some Records Management Coffee and Conversation (RM C&C) meetings, but otherwise a pretty quiet month working on training development. 

March. I delivered what I thought was a pretty successful workshop on professional development that was made available to early bird registrants for the AIIM21 virtual conference. Later in the month I re-recorded it to be available as part of the on-demand content for the conference. I also hosted a couple more RM C&C calls, and on March 25 I got my first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccination. 

April. Second dose of COVID vaccine, of course. Two more RM C&C calls. And had a minor role in the AIIM21 conference. The high note for me was seeing four new Fellows named, including Harvey Spencer, Nishan DaSilva, Walter Koch, and Donda Young, each impressive and deserving in their own ways, and my friend and colleague Steve Weissman receiving the Order of Merit, AIIM's highest award, for his lengthy and significant service to AIIM and the industry. Only 48 individuals have received that award since its inception in 1954, so august company indeed! 

May. Another quietish month professionally, with two RM C&C calls and a lot of focus on training development. This month was more impactful personally, as my daughter completed her middle school and Catholic school tenures and moved on to Denver Public Schools as an incoming high school freshman in the fall. 

June. Busy, busy, busy! I delivered live training sessions for a private customer - two cohorts, seven 2-hour sessions each, for 14 total sessions, plus a public course with four more 2-hour sessions. I was teaching almost every day in June! We also hosted three more RM C&C calls. 

July. Traditionally a slower month for many of us. I had five more sessions to deliver with the private client, including a case study tailored to their organization. I suspect that this was the impetus for the AIIM Mastery product offering, but as I wasn't involved in its development, I don't know that for sure. Two more RM C&C calls! 

On July 28th, I gave AIIM my 30-day notice. I wrote a little about it in early August: What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been...and What Comes Next!

August. That meant that August had to be focused on getting done as much of the training updating as I could and doing what turnover I could. I also hosted my last two RM C&C calls and, as of August 31, became a former AIIM employee. 

I also attended my first in-person event since AIIM20 in the form of ILTACON 2021 - I shared some thoughts at https://informata.blogspot.com/2021/09/my-take-on-iltacon-2021.html. Las Vegas was...well, Las Vegas. It was immensely satisfying to be able to interact with my colleagues in person - even masked and socially distanced. 

September. I spent a lot of September deciding what I wanted to do next, and decided to return to what I did before joining AIIM - consulting. So a lot of my time went to creating Athro Consulting - from the logo and website, to the LLC, bank accounts, all the things that go into starting a business. I did a bunch of blogging, mostly on training & certification topics (which remain my true love). I also attended the RM C&Cs for the first time as JAM (just a member). 

And I attended the inagural InfoGov World Expo 2021. I'm not generally a fan of 3D/VR platforms - while they've come a long way, they are still very immature in my opinion - but the platform did address one of my big issues with virtual events - the lack of serendipitous engagement. It remains the best virtual conference I've attended in these last two years because of the ability to do some meaningful networking outside of individual sessions. I think the other big events in the space really need to think through how to provide that engagement, interaction, and serendipity - and to have it persist between and around individual conference sessions. 

Finally, on September 23, the AIIM Certified Information Professional (CIP) program turned 10 years old. I still consider it my single most significant contribution to the industry, having served as the technical lead under Atle Skjekkeland for its initial development and then as the lead architect for it in its relaunch in 2016 and its update in 2019. I haven't heard anything about plans to update it, which seems odd given that any updates will take some time and effort, and given how rapidly we all understand the industry to be changing and evolving. But I do see a CIP prep workshop on the AIIM22 website. 

October. I started on a project with a delightful client courtesy of a long-time colleague. It's a short-ish project, but I think we made good progress in a couple of key areas and I hope to continue to work with them in 2022. It took up about half of my time between mid-October and the end of 2021. I did carve out time to attend the two RM C&Cs held in October. 

I also attended ARMA InfoCon 2021 on the free pass, which only gave me access to keynotes and some vendor resources. I found it fascinating that they pivoted from in-person to virtual just eight weeks before the event - but didn't reduce the prices to the more typical virtual event costs. They said it was successful, though.... Again, not a fan of the platform they used. 

November. Lots of work on the client project. I also gave my first chapter speaking presentation in a while - at least a couple of years! It was virtual, but I really appreciated Austin ARMA's hosting me to talk about "Harnessing Your Information to Create Business Value." Something happened with the RM C&C calls - instead of being on Nov 2, Nov 16, and Nov 30, continuing the schedule, there was only one on Nov 9. 

December. I reprised my November presentation with the ARMA Mile Hi Denver chapter. As with November, there was only one RM C&C call, on Dec 7. I posted to the AIIM Community about the 2022 schedule on December 21, and the response was that 

It has traditionally been (and will continue to be) held on the first Tuesday of the month. We have decided, however, to hold off the January 4th event since most people will be returning from a bit of a holiday hiatus, and will resume on February 1st! 

I don't know whether this is confusion on the part of the AIIM staffer, or an unannounced change. Either way, I think there is enough interest in continuing these conversations to warrant every other week scheduling, and if AIIM doesn't want to do that, I may pick up the slack. So watch this space! 

I'm also wrapping up this phase of the client project next week.

So what's coming in 2022? Lots of stuff, most of which I'll write about over the next couple of weeks. But as a tease: 

• More consulting - if you're interested drop me a note at jesse.wilkins@athroconsulting.com. Here's what I charge as a starting point.
• Possible participation in AIIM22, ARMA Houston Spring Seminar, MER 2022, ARMA Canada 2022, ARMA Kelowna 2022, and ARMA InfoCon 2022. 
• Lots of how-to resources you'll be able to download and use, and share with others, for free.
• Some training announcements I hope will be of interest.
• Speaking engagements for ARMA Toronto, ARMA Twin Cities, ARMA Chattanooga, ARMA New England, and working on firming up ARMA Vancouver and ARMA Edmonton and Calgary. I still have some availability - if you have a chapter and my schedule allows, I'm happy to do so - just drop me a note. 

I'm also going to be spending a lot of time and effort on the overall industry education space. There are huge gaps not being addressed by any of the current players and it's time IMO for one of them to step up...or someone else to. Again, watch this space. 

Informata in 2021 - My Top 10 Most Read Blog Posts

Today I'm taking a look back at the most-read blog posts from this past year. With no further ado....

