Upcoming Industry Meetings and Webinars, September 16 - October 15, 2022

Here are the IG/IM/RM industry webinars and podcasts I'm aware of for September 16 - October 15, 2022. I don't have anything to do with them from a planning perspective, so please reach out to the individual event producers with any questions. I also don't get paid or get anything out of this other than the satisfaction of helping get the word out.  

9/16 - ARMA Palm Beach Treasure Coast, Information Governance & Security Lunch & Learn

9/19 - ARMA New England, 1st Annual Golf Benefit

9/20 - ARMA Atlanta, Where the Lines Blur: Defining KM and IG in Your Organization

9/20 - ARMA Mile Hi Denver, The Future of File Plans

9/20 - AIIM+, Meeting the Challenge: Implementing Your EDRM/ECM (members only)

9/20 - ARMA Central Missouri, Road Trip: A Comparison/Contrast for Retail, Tax Advisory, Insurance and Utility RIM Environments. 

• Email Joann Looten at lootenje@umsystem.edu for meeting credentials

9/20 - ARMA Madison, IG and Cybersecurity

9/20 - ARMA Milwaukee, Landing Your Information Governance Rover on Mars

9/20 - ARMA San Antonio, Automation to Integration: Document Storage in LOB applications vs ECM System Integration with LOB applications

9/20 - ARMA Mid-Michigan, Charting the Course(s): Records Management Education for Target Audiences

9/20 - ARMA Metro NYC, Chapter Year Kick-off

9/20 - IAPP and Privado.ai, How to Operationalize Data Mapping for Engineering (might be members only)

9/20 - Access Information Management, From the Box and Beyond: Managing your information is not one size fits all

9/20 - RIMPA and Iron Mountain, The Future of Records and Retention Management

9/21 - ARMA Northern Virginia and ARMA Greater Washington DC, Challenges of Managing White House Records

9/21 - ARMA SCIE, Managing Unstructured Content: Is Manual Metadata Capture a Practice of the Past?

9/21 - ARMA Nebraska, Case Study: Records Center Move

9/21 - ARMA New Jersey, ARMA New England, ARMA Metro NYC, and ARMA Upstate New York, The Role of IG in Regulated Environments

9/21 - ARMA Puget Sound, State Archives Meet & Greet

9/21 - ARMA Kentucky, Inaugural Meeting and What 30 Years in RIM Has Taught Me

• Email lydia.mcgahee@texasroadhouse.com.

9/22 - ARMA St. Louis, Opening Season Double Header

9/22 - ARMA, Building a Retention Schedule from Scratch Part 4 of 5 (members only)

9/22 - AIIM True North, Jumping from a Plane! POPS: A Digital Transformation Case Study

9/22 - Iron Mountain, Retention Schedule Optimization: Meeting Today and Tomorrow's Needs

9/27 - ARMA Chicago, SharePoint Records Management Best Practices

9/27 - AIIM+ Canada Coffee & Conversation - First Nations Data Sovereignty (members only)

9/27 - MER Sapient and ZL Technologies, Modernizing RIM with In-Place Management

9/28 - ARMA Houston, Landing Your Information Governance Rover on Mars

9/28 - ARMA Greater Los Angeles, The Retention Journey 

9/29 - ARMA, Building a Retention Schedule from Scratch Part 5 of 5 (members only)

10/4 - Twin Cities ARMA, Fall Seminar

10/4 - InfoAdvocates, Build, Adopt & Execute Your Information Governance, Privacy, and eDiscovery Strategy

10/5 - ARMA Baton Rouge/Lafayette, Back Pocket Plan

10/5 - ARMA Upstate New York, Cyber Risks: Is your data retention program helping or hurting?

10/5-7 - ARMA Kelowna, Wine-ing About Records

10/6 - ARMA Triangle, Moving Your Organization Towards Compliance

10/6 - NAGARA, “Sharing” Our Struggles: A Panel on Shared Drives

10/11 - InfoAdvocates, How to Add Value to Your Organization with Information Governance

10/11 - ARMA Dallas, Snapshots Across History

10/12 - ARMA Puget Sound, Pushing the Business Case for Records Management

10/14 - ARMA Jacksonville, History of Downtown Jacksonville

If you know of a webinar or other local/regional event during this period that is focused on IM, IG, RM, etc. that's not listed, let me know here or at jesse.wilkins@athroconsulting.com. 

If you're looking for a speaker, I'm available to speak at your chapter or event. For more details, see http://informata.blogspot.com/2022/06/im-available-to-speak-at-your-meeting.html; this post also lists a few other speakers who are available and quite good. I published a separate blog about how to find speakers and what to look for at http://informata.blogspot.com/2022/06/finding-speakers-for-your-event-part-1.html. 

Re: vendor/consultant-led webinars, I know that demos are quite educational, as are customer case studies - but they are generally too narrow and self-serving for me to list them. This is irrespective of source; AIIM/ARMA/MER/etc. webinars that are basically sales pitches won't get listed either. MER Sapient-type stuff, or Access Sciences' webinars, are good examples I'm happy to include. If you think yours will pass muster, contact me at jesse.wilkins@athroconsulting.com and let's talk. No cost to list anything, I just need the details (and for it to meet my criteria for education). 

