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.