10. When Cheating Exam Cheaters Cheat 

9. AIIM+ Launches

8. Certifications and Renewal Requirements

7. Here's What I Charge as a Consultant 

6. What a Long, Strange Trip It's Been...and What Comes Next! 

5. Why I Don't Like Virtual Events 

4. I'm Available for In-person Events in 2021

3. I'm Back on the Speaking Circuit 

2. Where I Ended Up - a 30-Day Update 

1. How to Determine the Ownership of Information Stores 

I'm going to double down next year - more content for sure, and looking to write a lot more actionable, "here's how to do X" stuff like that #1 ranked post. 

Thanks to everyone who read my posts, and special thanks to those who thought them valuable enough to share them! If you have a topic you think I should cover, drop a comment or send me a note at jwilkins13@gmail.com. 

AIIM Opens Call for Industry Experts to Lead Sessions at AIIM22

AIIM22 is scheduled for April 27-29, 2022 in Denver, CO.  

From the conference website:

Thank you for your interest in leading an AIIM Conference session.  The AIIM Conference sessions will focus on group learning, collaboration, and problem-solving vs. traditional PowerPoint slide presentations. 

Given this change, we are not doing a formal ‘call for speakers’ this year but that doesn’t mean we aren’t looking for industry experts to lead sessions. 

Session leads can be end-users or unbiased consultants, analysts, or authors. Please note that solution providers have to become sponsors to receive a conference session – email success@aiim.org for details.

Gone are the days of speaker over powerpoint, instead we are seeking speakers and facilitators who encourage mindful connections, and peer-to-peer learning through their session content delivery.   .

So apparently they don't want PowerPoint. 

Proposals are due January 15, 2022; for more details or to submit, visit https://www.aiimconference.com/event/4f09d415-22a0-4ada-b774-2b2705b59567/websitePage:f8ff4b94-a242-463d-9313-c3a437223358

ARMA Opens Call for Proposals to Speak at ARMA InfoCon 2022

 ARMA has announced its Call for Proposals to speak at ARMA InfoCon 2022, scheduled for October 16-19, 2022 in Nashville, TN. Proposals are due no later than January 31, 2022. For more information, or to submit a proposal, visit https://pheedloop.com/EVELDLZEJQSGO/proposal/start/?call=CALOM8QL52E1JLK. 

When Solution Providers Speak at Events

I try to keep abreast of industry events, even if I don't plan to attend them. When I see calls for participation, I try to share them widely - here, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. - because I know event producers often struggle to get good speakers. 

What's a good speaker? In a nutshell, I think a good speaker should be: 

• Knowledgeable. I mean, that's the reason you'd want them as a speaker in the first place, right?
• Prepared. The session is logical and flows well, and the speaker is rehearsed and comfortable. 
• Interesting. The speaker doesn't read the slides (or a canned script) to the audience, and doesn't bore everyone to sleep with a monotone delivery.
• Responsive. Marketing takes time. Send your bio and description over in a timely fashion. Send the slides by the deadline. Be reasonable. 
• Flexible. Things happen at both ends. This doesn't mean bending over backwards, or eating travel costs if something comes up from the event planner's end, but it does mean recognizing that, for example, COVID may require changing from in-person to virtual.
• Focused on education, not selling. Good speakers don't pitch their wares to the audience, either, unless the session sets those expectations. For example, if I attend a solution provider's demo, I fully expect to see the solution demonstrated. Same thing with a case study. But even solution providers should focus on educating, not selling. 

This brings me to the point of this post. As a consultant, I am a solution provider. I'd like to think I'm a decent speaker as well. I would never dream of pitching to an audience, and I think 20+ years of speaking, nearly all of it while working as a consultant or for a company that sells software and/or training, supports my assertion. But being a speaker and solution provider raises a number of issues for me and that I see constantly. 

1. Selling from the podium. Event planners always have a concern about solution providers selling from the podium - and for very good reason. There are still far too many solution providers who send speakers to events with presentations that are long on their solution, its features and capabilities, and how superior it is in the market, and short on anything remotely educational. If you're a vendor, and you do that, I'm walking out, and you shouldn't be surprised or offended - you're the one wasting my time. 

2. Pay to play. At industry events, there seems to be an ever-increasing link between sponsoring and speaking. And this is not just for "expo hall" sessions, but in the main tracks and even keynotes. For several well-known events, if you are a consultant or solution provider, you can't speak at all unless you sponsor the event. The reason generally given is that there are only so many slots, and it wouldn't be fair for Vendor X or Consulting Firm Y to get to speak for free while other vendors and firms have to "pay to play." And it is pay to play - very few of these events even review their speakers' sessions, much less hold the line on the amount of sales-y content they include. And they wonder why their event registration numbers are in decline....

At the same time, the right solution providers, and the right people working there, can deliver fantastic content, chock full of great learning, stats, etc. that are educational and entertaining. Often they bring years of experience as an end user, tempered with experience with a number of different organizations by virtue of working for that vendor. Yet because they work at solution providers, these speakers are off limits. Again, I get it, but I've seen a number of them create their own companies with innocuous names, or even submit using just their name, and hoping that the event planners won't connect the dots. So you still end up having the same problem, because someone will recognize them as being with Vendor X. 

3. Perceptions of quid pro quo. This last is very personal to me because I take my professional ethics very seriously. Especially at smaller events, I'm generally willing to at least get a booth, and I may kick in for other sponsorships if they make sense for me and my consulting firm. But I also want to speak at those events where I think I have something of value to share. What I don't want, and I've been very explicit about this, is to connect those two things. I don't want to "pay to play". I don't want an event to consider me as a speaker in the hopes that I'll write a check - or turn me down if I don't. 

So. 

Solution providers: recognize that the audience appreciates your content when it's educational, and if you try to sell, you're liable to turn them off. 

Event organizers: Ease up on the "pay to play", and label those sessions that are vendor-provided. Put them in their own track, call them "Industry Intelligence" or some such, but let us know in advance. And do your due diligence in setting their expectations! 

For my part, I think I'm going to start posting the agendas of conferences and breaking down end user vs. solution provider sessions, and if I attend, the "good" (non-sales-y) vs. "bad" (pure pitch) solution provider sessions, in the hopes that it will help to improve the overall educational quality in our industry. 

How Are You Preparing for 2022?