MER Announces Call for Presenters for MER Conference 2023

 The MER Conference has announced its call for presenters to participate in The MER Conference 2023, scheduled for May 24-26, 2023 and returning to Chicago, IL. This year's theme is "Information Governance as a Business Imperative." 

I've had the opportunity to speak at a number of MER conferences and they are always fantastic, from the attendee and speaker perspective alike. It's a great opportunity to share your story and your expertise - and to learn from everyone else! 

The deadline to submit is October 28, 2022. For additional details, and to access the link to submit a proposal, visit https://www.merconference.com/page/2274435/call-about.

Upcoming Industry Meetings and Webinars - September 1 - 30, 2022

Here are the webinars and events I'm aware of for September 1 - 30, 2022. I don't have anything to do with them from a planning perspective, so please reach out to the individual event producers with any questions. I also don't get paid or get anything out of this other than the satisfaction of helping get the word out.  

9/1 - NAGARA, The Stories Have Many Pieces: A Look at How Tribal Archiving Words (members only)

9/1 - ARMA, Building a Retention Schedule from Scratch Part 1 of 5

9/7 - ARMA Baton Rouge / Lafayette Chapter, Toastmasters

9/8 - ARMA Triangle Chapter, Processing the Papers of a Nobel Laureate

9/8 - ARMA, Building a Retention Schedule from Scratch Part 2 of 5 (members only)

9/8 - AIIM, Records Management Coffee & Conversation, Single Source of Truth (members only)

9/8 - IAPP and SixFifty, Handling Consumer Rights Requests in 2023 (might be members only)

9/9 - ARMA, InfoCon22 Ask Us Anything! 

9/13 - MER Sapient and Contoural, How Can IG and Data Governance Get Along?

9/13 - ARMA Dallas, Commonalities Among Archives and Records

9/13 - ARMA Twin Cities, Bridging the Gap: Overcoming Barriers in Information Governance

9/13-14 - AIIM Virtual Summit, Customer-Centered Information Management

9/14 - AIIM+, Virtual Coffee with Zasio Consulting, Practicing Data Minimization (members only)

9/14 - IAPP and OneTrust, How to Navigate the US Privacy Landscape in 2023 (might be members only)

9/15 - ARMA Arizona, California's Consumer Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) - Why Should Any Arizona Business Care?

9/15 - ARMA, Building a Retention Schedule from Scratch Part 3 of 5 (members only)

9/15 - ARMA Liberty Bell, An Introduction to the Philadelphia Archives

9/15 - MER Sapient and Valora Technologies, Managing Records Retention with Autoclassification

9/15 - AIIM Southwest, Managing documents and records effectively in Microsoft 365 – what is the best approach?

9/15 - ARMA Orlando, IGIM v2.0 and IG ISO 24143_2022

9/16 - ARMA Palm Beach Treasure Coast, Information Governance & Security Lunch & Learn

9/19 - ARMA New England, 1st Annual Golf Benefit

9/20 - ARMA Atlanta, Where the Lines Blur: Defining KM and IG in Your Organization

9/20 - ARMA Mile Hi Denver, The Future of File Plans

9/20 - AIIM+, Meeting the Challenge: Implementing Your EDRM/ECM (members only)

9/20 - ARMA Central Missouri, Road Trip: A Comparison/Contrast for Retail, Tax Advisory, Insurance and Utility RIM Environments. Email Joann Looten at lootenje@umsystem.edu for meeting credentials

9/20 - ARMA Madison, IG and Cybersecurity

9/20 - IAPP and Privado.ai, How to Operationalize Data Mapping for Engineering (might be members only)

9/21 - ARMA SCIE, Managing Unstructured Content: Is Manual Metadata Capture a Practice of the Past?

9/21 - ARMA Nebraska, Case Study: Records Center Move

9/21 - ARMA New Jersey, ARMA New England, ARMA Metro NYC, and ARMA Upstate New York, The Role of IG in Regulated Environments

9/22 - ARMA St. Louis, Opening Season Double Header

9/22 - ARMA, Building a Retention Schedule from Scratch Part 4 of 5 (members only)

9/27 - AIIM+ Canada Coffee & Conversation - First Nations Data Sovereignty (members only)

9/27 - MER Sapient and ZL Technologies, Modernizing RIM with In-Place Management

9/28 - ARMA Houston, Landing Your Information Governance Rover on Mars

9/29 - ARMA, Building a Retention Schedule from Scratch Part 5 of 5 (members only)

If you know of a webinar or event during this period that is focused on IM, IG, RM, etc. that's not listed, let me know here or at jesse.wilkins@athroconsulting.com. 

