I did one of these retrospectives in 2021, and think I ended up being too busy to do one last year. My hope is that I can turn these into an annual thing.
2023 At a Glance
I delivered 26 separate presentations, mostly on building a RIM/IG Playbook (8); professional development (5); or certifications (5). I also got to participate in a total of 8 in-person events including an onsite client visit, several chapter seminars, and AIIM23, MER 2023, ARMA Canada 2023, and ARMA InfoCon 2023.
I made the conscious choice to limit my consulting hours to about 40%, which gave me time to continue my events listings, relaunch my newsletter, do all of those presentations, and otherwise try to support my associations and my industry.
Finally, I spent more than 200 hours as a volunteer subject matter expert helping AIIM to update the CIP exam, including writing questions, reviewing and editing questions, and helping to set the passing score. The updated exam launched at the end of November; more about this in December.
January
January was a quiet month. I got to attend, and present at, the ARMA Mile High Denver chapter meeting, on building a RIM playbook. I spent most of the month heads-down on client work and preparing for my February presentations.
February
Short, but busy month! Lots of client work, and 4 separate presentations: virtual sessions for ARMA Chattanooga on the RIM playbook; a panel at InfoGovDay on "Selecting an IG Consultancy" and an Ask the IG CEOs Anything panel; and an in-person session on certifications at the ARMA Florida Sunshine Conference.
March
March was another month focused more on work and on preparation for events rather than attending them. I did do one virtual presentation for ARMA Southern California Inland Empire on the RIM Playbook.
March was also my last issue of my newsletter before I put it on hiatus - work and industry stuff took more time than I expected.
April
April is celebrated as RIM Month in the U.S. and ARMA generally provides some resources to help organizations raise awareness about RIM practices. At my main client we were able to put together an entire month of activities including an in-person lunch & learn that I delivered, a scavenger hunt, and much more. I posted about it here: https://informata.blogspot.com/2023/04/celebrating-rim-month-2023.html.
I also delivered a virtual presentation for ARMA Western Michigan on the RIM Playbook and then went to Omaha, NE to deliver 4 sessions at the ARMA Nebraska Spring Seminar. My topics included "Harnessing Your Information to Create Business Value"; "Modernizing Your Retention Schedule in the Age of Privacy"; and my sessions on professional development and the RIM playbook.
I finished the month by heading to New Orleans for the AIIM23 Annual Conference. I delivered a session on "How to Leverage Privacy Practices to Build Customer Trust", and moderated a panel on "The Top Skills for IM Pros of the Future".
May
May took me to Chicago for what we didn't know then would be the final MER conference. At MER I got to co-present with my colleague Donda Young of Helias Consulting on the topic of Building an IG Playbook.
Later in the summer, the MER conference was rebranded to ARMA InfoNext, moved to Palm Springs, CA, and scheduled for the week after the AIIM24 conference. More on that in July.
I also started thinking about getting back into training. This was in part because of the post-MER workshop I was doing in June, but more because I didn't really see any in-person training being delivered. And the thing about in-person training is not so much the content as it is the interaction, the networking, the chance to ask questions and seek clarification, etc. So I started talking to AIIM about the potential of becoming an AIIM training partner.
June
In June I co-presented a 4-hour workshop on How to Build an IG Playbook, again with Donda Young. Now, I say co-presented, but it was more like the "Jesse, with interjections by Speaker #2 Show", because I hadn't properly planned it out and ended up taking it over. Lesson learned!
I also began a blog series on IG/IM/RM industry certifications. This month's post was an introduction to certifications in our industry and my approach to certifications.
July
I got the chance to attend the ARMA Canada Information Conference (ACIC) in Toronto, where I delivered a couple of sessions on certifications and professional development, including a panel with ARMA CEO Nathan Hughes and AIIM CEO Tori Miller Liu.
ARMA and RIMPA also formally announced the Global Information Consortium (GIC); while I attended that presentation, I'm still not sure what its intent is. As of this writing, AIIM is not part of the GIC; in fact, there is almost no information on the website other than a nebulous "fill out this form for more information" page.
All of these announcements and machinations led me to write "IGIM Industry Associations Playing Nicely - Or Are They?"
I wrote Part 2 of my certification series, on the ICRM CRM and CRA.
Finally, in July I officially became the President-Elect for the ARMA Mile High Denver chapter. It's been a great chapter year so far, and I'm really looking forward to our Spring Seminar in April.
August
August was quiet, as it often is, and I filled it with client work and prep for September and October. I did get a chance to do a presentation/interview with John Mancini on "The 6 most common mistakes in creating a records modernization strategy." I also spent a lot of time this month, and indeed from July through November, working as a volunteer subject matter expert on AIIM's updated CIP exam.
I also wrote Part 3 of my certification series, this time on ARMA's IGP.
September
In September I celebrated the 2nd anniversary of Athro Consulting. It's been a fun and exciting two years with some fantastic client work, and I'm looking forward to what year 3 brings!
I also got the chance to do a virtual session for AIIM True North on Generative AI and an in-person keynote at the ARMA New England Fall Conference on "Industry Trends to Keep Your Skills Sharp."
October
In October I relaunched my newsletter and delivered a virtual session to ARMA San Diego on certifications. I also had the opportunity to talk about certifications and professional development to a private organization.
I also went to Detroit to speak at the ARMA InfoCon 2023 conference, where I delivered a preconference workshop on professional development. Only two people showed up so it was a very custom, very intimate workshop. I also moderated another panel on professional development.
And I got to attend a good session on autoclassification at the ARMA Mile High Denver October meeting.
November
The big news in an otherwise fairly light month is that the 2023 update to the AIIM CIP exam was finally launched. Earlier in the month I participated in the Beuk psychometric score-setting exercise, which resulted in setting the passing score at 60% again.
I also got to attend a great session by the indefatigable Steve Weissman at the ARMA Mile High Denver November meeting.
And I onboarded a new client for a very short-term project, building them a RIM playbook!
December
I began December with Part 4 of my certification series on the newly relaunched AIIM CIP. Initially I had planned to include the CIGOA CIGO and the InfoAdvocates SIPC, but I can't seem to get much information from them other than what's on the website, and since I don't want to post something without at least giving them the chance to weigh in, those are on the back burner for now.
I attended a wonderful holiday lunch courtesy of the ARMA Mile High Denver chapter. We had a "white elephant" gift exchange, and I ended up with a plush throw that was an instant hit with my daughter and her old chihuahua - it may have been the best gift exchanged that day, and it's certainly my favorite white elephant gift ever.
I also delivered two more virtual sessions, to ARMA Madison on the RIM playbook and to ARMA Florida Gulf Coast on certifications. And I wrote another blog post about how difficult it appears to be for event planners in our industry to read a calendar.
Finally, December marked my coming full circle with AIIM training to become an AIIM Training Partner. I'll be teaching both AIIM content and my own starting in 2024. The schedule isn't listed yet, but you can check my training page for my offerings and approach.
I have also signed up to be a CIP Ambassador. I'll be writing and speaking about CIP in order to help it gain traction in the marketplace. I'll still be talking about all certifications, their pros & cons, etc. - but I was doing that while I was running the CIP program as an AIIM employee. So nothing there will change, and my being an ambassador will not lead me to treat CIP any better or worse than other certifications.
So! Here's to a nicely busy yet balanced 2023. I wish all my readers and everyone in the industry a happy, safe, and prosperous 2024!
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