Technically, not even a full 6 weeks left - between the holiday season and December 31, 2021 coming on a Friday. But I've seen a couple of posts today to the effect that there are only 6 weeks left, so it's time to get ready for 2022. Some of these suggested you prepare by buying their stuff: their software, their training, etc. Others suggested that you reflect on the last year, or two, and think about what you want in what will hopefully be the year we really turn the corner on COVID. 

I'm somewhat heads-down on a project right now - not full-time full time, but keeping me busy. But I'm thinking about that same question: how do I want to prepare for 2022? Here are my thoughts, in no particular order. 

1. I have a stack of books to get through - change management, management consulting, several Infonomics-y books, and some product launch/product management ones as well. I'm going to try real hard not to buy any MORE books until I get through this pile!

2. I'm trying to write more and establish a more predictable cadence. I also plan to do at least one series of posts that will then become the fodder for an e-book, most likely on email management. 

3. The value of my AIIM and ARMA memberships continue to decrease - neither association offers educational content for anyone with significant experience in the industry. And the member-only events and resources are increasingly written/delivered by vendors who don't understand that it's not a question of educational content or sales, but that educational content leads to sales. So I need to figure out, or perhaps create/curate, something that would be of value to me and others similarly situated. 

For the other associations I'm a member of - IRMS, IAPP, ICRM - I need to do a deeper dive into the resources available from IRMS and IAPP. ICRM is of a piece with AIIM and ARMA right now - they relaunched their newsletter as a bimonthly and haven't sent out anything since August. Sigh. 

4. Along those same lines, trying to repopulate my blogroll / reading list. So looking for recommendations for good blogs and resources that aren't necessarily tied to a particular association. Vendor stuff is OK, if it's educational - some very, very good vendor blogs out there. 

5. Trying to get back into the exercise thing. It's a vicious circle - health issues make it hard to exercise, which leads to more health issues. But I gotta do it - 2022 will definitely be a "focus on health" year. 

6. Last but absolutely assuredly not least, I'll be spending some quality time and money on some marketing for Athro Consulting. Lots of small things to get done: Get or make business cards. Make stationery and templates (Word, PPT, invoices, etc.). Get some branded swag done for the in-person events I plan to attend in Q1. 

Back to the title, then - how are YOU preparing for 2022? 

ARMA Canada Opens Call for Speakers for ARMA Canada 2022

Update March 14, 2022: ARMA Canada has decided to make the conference virtual again this year. They have also updated the deadline to March 31, 2022. 

ARMA Canada has opened its Call for Speakers to participate in the ARMA Canada 2022 conference, scheduled for May 30 - June 1, 2022 in Toronto, Ontario. No deadline was provided in the LinkedIn post or the form. 

To submit, or for more details, visit https://forms.office.com/pages/responsepage.aspx?id=BuopU3okl0OKYlxFtDUonLALfnS1YzdKhTWDtbEspCBUN0ZTMzZMUDk2TkgxRVZaV0kzOUc4MDU5UC4u

ARMA Opens Nominations for the Board of Directors

ARMA announced today that it is seeking nominations to serve on the ARMA International Board of Directors starting in July 2022. Positions to be filled include: 

• President-Elect
• Two Directors
• Treasurer

Nominations are due by November 30, 2021. A list of qualifications for the various positions can be found here: https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.arma.org/resource/resmgr/files/boardelection/board_pos_qual_2021-22.pdf Information on how to nominate or self-nominate, as well as the election timeline, can be found here: https://www.arma.org/general/custom.asp?page=Board_Elections

Aside: I think it's interesting that I wouldn't seem to qualify even to run for the Board, despite having served a full 3-year Director term as well as serving on AIIM's Board (and of course having been AIIM staff for nearly 11 years), just because my term was too long ago. I wasn't planning to run this year anyway, because I don't think I've been gone from AIIM long enough, but I wonder if the Election Committee might want to rethink that "within the past 5 years" element of qualification - not just for me, but that seems like a pretty significant limitation, and if I recall last year's election, it was all by acclamation due to a dearth of candidates. Eh bien.... 

Irregular Update to My Speaking Schedule - November 2021

Updated 11/22/2021 to finalize ARMA Toronto and add ARMA New England, and add link to ARMA Canada CFP. 

I posted a few weeks ago that I'm back on the speaker circuit. Here's my schedule for the rest of this chapter/speaker season (through June 2022). 

Confirmed-ish:

• Nov 19, 2021 - Austin ARMA, virtual
• Dec 14, 2021 - ARMA Mile Hi Denver, virtual
• Jan 19, 2021, ARMA Toronto, virtual
• Feb 8, 2022 - ARMA Twin Cities, may end up being virtual
• Mar 31, 2022 - ARMA New England, may end up being virtual

Still working to finalize, hear back re: call for speakers, or hear ABOUT a call for speakers: 

• AIIM22, Apr 27-29, Denver, CO. No call for speakers yet. 
• MER22, May 10-12, Indianapolis, IN, awaiting notification
• Wine-ing About Records, Kelowna 2022, Oct 5-7, Kelowna, BC, awaiting notification
• ARMA Canada 2022, May 30 - Jun 1, Toronto, ON. Call for speakers released! 

I still have decent availability for events starting in 2022. If you're interested in having me speak at your event, check my blog post above for details about topics, expenses, fees or lack thereof, etc. For in-person events, I am vaccinated x2 (Pfizer) and recovered from COVID-19 as well and will observe all health & safety protocols. 

If you have any questions, please reach out to me at jesse.wilkins@athroconsulting.com. 

Here's What I Charge as a Consultant

I recently wrote a post that made reference to Marcus Sheridan's book and methodology, "They Ask, You Answer". He argues that price is one of the first questions customers ask, and one of the last that  solution providers, including consultants, want to answer, for a couple of reasons. Let's take a look at these, with my take on them through the filter of an independent consultant. 

They are worried their competition will undercut their pricing. That's probably a concern in a transactional, commoditized market. For things that are not so transactional or commoditized, such as Acme's proven methodology to improve sales closing rates or employee onboarding or whatever Acme excels at, your competitor isn't necessarily another firm. Rather, it's inertia, or budget, or competing priorities for the client. 

They think it will scare off their customers. But you're going to have to talk about cost at some point anyway - why waste a prospective customer's time, and yours, if their, and your, expectations are wildly out of line with each other?