If you're looking for a speaker, I'm available to speak at your chapter or event. For more details, see http://informata.blogspot.com/2022/06/im-available-to-speak-at-your-meeting.html; this post also lists a few other speakers who are available and quite good. I published a separate blog about how to find speakers and what to look for at http://informata.blogspot.com/2022/06/finding-speakers-for-your-event-part-1.html 

Re: vendor/consultant-led webinars, I know that demos are quite educational, as are customer case studies - but they are generally too narrow (and self-serving) for me to list them. This is irrespective of source; AIIM/ARMA/MER/etc. webinars that are basically sales pitches won't get listed either. MER Sapient-type stuff, or Access Sciences' webinars, are good examples I'm happy to include. If you think yours will pass muster, contact me at jesse.wilkins@athroconsulting.com and let's talk. No cost to list anything, I just need the details (and for it to meet my criteria for education). 

AIIM Opens Nominations for Board of Directors

AIIM has opened a call for nominations to serve on the AIIM International Board of Directors. It's a 3-year term starting January 1, 2023 and going through December 31, 2025. Candidates must be willing to attend 4 board meetings a year and be an AIIM Professional member (i.e. AIIM+) at the time of nomination. 

Self-nominations are allowed; nominations do require two additional letters of support. Nominations must be submitted by September 27, 2022. For more details or to submit a nomination, visit https://info.aiim.org/board-of-directors-nominations. 

The Information Management Menu, August 2022 Issue

 The August 2022 issue of my IM/IG/RM-y newsletter, The Information Management Menu, is now live at https://mailchi.mp/e807a818599d/the-information-management-menu-august-2022. Highlights include:

• News from AIIM and ARMA
• Calls for participation from ICRM and IAPP
• My take on the classic Cuban sandwich
• A blog post on how to find speakers for your local or smaller meetings
• And more than 20 conferences and industry events

The newsletter is free to subscribe, and I'll only ever use your name and email to send it to you. Listing your announcements or events is also free - as long as they are relevant to me and this audience. For more information about The Menu or anything on it, ping me at jesse.wilkins@athroconsulting.com. 

Upcoming Industry Meetings and Webinars - August 16 - September 15, 2022

Here are the webinars and podcasts I'm aware of for August 16 - September 15, 2022. I don't have anything to do with them from a planning perspective, so please reach out to the individual event producers with any questions. I also don't get paid or get anything out of this other than the satisfaction of helping get the word out.  

8/16 - AIIM+, Meeting the Challenge - Customer Journey Mapping (members only)

8/16 - ARMA, Legal Industry Coffeee & Chat (members only)

8/17 - Microsoft, Find and retain cloud attachments with Microsoft Purview (Teams required to register)

8/18 - ARMA and Access, Emerging Trends in Information Lifecycle Management

8/18 - Nicola Askham, The Data Governance Coach, The Six Principles for Successful Data Governance Masterclass

8/23 - AIIM+, Canada Coffee & Conversations, First Nations Data Sovereignty (members only)

8/23 - ARMA Florida Gulf Coast, The Pivotal Role of Front End Digitization Workflows

8/24 - ARMA Houston, Ask an Expert

9/1 - NAGARA, The Stories Have Many Pieces: A Look at How Tribal Archiving Words (members only)

9/1 - ARMA, Building a Retention Schedule from Scratch Part 1 of 5 (open webinar)

9/7 - ARMA Baton Rouge / Lafayette Chapter, Toastmasters

9/8 - ARMA, Building a Retention Schedule from Scratch Part 2 of 5 (members only)

9/9 - ARMA, InfoCon22 Ask Us Anything! 

9/13 - AIIM Virtual Summit, Customer-Centered Information Management

9/13 - MER Sapient and Contoural, How Can IG and Data Governance Get Along?

9/13 - ARMA Dallas, Commonalities Among Archives and Records

9/14 - AIIM+, Virtual Coffee with Zasio Consulting, Practicing Data Minimization

9/15 - ARMA Arizona, California's Consumer Privacy Rights Act (CPRA) - Why Should Any Arizona Business Care?

9/15 - ARMA, Building a Retention Schedule from Scratch Part 3 of 5 (members only)

9/15 - ARMA Liberty Bell, An Introduction to the Philadelphia Archives

9/15 - MER Sapient and Valora Technologies, Managing Records Retention with Autoclassification

If you know of a webinar or podcast during this period that is focused on IM, IG, RM, etc. that's not listed, let me know here or at jesse.wilkins@athroconsulting.com. 

If you're looking for a speaker, I'm happy to speak at your chapter or event. For more details, see http://informata.blogspot.com/2022/06/im-available-to-speak-at-your-meeting.html; this post also lists a few other speakers who are available and quite good. I published a separate blog about how to find speakers and what to look for at http://informata.blogspot.com/2022/06/finding-speakers-for-your-event-part-1.html. 

Re: vendor/consultant-led webinars, I know that demos are quite educational, as are customer case studies - but they are generally too narrow (and self-serving) for me to list them. This is irrespective of source; AIIM/ARMA/MER/etc. webinars that are basically sales pitches won't get listed either. MER Sapient-type stuff, or Access Sciences' webinars, are good examples I'm happy to include. If you think yours will pass muster, contact me at jesse.wilkins@athroconsulting.com and let's talk. No cost to list anything, I just need the details (and for it to meet my criteria for education). 

ICRM Opens Nominations for Board of Regents

The Institute for Certified Records Managers (ICRM) announced today that it is seeking candidates to serve on the ICRM Board of Directors. Active CRMs in good standing are invited to apply for candidacy to a Board of Regents position. CRAs are not eligible to serve on the Board Regents.

Open positions include: 

• President-Elect/Treasurer
• Regent, Exam Development
• Regent, Application and Member Relations
• Regent, Marketing and Communications

Nominations must be received by August 19, 2022. To apply, log into the ICRM website and then go to https://www.icrm.org/board-application. 

ARMA Announces Availability of Updated IGP Exam

ARMA announced this week that it has completed its update to the Information Governance Professional (IGP) certification exam. The updated exam is now generally available for candidates. 

The announcement, including the process and some background information, is available at https://magazine.arma.org/2022/07/the-igp-exam-new-and-improved/. The updated resources and link to register are available on the main IGP page at https://www.arma.org/general/custom.asp?page=igp.

(Full disclosure: I had a minor role in the update, participating on the standard-setting (i.e. passing score) workshop). 

AIIM Re-Announces Search for CEO

AIIM International announced today, July 20, on the AIIM Community (members only) that it has appointed an executive search firm to find Peggy Winton's successor as CEO. Apparently none of the ones they interviewed, or that applied but didn't get interviewed, made the cut. 

I'm posting the job description here just so it can get wider visibility - they need a strong CEO in place ASAP. Key gatekeeping requirement is 7-10 years of senior association experience and a bachelor's degree. They also want someone with knowledge of or experience in information management, which drops the potential pool of candidates dramatically - just not a lot of those unicorns out there to choose from. 

If any of my connections are interested, you can send a cover letter and resume to AIIMCEOSearch@vettedsolutions.com.

Here's the job description. I did find it interesting that while membership and conference and events were specifically called out, the CIP certification, or certifications broadly, were not, despite them being one of the top revenue lines for associations that develop them properly and market them effectively (or at all). This despite just having announced this week the intent to refresh the CIP program and exam. 

OVERVIEW

The Association for Intelligent Information Management (AIIM) is seeking a dynamic Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to lead the organization, which serves information management professionals and firms which provide their business solutions. In the digital transformation age, the information management professionals rely on AIIM for its independent research, education, and professional certification to keep current and advance their careers. Members value the AIIM community and networking opportunities, including the annual conference which attracts global non-members.

AIIM is excited to seek its next CEO who will replace a retiring executive, shape the industry and organization’s future, and build on past successes. Reporting to the Board of Directors, AIIM seeks an innovative, trusted, and transparent leader with a collaborative style who can effectively lead and promote the organization, drive membership and revenue growth, as well as develop and market new member-value-based programs, products, and events. A successful candidate will thrive in an association of individual members, firms, and solution-provider firms while emphasizing relationship-building, industry and professional advancement, and thriving through dynamic change. Further, the right professional fit will be a future-focused strategic thinker, growth-oriented, a quick study who maximizes resources, especially human capital – members, sponsors, and staff.

Established in 1943, AIIM is the world’s leading association dedicated to the information technology industry and its practice. Today, the mission remains relevant and meaningful as industries and businesses are experiencing a generational shift around how they manage their information and records. AIIM is a 501(c)6, tax-exempt membership organization. A 12-member Board of Directors governs AIIM. Long before the pandemic shifted work locations, AIIM’s virtual staff team of 14 executed the association’s work from their home offices in the U.S. and U.K. AIIM’s annual budget is approximately $3 million.

Information management continues to evolve as technology, uses and practices need to keep up with modern business. This is no truer than today’s current business and technological advances. AIIM, since its inception, has been at the forefront defining and driving industry practices and supporting the professionals that serve it. Keeping ahead of and leading the conversation with a vision for the future of information management is a critical to AIIM and what our membership expects of us and our leadership. Being at the helm of AIIM is an opportunity for a forward-thinking individual who would be excited to usher in and lead the next era of intelligent information management.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Strategic Leadership: Provides leadership, vision, and guidance to assist the AIIM Board of Directors in strategy development to advance and grow the association and its relevance to intelligent information management.
• Industry Ambassador and Awareness: Serves as the industry ambassador and, through the sponsor community and other external key leadership relationships (industry-leading executives, such as Hyland, IBM, Microsoft, and OpenText), they stay on top of trends, challenges, and opportunities, to grow and support the overall community.
• Thought Leadership: Identifies and advances the voices of influential thinkers in the community who can serve as beacons of change and transformation.
• Communication: Demonstrates a passion for AIIM, its mission, and its programs, serving as the face of the organization and champion for the industry. As AIIM’s spokesperson raises the organization’s visibility and promulgates a positive image.
• Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI): Champions DEI values within the association’s membership, staff, and industry.
• Staff Leadership: Inspires, engages, and develops the staff, including mentoring the executive team. Develops and implements staff policies, including a performance evaluation program and competitive compensation and benefits packages. Manages contracted services and assesses their performance.
• Governance: Partners with the Board of Directors and its Committees to establish the association’s strategic goals and objectives and make policy and business practice recommendations. 
• Financial, Business, and Operational Management: Ensures the organization’s fiscal health, legal integrity, and compliance with applicable laws. Develops, implements, and is accountable for the association’s annual budget and operating plan.
• Membership: Ensures membership growth and provides programs, research, and products that meet member needs, ensuring a solid return on member investment.
• Conferences and Events: Plans and executes educational content-rich meetings and events that inform, inspire, and provide valuable learning and networking opportunities for members.

EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS

• Seven to 10 years of executive or senior-level association leadership experience, including working with a nonprofit board of directors, transformational change, and shaping strategy, direction, and execution.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent education and experience.
• Background experience or knowledge of information management trends and practices.
• Ability to address problems and challenges, bring creativity and new solutions for continuous improvement, and move beyond current processes and practices.
• Knowledge of finance, budgeting, marketing, and small business management acumen.
• Leadership and management experience in a virtual environment with a remote staff team.
• Committed to recruiting, engaging, working with, and retaining a diverse membership and staff.
• Track record of driving/increasing an organization’s membership and revenue.
• Entrepreneurial mindset and experience in creating a more significant impact with limited resources.
• Proven experience in strategic planning, setting annual goals, execution, and accountability for results.
• Strong communication skills – verbal, written, public speaking, and listening. Ability to communicate complex concepts and industry issues.
• Outreach and networking skills, including the ability to persuade, build excitement, and clearly articulate the value and strength of the organization to its various stakeholders.
• A collaborative leadership style that includes working with members and volunteers.
• The ability to grasp critical information about members, their businesses, and the industry in which they operate to anticipate trends and issues that impact the industry.
• The ability to strategically assess critical information and proactively translate strategy into action.
• A staff management style that coaches, develops, leverages, and values a team.
• Member/customer service focused and consistently exceeding expectations.

The position requires 15% travel to business meetings and industry events.

MEASURES OF SUCCESS

The specifics regarding measures of success, including metrics, will ultimately be agreed upon by the new CEO and the AIIM Board, but at the end of the executive’s first year, the Board would expect the following:

• A smooth transition of leadership.
• The CEO has established strong relationships with the AIIM Board, members, and staff and communicates regularly and effectively.
• Demonstrates a solid understanding of the industry and completes an assessment of the membership model, revenues, programs, products, and meetings.
• In partnership with the Board, develops a strategic plan, vision, and objectives for the association’s membership and revenue growth.
• Establishes impact goals and success metrics for communication, marketing, and outreach programs.
• Develops and tests the business case for membership and the value proposition.

AIIM Announces Kickoff of Update to the CIP Exam

Caught this on LinkedIn just now; it was also posted to the AIIM Community (members only) but, at least so far, not emailed to active CIPs yet. AIIM has announced that it is beginning a project to update the Certified Information Professional (CIP) exam. 

Here is the announcement as it was posted; I'll have a few thoughts on it after. 

The role of Information Management is extending beyond the traditional boundaries and continues to evolve. As such, the CIP key Body of Knowledge (BoK) and the corresponding exam must also evolve.

To that end, AIIM is undertaking the project to audit, edit, and update the CIP BoK – and we're not doing this in a vacuum.

We're recruiting Subject Matter Experts – like you – actively working in Information Management who have the knowledge, expertise, and time to collaborate on this project. At the conclusion of this project, we will be publishing the CIP v2023 BoK, Study Guide, and updated bank of exam questions. This project will be headed by a leading industry project manager well-versed in this type of an undertaking.

The project is commencing the first of August and is expected to run through February/March, 2023.

The deadline to submit your application is Friday, July 29. We will confirm your participation the first week in August. Submit your application here. 

Domains:

• Creating, Capturing, and Sharing Information
• Extracting Intelligence from Information
• Digitalizing Information-Intensive Processes
• Automating Governance and Compliance
• Implementing an Information Management Strategy

The AIIM Community is built on how we share and learn what we know. Your participation would be so much appreciated. Thank you in advance – and I look forward to working with you.

My thoughts/questions: 

First, in my opinion, working on a relevant, meaningful certification is a fantastic experience. I've gotten the opportunity to do it with 2 vendor certifications programs, several other associations, and of course three times at AIIM and it is incredibly rewarding. I strongly encourage qualified (i.e., passed the proctored CIP exam) CIPs to consider volunteering for this. 