There are too many variables to give a price. Yes, there are a lot of variables, whether the project in question is Sheridan's swimming pools, or a records management assessment and roadmap, or the mix of server and client applications and modules to meet the client's business requirements. 

But the approach can be consistent - for example, an interview supporting the assessment is priced at two hours - one to conduct the interview, and one to analyze the response and, if needed, tweak the questionnaire for the next interview. 50 interviews = 100 hours x the consultant's rate. Factor in, and be transparent about, information gathering and analysis, project management and reporting requirements, and travel time and costs. Similarly, your sales people know the rate sheet rates as a starting point. 

They think their customers won't understand how rates are set - or will balk at exhorbitant rates. "What makes you think you're worth $250 an hour?!" Well, you can, and should, expect that that consultant is bringing you significant and specialized experience, expertise, best practices, lessons learned, and the ability to hit the ground running and come up to speed - on your organization, your business practices, your challenges - quite quickly. In other words, you're not paying so much for the 100 hours your project will take, as for the twenty-plus years that preceded them. (You're also not paying the taxes, health insurance, etc. for a full-time employee to do that work.)

All of that said, there's also a case to be made, and Sheridan and many others make it, that clients are already doing their own research. They've used consultants before or have reached out to others - hence the concern about undercutting, above. If you massively overbid, of course you'll miss out on work. If you underbid, however, they may feel that you're less valuable compared to the others they are considering. In other words, they don't need to know the specifics of how you got to your rate, as long as it seems comparable to others they've researched and offers value at that price. 

So What Do I Charge?

In the interests of transparency, and practicing what I preach, here are my consulting rates for Athro Consulting.

Base consulting rate for 2022: $250.00/hour. 

Travel rate: $125.00/hour, 4-hour minimum. This is for travel to/from/between client sites. I do not charge this for travel to/from speaking engagements. 

I do also do project-based pricing, but I get to the number in substantially the same way. 

Speaking fees: 

• Typical non-profit chapter/regional meetings: free for the 2021-2022 chapter year
• For-profit event: Starts at $1,000
• Half-day workshop: Starts at $1,500
• Full-/multi-day workshop: Starts at $2,500 per day or $300/hour for live virtual workshops

These fees do not include typical travel costs if applicable: 

• Airfare - in most cases I look for the cheapest scheduled coach fare I can find on Southwest or United, 21 days in advance or as far ahead as I can. 
• Lodging - I don't need the Ritz Carlton, but I'd prefer to avoid the No-Name Motel and Suites(!) when possible. 
• Ground transportation. I try to balance my and the client's convenience and associated costs; sometimes a rental car is cheaper, sometimes it's Uber/Lyft, sometimes it's a cab. 
• Meals. Again, I'm a pretty cheap date - I generally prefer bars or lounges to 3-star Michelin restaurants. 
• Any other incidental expenses - for example, visas or inoculations. 

My fees are negotiable on a case-by-case basis; we can look at different, creative ways to stay within your budget. I can also break projects into phases to reduce their individual costs. Finally, if you're not sure what you need, I offer retainer packages that give you the flexibility to determine how best to leverage me. 

If you're interested in engaging me, either for a consulting engagement or to discuss this post, you can reach me at jesse.wilkins@athroconsulting.com. 

When Associations Edit the Past

I'm a bit peeved, personally and professionally, about a disturbing turn of events I've now seen with two of my associations, AIIM and ARMA. It seems that both of them have taken to editing previously published content without disclosing that fact. It's their content, so it's their right to edit it, but it seems a bit...unseemly to do so without disclosing that they are doing so. 

I consider Nick Inglis to be a professional colleague and a friend. He's done some incredible stuff over the years to move the disciplines of information governance and information management forward, and while I don't agree with all of his actions, I know they are coming from a genuine desire to raise the visibility and efficacy of information professionals. 

On October 22, 2021, he noted that ARMA had removed all of his bylines from their assets. Where they used to have his name, now they simply show "ARMA International". You can see an example in this post: https://magazine.arma.org/2021/02/whats-next-in-information-governance-continuous-audit-and-analytics/. Note the byline, dated February 1, 2021. Now click the link to download the article, and you end up here: https://magazine.arma.org/article_-whats-next-in-ig_-continuous-audit-and-analytics/, which clearly shows Nick's byline. 

At the same time, here's an example Nick cites of an article written by Jeff Whited, who left ARMA several months earlier than Nick did: https://magazine.arma.org/2019/06/goals-of-new-canadian-digital-charter-include-assuring-privacy-eradicating-hate-online/. I did do some searching around for other departed staffers and it may be that ARMA has decided to remove individual staff bylines, and simply missed the article by Whited. But again it would not have appeared as petty had ARMA made some sort of announcement about it. 

For my part, I've seen a lot of edits to posts I wrote for AIIM in the past as well. For example, I wrote a post comparing AIIM and ARMA memberships in April 2020. I looked at it today in reference to another post, and noticed that many, but not all, of the training and membership references now refer to AIIM+ and AIIM+ Pro. Which is fine, though I think the post date should have been updated, or at least a note to that effect added to the post (e.g. "This post was updated in October 2021 to reflect AIIM's change to the AIIM+ and AIIM+ Pro model."). That's just the right thing to do when updating a post in my opinion. 

But what makes it worse is that some of the edits make the posts distinctly more sales-y. And at the same time, no edits were made to the current number of professional members, or the drop from 16 online chapters in the community to 7, including the closure of all non-US chapters except AIIM True North in Canada. If you're going to edit for accuracy, I think you need to be consistent and edit for accuracy all the way around. 

I no longer have any visibility into AIIM's finances, marketing efforts, etc. but I have to wonder at the time spent to update nearly every blog post I wrote in the last couple of years - mostly to change calls to action to AIIM+, but some to change training descriptions to AIIM+ from e.g. the Modern Records Management course - and whether that's really making an impact on AIIM's revenue. And it's probably not just my posts that were edited like this - so what's the ROI on doing that editing compared to all the other things the marketing team could have been doing? 

So, for anyone from AIIM or ARMA reading this, what's my recommendation? First, don't edit stuff you've already published unless you need to clean up specific errors or links that are now broken. Second, if you're going to edit, have the courage of your convictions to edit all the obvious errors or changes in the resource. Third, if you're going to edit, NOTE THAT FACT in the resource that's been edited. Or keep stealth editing, and lose more of your credibility. We notice. 

ARMA Canada Western Chapters Looking for Speakers for November 2022 Conference

Update: Updated due date to Jan 7, 2022. 

The five westernmost ARMA chapters in Canada are hosting a conference October 5-7, 2022 in Kelowna, BC. They are actively soliticing speakers and sponsors for the event; the call for speakers is open through January 7, 2022. 

For more information on speaking or sponsoring, visit http://vancouver.arma.org/2022-kelowna-conference.html.

Transparency in Association Pricing

In a recent post on the Pricing for Associations blog, Dr. Michael Tatonetti asked a provocative question, "How Do We Talk About Price without Talking About Price?" He made a couple of key arguments: 

1. Pricing provides financial sustainability for an association. Charge too little, and you don't have the wherewithal to survive recessions, pandemics, etc. 
2. Pricing and financial sustainability allow associations to do whatever it is they do.  

He notes, 

"I don't know about you, but I am a member of other associations, and I want to pay my dues. I want to pay to go to luncheons. I want to pay to go to annual conferences. I want to pay for continuing education because I not only want the value that I get from that, but I also want to empower my organizations to do even more work and reach new members, and reach new sponsors, and be sustainable, so that I can continue going back and getting what I need from them." 

I generally agree with these points. In particular, I agree with paying the fees myself, so much so in fact that I paid my membership at an association for more than 10 years, even though I was HQ staff, and even after I got lifetime membership as a Fellow. 

However, there's another consideration, which is that some people, including some of an association's audience, think that non-profits should give everything away, probably work for free or minimum wage, etc. It's not universal, of course, and there are associations that charge pretty stiff fees so they can have HQ upgrades, staff bonuses & premium pay, etc. 

Similarly, people aren't transparent about pricing because it will scare customers off. I saw this all the time with training, even though a survey of more than 70 different training programs showed that that association's training pricing was exactly inline with what others were charging - competitors, solution-specific training, complementary training, all of them. Some of this goes to self-funded vs. "need to submit for reimbursement"-level costs, but confidence in pricing also shows confidence in the product.

Finally, I think a lot of associations are hesitant to talk about price because they think they'll get undercut by their competition. This has always struck me as silly because at some point they do have to give customers a price, and it's a few seconds to Tweet or post that to LinkedIn. I subscribe more to the Marcus Sheridan "They Ask, You Answer" school of thought. That is, post pricing wherever possible, and if pricing is highly variable, post what pieces you can with an explanation of the variables. That also means that you shouldn't be hiding pricing behind a registration screen - I see this all the time with conferences where either the conference fees, the conference designated hotel fees, or both require prospective attendees to provide a ton of information first. 

ARMA Houston Announces Call for Speakers for Spring Seminar 2022

I normally don't post about individual chapters like this, but ARMA Houston is one of a handful of chapters that offer conference-like spring seminars - numerous vendors in an expo area, multiple tracks of speakers, etc. I very much enjoyed the opportunities I had to present at, and participate in, ARMA Houston's spring seminars in years past. I would plan to go again this year except that it's the same dates as AIIM22. 

The conference is scheduled for April 26-27, 2022 in Houston. Submission deadline is Dec 20, 2021. For additional details, or to submit, visit https://www.armahouston.org/page/2022_Speakers. 

IBM Cloud: Process Mining vs. Process Modeling vs. Process Mapping

IBM Cloud: Process mining, process modeling and process mapping are distinct, but related, methods of visualizing and analyzing business processes. To keep reading: https://www.ibm.com/cloud/blog/process-mining-vs-process-modeling-vs-process-mapping 

However, see the pushback from Mark McGregor and William Thomas on the LinkedIn post here: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/gregorypollack_process-mining-vs-process-modeling-vs-process-activity-6851716206127300608--5nY

How to Determine the Ownership of Information Stores

It's a key outcome of any system inventory, data map, system map, etc.: who owns a particular system or information store? Let me start by saying it's rarely IT - they provision, support, maintain, upgrade, update, and eventually decommission systems. But they don't own them - rather, they are custodians for them on behalf of the organization generally and the business process the system supports. 

In other words, it's generally the business process owner that owns a given system. Sales owns the sales forecasting system. Marketing owns the marketing automation system. IT *does* own the help desk ticket system. For systems that are generally enterprise-wide, like email, an argument can be made that IT should be considered their owners, but I believe that in this case the owner is either the CIO or another member of executive management - perhaps even the CEO. 

But organizations change. Systems get consolidated across multiple departments. Business units and work processes get reorganized, and merged, and split apart. This can lead to systems, and the information they hold, being orphaned, without a defined owner. If the result of the reorganization is that a system is decommissioned, and its data dealt with appropriately according to existing information and data governance policies, this isn't an issue. However, it's quite common when doing an inventory to find folders, applications, and entire systems where no owner can be identified. So what is to be done with them? 

There are a couple of ways to track down the ownership of an ostensibly orphaned or abandoned information store. 

Ask someone. It's pretty unusual for a system, and the information it stores, to be completely unknown to anyone in the organization. If the system isn't decades out of date, you may still have someone on staff who remembers the system and its purpose. Then you can assign ownership to whoever owns that function today. If the function has been completely done away with (not just renamed), you may need to go to legal to explain the circumstances and figure out the right way to proceed. 

Ask IT, records management, and legal. IT should know about all the systems that are or were on their network or that they supported. Records management should have a records and information management inventory that identifies systems that could potentially generate or store records. Legal may have a data map from previous litigation. All of these could provide valuable clues about a particular system or information store, especially if any of these groups keeps previous versions. 

Examine the system. Databases have database definitions, and data dictionaries, and can probably be queried by a competent database analyst to determine what data they hold. For unstructured systems, such as abandoned network file shares and folders, someone with appropriate access rights can review the contents of those information stores to at least get a sense of what they deal with. For an abandoned email inbox, it may be as simple as drafting a new email and seeing what comes up in the signature block. Again, if the function persists, the system can be assigned to that function; if not, check with legal. 

Run a report. Most repositories and databases have audit logs that track things like date last accessed and who accessed them. There are dozens of tools that can do this for networked file shares as well. These can provide valuable insight into potential ownership. And if nobody has accessed that data or that system for 5, 7, 10+ years? Great point to make to legal. 