Next, I'll be curious to know who the "leading industry project manager well-versed in this type of undertaking" is - since there are several undertakings in question:

• Updating the Body of Knowledge, which should be (but never has in the history of the CIP exam) be based on a job task analysis, and by which I think they mean the exam blueprint
• The job task analysis I just mentioned, which is also the foundation for the exam blueprint but which is not in their list
• The exam bank - the actual exam questions
• The CIP Study Guide

The first three can be led by a motivated project lead and diligent volunteers and be done within the time frame they outline above; the Study Guide is a whole other semi-related chunk of work and bigger than I think they think it is if it is to align, or at least not contradict, all of the current AIIM+ Pro content. Updating all of that AIIM+ Pro content should be part of this too, if AIIM is going to continue to claim that AIIM+ Pro is "loaded with training courses that cover the body of knowledge that makes up the CIP exam."

I hope as well that this is an external project manager - in my mind there is zero chance that this can be successfully led by current staff who are already fully engaged and then some. And I hope whoever this project manager is has the strength of character to do the update the right way, as outlined in ISO 17024 and by lots of different resources available through the Institute for Credentialing Excellence, rather than being browbeaten into a substandard "certification" that "removes the friction from the process". To paraphrase John F. Kennedy's moon speech, people take certifications "...not because they are easy, but because they are hard..."

I'll also be curious to know who their psychometrician is. There's a whole process to developing the actual exam that goes beyond just writing X number of questions on Y different topics. Items have to be drafted and reviewed by different people. Items have to be scored and assessed for their validity. The scoring standard has to be set appropriately and not simply arbitrarily set to e.g. 70%. I was always very open and transparent in how we built and updated CIP, and I call on AIIM to do the same. 

Finally, as I've written in many previous posts, the CIP could really be something special if it's done properly and if anyone at AIIM ever learns the first thing about marketing, but I have no faith whatsoever in the current senior leadership at AIIM and their ability to do that. 

Anticipating a question/comment: I am not going to apply to participate as a subject matter expert. I would be happy to be that external project manager, but I'd run the update the way it's supposed to be done, rather than the way I fear senior management will cause it to be done - that's a big part of why I left AIIM last year in fact. And I don't think they can afford me. I hope that those that do apply as subject matter experts give due consideration to what they want the CIP to be and how to maximize the value of the CIP to the broader industry. 

Update 7/19: Peggy Winton, outgoing AIIM CEO, just replied to the original LinkedIn announcement, "Future-readying. Modernization. Think different. #aiim". This confirms to me that she, at least, learned nothing from the February announcement changing the exam to an unproctored one and requiring retakes every three years - one of the points made in that announcement was, "In consultation with members of our community and professional training/certification experts, we make these changes to align with modern pervasive learning best practices." I'd love to see more members of the CIP Community push back and ask for more clarification on precisely what she means by her comment. 

The Information Management Menu, July 2022

 The July 2022 issue of The Information Management Menu is now live. I included a couple of announcements, a lot of events between now and Oct 31, and a new regular feature - an actual recipe! This month's recipe is for savory oatmeal - and a couple of variations on it are linked in the newsletter. 

Check out the newsletter at https://mailchi.mp/f322780ef184/the-information-management-menu-july-2022.

About Those "kejserinden nye klæder" Posts....

I think by now everyone knows my thoughts on the compromised CIP exam. But in the last few weeks something...interesting...has happened, and I got asked about it the other day, with a suggestion that I might have been behind it. 

Someone has been intentionally publicly compromising the exam by posting real questions, and answers, around industry websites and blogs. I first found out about it when an anonymous poster tried to post 4 comments to this blog on May 17, 2022. I moderate comments, so when I got the email about there being comments to approve or not, I took a look and immediately recognized them for what they were and disapproved them so they would NOT show up on my blog. I also retook the unproctored CIP exam to confirm that they were real exam questions and answers, and they were. I've also seen at least one other blog with a similar comment. Each comment consisted of 15-20 exam questions and answers. 

Then, on May 22, someone named "B Cummins" sprayed the AIIM community with what appears to be a single post. I get email announcements when there are posts in groups I'm a member of, and I got them from CIP Study Group, CIPs Unite!, Records Managers, and the Open Forum. I also got sent it directly through the Community messaging; I heard from at least one other person that they had received it via message as well. 

Each post is structured the same way:

CIP Exam Compromised

kejserinden nye klæder

NIAGLHLIRLSWDY

And then the exam questions and answers. I put the phrase through Google Translate and it comes back with "the empress new clothes" in Danish. I tried to Google the acronym and couldn't find anything that seemed to make sense. 

The Community sites were cleaned up pretty quickly, and as I noted above the comments were never live on this blog. But I want to be absolutely clear: while I disagree with AIIM's handling of the CIP, and have for some time (in fact, it's why I left AIIM last year), I would never, under any circumstances, stoop to actually publishing real exam questions. It goes against everything I believe about certification programs and exams; moreover, I have too much respect for all the CIPs who passed the proctored exam, and even those who passed the unproctored one, to dishonor their achievements by publishing live exam questions. 

Now, I did save a copy of one of the five times I took the unproctored exam. AIIM announced on May 12th that they had a plan to return the exam to a proctored status in approximately 60 days, and I will be taking the proctored exam again and comparing it to the one I saved to see if they updated the exam, which is absolutely essential since it's clearly out in the wild, or if they simply took the shortcut of turning proctoring on for the same, compromised, exam. I know where I'd put my money given their behavior regarding the exam over the last 6 months, but maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. Once I know the answer either way I will "double-delete" the unproctored exam I saved. 