Do some research. This approach assumes that, not only can you not find an owner, but you can't even determine what the system is - think legacy, deprecated applications, old databases, or unknown file formats. Do your due diligence - there are tools online that can potentially identify unknown file formats by their extensions. But if you can't even access the information on the system to figure out what it is, it clearly has no business value, and you're at even greater risk in the event of litigation or an audit. Document your work and take it to legal. 

Turn it off. This one I recommend as a last resort and at your own career risk. If you truly can't figure out who owns a particular system - nobody will claim it, nobody wants it, several groups point fingers at each other asserting *their* responsibility for it - this will get you a response one way or another. 

Turn off access to the system. 

Whoever screams about it first, or loudest, is the new owner! And if nobody screams about it for a week, a month, three months, etc., that's a pretty good indicator that the system and the information it contains no longer has current business value. The fact that you turned off access 90 days ago and nobody complained is a pretty powerful data point to be able to take to legal. 

Before you act....

In every instance, before you do something that cannot be reversed, it's important to talk to your legal team (and probably risk management and compliance as well, if you have them). Ordinarily I'd include the records team in this as well, but absent ownership of a system or the ability to determine its use, there's not going to be much for records management to do here. 

AIIM+ Launches

I noted last month that AIIM announced a new approach called AIIM+ that introduces a couple of significant changes. First, Professional membership has been replaced by a subscription model. 

AIIM+ is available in two tiers - AIIM+ and AIIM+ Pro. The latter includes unlimited access to AIIM's training offerings for an extra $33/month. AIIM+ is live as I type this. 

It's not super-intuitive how to access the updated AIIM+ training content - when I click Education/My Courses from the AIIM home page, it takes me to the prior learning portal with all my old course content. I did see an AIIM tweet announcing AIIM+ and taking me to this page: https://www.aiim.org/aiim-plus. From there, there is a button that says Browse the Training Library; clicking that takes me to the new course listings. 

I got the email announcement around 10 am Mountain time, but it was pretty brief and left me with a number of questions I don't yet see addressed. I did check the FAQ at the bottom of the landing page as well. 

What happens to the long-form courses like MRMM and FIIM? They aren't listed on the website anymore, but I still have access to them in my current (old) learning portal account, which isn't surprising given the need to transition. Maybe there will be future communications that address an end of life date for the old portal and content, and how non-Pro or even non-AIIM+ persons will gain access to their transcripts and CIP status. I'm also curious as to the impact AIIM+ will have on existing training partners. 

Related, for FIIM in particular, I wonder what this means for CIP, given that FIIM was *the* prep course to prepare for the exam. The newly launched content covers some of the same topics, but it does not cover 100% of the exam content as FIIM did. AIIM+ may come to cover all of CIP at some point, but I can state with confidence that it does not at present. 

What happens to the external courses developed by AIIM partners like Practical AI and Confident Change Management? They aren't listed in the updated course listings either. 

When students complete AIIM+ courses, will there be some sort of certificate, or badge, or credential? What happens to the legacy Specialist and Master designations? 

How does CIP interact with AIIM+? So far I'm not seeing any changes; on the new landing page, there is this benefit of AIIM+: "Prove to your boss, co-workers, and yourself that you know your stuff by getting certified." 

I continue to wish AIIM success with AIIM+. Full disclosure - as an AIIM Fellow I was granted a free AIIM+ (not Pro) subscription in perpetuity, but I don't currently plan to get the Pro subscription so I won't know what that content actually looks like. 

Where I Ended Up - a 30-Day Update

30 days ago today was my last day at AIIM. Over the last 30 days I've done a lot of reflecting on the past and thinking about the future. I have to admit that I have not yet found the answer to life's eternal questions - besides, Doug Adams already did that. 

So what did I do the last 30 days? I've read a ton of books on everything from certification development to AI to association management to product marketing. I've taken quite a few online courses from Coursera and LinkedIn on those topics. I've started working on my exercise regime again - after all, if I'm available for in-person events, at some point I will have to put on pants that fit. 

Tell Us Already! 

Oh, I also started a company, Athro Consulting.  This is the answer to the question in the title. I'm offering consulting services in a couple of key areas: 

Information governance and information management consulting. In particular, I focus on strategy, planning, and process-type issues like business assessments, building program roadmaps, developing information governance and records management programs, and identifying and upskilling required staff. 

Training development and delivery. I've been a trainer since 1993, when I graduated United States Marine Corps Drill Instructor School and became a drill instructor. In terms of industry training, I started teaching courses on IMR'S Alchemy product line in 2000 and on CompTIA's now-retired CDIA+ program in 2003. IMERGE Consulting was AIIM's first training partner in North America, and I taught AIIM's first in-person training course in North America in January 2006. 

In the nearly 16 years since, I've developed or updated more than 20 AIIM courses and delivered more than 200 workshops including public, private, train-the-trainer, and custom to students around the world. 

In the months to come I'll be developing and delivering some of my own workshops, as well as partnering with some organizations that I support. In the meantime, if you have training you need delivered, particularly relating to information governance, information management, records management, etc. let's talk!

Certification program development and delivery. This is a little more esoteric in that not everyone needs a certification program developed, but there are a lot of ways for a certification program to go sideways if not planned and executed properly. I led the technical development of the original AIIM Certified Information Professional (CIP) program in 2011 and the overall development of the program updates in 2016 and 2019. Before I joined AIIM, I worked on the now-defunct CompTIA CDIA+ and TAWPI ICP certifications as well. 

Note that we're not limited to personnel-type certifications like CIP - I've also developed a couple of vendor partner certification programs.

Evangelism and thought leadership. I love writing and talking about this stuff. I love learning new stuff and sharing it. I love theory, and I love practical application. I love learning lessons learned and sharing them, and hearing horror stories and sharing them. Despite having been a vendor, a consultant, or a training provider for most of my career, I've always been focused on the message of improving organizations through effective information practices, regardless of who signed my paycheck. 

You can see some of my presentations on Slideshare - I need to add some of the more recent ones, but even the ones there now will give you a feel for how I approach speaking. 

If you're reading this, you know I blog; I also have a number of posts on the AIIM blog. I've written some longer-form things too, including the AIIM Social Business Roadmap and How to Conduct a Social Business Assessment, and, more recently, two editions of the CIP Study Guide. I'm always excited to learn about something new and then understand, and help others understand, how it can improve the way their organization works. 