But in the meantime, I want to make this 100% clear through this post: I did not make the B Cummins posts, I certainly didn't attempt to post those comments to my own blog, and I have no idea who is behind this. I wish I did, because I'd publicly expose and denounce them for the cheating cheaters that they are.

If anyone, particularly anyone at AIIM, has questions, I'm happy to entertain them including sharing the complete messages I received through the Community, from the Community posts, and from my blog. AIIM staff would be able to see the questions and confirm them on their own; anyone else, I'll of course remove any exam questions before sharing the messages. If you want to take me up on this, feel free to reach out at jwilkins13@gmail.com. 

Upcoming Industry Meetings and Webinars - July 1 - 31, 2022

 Here are the webinars and podcasts I'm aware of for July 1 - 31, 2022. I don't have anything to do with them from a planning perspective, so please reach out to the individual event producers with any questions. I also don't get paid or get anything out of this other than the satisfaction of helping get the word out.  

Note that if your webinar is not RIM-related, even if it's put on by an industry group such as an ARMA chapter, I'm not going to list it. Change management is RIM-related IMO, "How to Write a Cover Letter" is not. 

Finally, since most of the AIIM and ARMA chapters are on hiatus over the summer, I'll post the lists for July and August monthly. I'll go back to every couple of weeks once the chapter years start up again in late August/early September. 

7/5 - AIIM+, Records Management Coffee & Conversations: Return to Office (members only)

7/12 - AIIM+, Meeting the Challenge - M365: Third Party Add-Ons (members only)

7/12 - MER Sapient and Contoural, Getting RIM on an Equal Footing with IT

7/13 - AIIM International, Rethinking Risk: What AIIM Resaerch Reveals About New Drivers and Approaches

7/13 - IAPP, User Consent in the Digital Age (members only)

7/14 - ARMA International and Access Sciences, IG Program Progress: Focus on the "Why" Before the "What" and "How" (members only)

7/14 - IAPP, The Great Resignation: DSARs, Data Exfiltration and the Costs of Compliance (members only)

7/19 - Meru Data, Planning for 2023: Managing Across 5 State Privacy Laws

7/19 - AIIM+, Meeting the Challenge - Offboarding Customers / Employees (members only)

7/20 - Access Sciences, Navigating Change on Your AI Journey

7/21 - ARMA International and Contoural, Futureproofing Your IG Program: Making Your Initiative Stick In Times Of Change (members only)

7/21 - IAPP, State of US Privacy: Countdown to Compliance (members only)

7/21 - Association of Legal Administrators Mile Hi Chapter, How to Improve Your Program with a Records Management Playbook

7/26 - AIIM+, Canada Coffee & Conversations: CPPA: How Can IG Professionals Play a Role? (members only)

If you know of a webinar or podcast during this period that is focused on IM, IG, RM, etc. that's not listed, let me know here or at jesse.wilkins@athroconsulting.com. 

Re: vendor/consultant-led webinars, I know that demos are quite educational, as are customer case studies - but they are generally too narrow (and self-serving) for me to list them. This is irrespective of source; AIIM/ARMA/MER/etc. webinars that are basically sales pitches won't get listed either. MER Sapient-type stuff, or Access Sciences' webinars, are good examples I'm happy to include. If you think yours will pass muster, contact me at jesse.wilkins@athroconsulting.com and let's talk. No cost to list anything, I just need the details (and for it to meet my criteria for education). 

I'm Available to Speak at Your Meeting - June 2022 Update

I noted last year that I was back on the speaking circuit. This post is an update to that one, with some updated topics and how I'm approaching speaking events for the rest of 2022 and 2023. 

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 - 2022, about a dozen ARMA conferences, a number of MER conferences between 2010 and 2022, 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. 

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

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

Delivery

Many organizations are moving back to in-person meetings, or at least hybrid ones. 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 auditoriums, conference rooms, bars, a bowling alley, and even Fenway Park and the Boston Zoo. 

Fees and Scheduling

As was the case this past year, I have decided to waive any speaking fees for local or regional events for non-profits like ARMA and AIIM chapters. 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 costs, with the fee based on the location, duration, and topic. 

If you're interested, reach out to me at jesse.wilkins@athroconsulting.com to discuss. Right now I'm scheduling starting in September 2022 through June 2023. If you're interested in a half- or full-day seminar, please contact me sooner than later as I have a very limited amount of availability for those. 

Peter Rahalski, Infotechtion: Why 2022 is a Big Year for Automation in Microsoft 365 Records Management

The Information Management Menu, June 2022

Just posted the June 2022 issue of The Information Management Menu. A little lighter, as chapters and associations head into the summer doldrums, but still some interesting stuff. Check it out here: 

https://mailchi.mp/cea263bb69e3/the-information-management-menu-june-2022

Finding Speakers For Your Event Part 1: For Event Planners

This is the first in a series of posts about getting speakers for your event. In this one, I'll try to focus on it from the event planner's perspective. I will have at least one more from the speaker's point of view. These posts are based on my experience as a paid public speaker for more than 20 years, and a chapter leader off & on in the interim. 