How I Work

Here's what Athro Consulting offers in terms of approach. 

I'm a professional, and I have very strong ideas on ethics and their importance. 

My role is to be a guide. I know some stuff about how good information governance, records management, etc. can and should work. I don't know everything about everything, and I'll be honest about my limitations. I am a quick learner, and will go overboard learning about something if I need to. 

I believe in standards and best practices and will make the case for why you should follow them. That said, it's your business, your training program, your culture, and my role is to help your organization be more efficient, more effective, and more successful. If that means following different standards and practices sometimes, so be it.  

I believe that consulting engagements should not stretch on indefinitely, but should end, and should end with the organization having the knowledge and ability to continue to drive things forward. 

I'm willing and able to travel as needed. I'm vaccinated for a lot of stuff, and I'm a pretty cheap date, given sufficient advance warning. 

If you think I can bring some value to your organization, feel free to drop me a note at jesse.wilkins@athroconsulting.com. My permanent Gmail account, jwilkins13@gmail.com, still works as well. I'm happy to have a call, Zoom chat, etc. at your convenience. 

Ness Labs: The educational and economic necessity of lifelong learning

100% agree. I'm biased, of course, because I'm in the training business. But I really do believe in the three reasons the article gives - lifelong learning helps you to: 

• Adapt to an ever changing market
• Spot new opportunities
• Explore different career paths

The second bullet goes on to note, "By exposing ourselves to more knowledge across various fields, we are increasing our chances to discover a need or a gap to be filled." 

To that same end, I wholeheartedly recommend the book Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World, by David Epstein.

H/t: WBT Systems (https://twitter.com/WBT_Systems)

How Much Does Your Product Cost?

This is the first in a series of posts I plan to write on pricing in the information management industry. 

I saw an interesting ad today for some training of relevance to me. It was developed by one of the industry's leading experts on the topic, looked to be of great quality, and packed a lot of content into a very short course, which is perfect for me. I decided to buy it, but there's no pricing and no way to purchase. I checked the package it's part of, and same thing. I finally found a "Store" button, which showed me the pricing, but it took several more clicks because I had to decide how long to have access to it as part of the purchase process. The time it took me to find pricing, evaluate the options, and get to the payment page took almost as long as the runtime of the course itself. 

I'm a big fan of the "They Ask, You Answer" approach to marketing developed by Marcus Sheridan. One of the key tenets of the TAYA approach is that there are 5 really big questions that almost all customers have, and that you should be answering: 

• How much does your solution cost?
• What are the negatives or issues with your solution?
• How does your product or solution compare to alternatives?
• What is everybody saying about your solution?
• What is the best solution available?

He notes that most organizations are afraid to answer these, for fear of scaring customers away. Instead, he argues, organizations that don't providing pricing drive customers away because they get frustrated. You may have experienced this yourself when shopping for a car. There is generally a price, but it's understood that that's the starting point for haggling. This process has been so uncomfortable for so many people that we've seen a surge in "no-haggle" buying - there's a price, you take the car at that price. 

The information management industry is notoriously opaque in its pricing. Go to the website of any vendor listed in the Gartner Magic Quadrant, Forrester Wave, or any other analyst report. Go to the website of any vendor you've seen at a conference or whose webinar you've attended. 99 times out of 100, you won't be able to find pricing for their products. If they are really transparent, you might be able to find pricing for training, or certification exams, etc. And hardware often has pricing listed, too - it's pretty easy to find scanner pricing, for example. But you likely won't be able to see and compare two RM solutions. 

I know what you're thinking, and what the vendors are howling: Every organization is unique. Yes...and no. Unless you're delivering custom software for every customer, at some point a customer is getting a set of capabilities. You know how much those capabilities cost - if you are on a government schedule, that pricing is probably public, and certainly your sales people know where the starting price is. It should be pretty straightforward to make at least your "sticker price" available. 

If you disagree, please reach out to me at jwilkins13@gmail.com. I will keep your name and organization, and any organizations you reference, confidential. 

Happy Birthday, CIP!

Today is the 10th anniversary of AIIM's Certified Information Professional (CIP) certification exam and program. On September 23, 2011, the CIP exam went live as the Information Certification and the first 50 or so CIPs who worked to develop the exam were grandfathered in. We don't number CIPs in this fashion, but I suppose Atle Skjekkeland, the architect and main creative force behind the certification, would be CIP #1, and I would be CIP #2 as the technical lead. 

The first CIP exam taken, and passed, happened the next day, September 24. As of my departure from AIIM, nearly 2,000 people since then have passed the exam and earned the designation. I don't know what the future holds for CIP, but I know we did some really good work in putting the exam together in 2011 and for the updates in 2016 and 2019. I am grateful to everyone who supported CIP during my tenure at AIIM and I hold the development and maintenance of CIP as one of my personal career highlights. 

Christian Buckley, buckleyPLANET: Evangelism is about Building Advocacy

Great post that outlines the key roles and activities of a technology evangelist. I’m surprised, in the era of content marketing, the Challenger Sales methodology, etc. that more solution providers don’t recognize the benefits of a dedicated evangelist.

H Layer Credentialing: Sorting Through Credentialing Confusion: Understanding the Difference Between Certificate and Certification Programs

Good basic article on the difference between certificate programs and professional certifications. I was going to write a post similar to this, but hey. :) 

Certifications and Renewal Requirements

This is an update to a post I wrote in February 2017. 

Real certifications have, or should have, some type of renewal or continuing education requirement. The CDIA exam I took in 2001 has almost zero relevance to the technology and process environment of 2021. And in fact this is one of the key benefits of a formal certification as compared to, say, a certificate or even a full degree program - once you complete a degree or certificate, that's it. As soon as you're done it starts getting stale. 

Certifications are designed to allow candidates to demonstrate their knowledge and expertise in certain areas - but they are also markers of dedication to continuing professional development. Someone who has maintained a certification for 20 years has had to make at least some effort to keep up with changes in the industry and technologies.

There are two basic ways to renew a certification. First, many organizations will allow or require certificants to retake the then-current exam. Assuming the exam is updated regularly, this is probably the most efficient for both parties. But certificants really, REALLY don't like to do this - it tends to be more expensive, you have to deal with the in-person or online exam registration and delivery process, many certificants have test anxiety, etc. 

The alternative generally involves having certificants earn continuing education units (CEUs) and paying a fee, typically lower than the original exam/assessment fees. Every program determines what types of activities are appropriate for earning CEUs and how many are required; the typical figures are around a 3-5 year recertification cycle and 10-20 CEUs per year of the cycle, with CEUs awarded at the rate of 1 CEU per hour of educational activity. 

Certifying organizations have to balance the desire to have certificants maintain their credential - and the revenue that comes from them - with the need to ensure certificants really are doing what is expected. If it's too hard, people drop the certification; if it's too easy, it devalues the value of it. 

CEUs and Third Party Events

One way in which certifying organizations try to balance these needs is to offer preapproval to third party event producers/trainers. This provides a number of benefits depending on your point of view:

• The certifying organization shows its relevance and that of its designation, as event producers include its name, designation name, and logo in their marketing materials.
• Event producers have a ready way to demonstrate their commitment to the specific certifying organization and the broader community/industry as they market.
• Individual certificants can attend events secure in the knowledge that they are educational in nature and of some level of quality.
• Candidates can also attend those events and for largely the same reasons; in addition, some credentials require some amount of education to even sit for the exam, and these events can meet some or all of that need.

Every once in a while a certifying body considers this question and determines that it will only accept its events - that makes it more money, or leads, and why should it go to the trouble of accepting, or even promoting, competitive events? This is a terrible idea for several reasons: 

• Most non-technical certifications are designed to demonstrate industry-accepted knowledge and expertise, not that of a single organization or product. 
• Individuals won't limit themselves to consuming a single product or service - rather, they will assume that the certification isn't a "real" one since it doesn't accept their otherwise educational activities. 
• Certifying bodies are themselves part of a community. If AIIM only accepted AIIM events for CIP CEUs, it would only be logical for ARMA, the ICRM, etc. to only accept theirs or at least refuse AIIM events for credit. This results in everyone cutting off their own noses to spite their faces. 
• Education should be evaluated based on its value and content, not whose name or logo is on the cover. 

Frankly, CEUs provide a way for associations to work more closely together. We compete in many ways and on many things - but ultimately we're all in the business of providing value to the members of our communities, and I view all of our various communities as part of the same, larger, information management community. 

No Renewal Requirement, No Certification

It’s also important to understand that the value of a certification, and its prestige, are directly related to the perception of difficulty. As Global Knowledge noted in a recent story, “The 10 IT Certifications Employers Look For”, 

What differentiates these certifications is not only their depth of content, but also their breadth. If they were easy to obtain, would they be so highly sought after and command a high salary?

Organizations should not look at CEUs or renewal requirements as creating friction or raising unnecessary hurdles for their certificants. Rather, they are a way for certificants to demonstrate to themselves and their organizations their commitment to ongoing professional growth and development.

If you offer a certification that does NOT require regular renewal, what you have is not a certification. It's a certificate. Certificates are valuable in and of their own right, but anyone interested in paying for a certification knows the difference. 

Here's a great post that compares and contrasts certificates and certifications: https://www.thehlayer.com/news/differences-between-certificate-certification-programs/

AIIM Announces AIIM+ Subscription Model

Today AIIM announced a program called AIIM+ that converts membership into a monthly or yearly subscription program. The program will officially launch on October 5, 2021. It has two tiers: 

• AIIM+ - basically replaces Professional membership. $16 per month or $160 per year if paid all at once
• AIIM+ Pro - includes AIIM+ as well as unlimited access to on-demand training. $49 per month or $490 per year.  

I like the subscription approach for both tiers because it changes membership and training from something you need to get approval / reimbursement for to something you can probably cover out of pocket. $49/month isn't trivial - but I bet it's less than your cell phone OR your cable bill. 

They are also running a small introductory discount - if you buy by October 4, you can save $20 on an annual plan for AIIM+ or $40 for an annual plan for AIIM+ Pro. 

The announcement doesn't address what will happen with existing AIIM training or, importantly to me, if / how it will address CIP. But maybe more information will be made available on October 5. 

AIIM's blog post, with more details, is available at https://info.aiim.org/aiim-blog/everything-you-need-to-know-about-aiim. 

I'm Back on the Speaking Circuit!

I'm happy to let everyone know that I'm available to speak at chapter and industry events. It's been a while, for a lot of reasons. But getting to talk with people is truly one of my favorite things to do in the industry. 

By way of background, I've been speaking on information management-related topics since around 2000. I've been privileged to speak at AIIM 2003 - 2021, ARMA 2003 - 2011, a number of MER conferences between 2010 and 2021, and more than 400 other events since 2003. I've also delivered a number of keynote sessions at conferences, user group meetings, and solution provider events. 

Topics

Here are some topics that I'm very comfortable doing - I speak on them regularly, albeit with different nuances for different audiences. This is not an exhaustive list, just the things I've done more recently. If you don't see your topic or angle on the list, reach out to me anyway and we can discuss. 

• Professional Development for the Information Professional
• How to Build Your Own Professional Development Plan
• The Best Certifications for Records Managers
• Harnessing Your Information to Create Business Value
• How to Implement Social Media Governance
• How to Improve Email Management Through Automation
• How to Conduct a Business and Technical Assessment for Information Management
• How to Improve Your Records Program with a Records Management Playbook

Some of these can be done as half- or full-day seminars or workshops, complete with checklists, guidelines, templates, etc. 

Delivery

I am quite comfortable doing in-person events, but you or your organization might not be. That's OK; I've been doing live remote events since 2004. For remote, I have access to Zoom, Slack, Teams, Webex, Google, etc. and if you have a different platform I'll figure it out. For in-person events, whatever venue you use, I can make work; I've spoken in bars, a bowling alley, and even Fenway Park and the Boston Zoo. 

Fees and Scheduling

Because I'm just now getting back in the groove, I'm not charging any speaking fees this year for association chapters for a typical 30-60 minute chapter meeting. I will charge a fee for half- or full-day events; that fee will depend on the topic, the audience, and whether it's in-person or not. For in-person events, even chapter meetings, I do need to recoup travel costs, but I'm a pretty cheap date. Solution providers and end user organizations? I'm available to speak at your events as well, but I do charge a fee and travel. 

If you're interested, reach out to me at jesse.wilkins@athroconsulting.com to discuss. Right now I'm scheduling about 60 days out; if you're interested in a Spring Seminar-type meeting, the sooner we chat, the better as I think my schedule will fill up.