Most of what I will share probably isn't applicable if you're looking for a highly known and visible keynote like a professional athlete, or if you're looking for a speaker for a huge audience. There are resources for those, including innumerable speakers bureaus, the National Speakers Association and Meeting Planners International. Rather, my focus is on connecting speakers in the information management industry with events, especially local ones, that need speakers on those topics. 

So! When you're looking for a speaker for your event, there are a couple of things to consider. 

What are you looking for?

What kind of meeting are you looking for a speaker for? Different speakers will have different comfort levels based on the size and type of audience. Some speakers are fantastic on, or facilitating, panels or interviews, but don't like being the main attraction. 

Are you looking for someone to be on a panel, or facilitate one, or lead a breakout session, or deliver a keynote? Keynotes, in my opinion, are not just plenary sessions in front of a larger audience. More on that in a separate post. Are you hoping for someone who can fill multiple spots at the same event - or even fill a full- or multi-day event by themselves? 

What topic(s) are you looking for? If it's something mainstream, what's the twist that will make it interesting to your audience? If it's cutting edge, how cutting edge is it - that is, will your audience be interested, and can you find a speaker that can make it relatable? 

What you should definitely be looking for: 

• Speakers who don't "sell from the podium." As a consultant for nearly 20 years, and a vendor before that, I get it. Part of the reason many of us get into speaking is to drum up business. But it shouldn't be the primary reason, and definitely shouldn't be the only one. The consultant and vendor speakers I know that are effective know that people come to learn, not to hear about my "Add Water Heat & Eat Assessment Methodology(TM)" or RMSystem's world-changing release of Version 6.2.2. Service Pack A. I wrote more about vendor and consultant speakers in a previous post. 

• Speakers who are prepared. I take every single speaking opportunity seriously, whether it's a conference keynote or a chapter meeting with 10 registrants. Your speakers should do the same, meaning that their contracts are in on time, their descriptions and bios, their materials - and yes, you should review them well in advance to make sure they are meeting your audience's needs. They should be willing to do a dry run to make sure there are no technical issues, and this applies whether in person or virtually. It's your meeting and your audience. If they aren't willing to do these types of things, I'd take that has a huge red flag. 

• Speakers who are knowledgeable and engaging without being too broad, too abstract, or too technical or in the weeds. This is sometimes a matter of opinion and can depend on the topic and format - you want a broad, inspirational keynote, while a workshop should be fairly specific and technical if appropriate. The key is that the speaker aligns with your expectations. 

• Speakers who meet your budget! While many speakers volunteer their time, especially for non-profit-type activities like chapter meetings, they still have expenses and a day job. At a bare minimum I would expect an in-person event to cover reasonable travel costs: advance-purchase coach airfare, lodging, meals, and ground transportation. I generally don't charge speaking fees to chapters these days, at least for a typical 60-120-minute chapter meeting, but I generally do for longer sessions or for for-profit entities. Make sure you and your speaker are in alignment on this before someone buys plane tickets! 

Where do you find speakers? 

With all that in mind, where can you find speakers? I don't think it has to be as hard as you'd think. While there are a few dozen of us that seem to "make the rounds", I can give you a list of at least 100 speakers right now, including biographies and representative topics.

Where? If you looked at these sources going back just a couple of years, you could easily identify more than 100 speakers to pull from.  

• Conference speakers. AIIM, ARMA, MER, InfoGov.Net, and InfoGovWorld all have an annual conference. Their speakers are listed on the conference website - at least while the conference is being marketed, so even if you're not going, maybe take a look at the speakers and sessions. And these aren't the only ones - look at specialty groups too, like NAGARA for government or NIRMA for nuclear energy. 
• Chapter or regional event speakers. Of course you don't want to have, say, me, speak at your chapter every month or even every year. But the regional events in particular can be almost as rich a source as the annual conferences - ARMA Houston, ARMA Canada, ARMA New Jersey, and ARMA Metro NYC for example all have multi-speaker/multi-track and full- or multi-day events. An anonymous commenter underscored this at the chapter level - reach out to other chapters, including chapters outside your specific association, to get referrals for their speakers. 
• IM/IG-adjacent groups. Lots of people at PMI are doing and talking about interesting things. Same with IAPP. And ACEDS. And Georgia Records Association. And PRIMA. And the list goes on. They have chapters, and conferences, and regional confabs, and user groups, and so on. 
• Speakers for association webinars. An association might offer webinars anywhere from 1x/month to 1x/week. They are often end users; I'll talk about vendors and consultants separately shortly. 
• Chapter leaders or members working on interesting stuff. See who's doing something interesting that they are willing, and able(!), to talk about publicly. If they are not the best at public speaking, make it an interview. Get someone else working on something similar and make it a panel. I see lots of chapters this year that had meetings about a unique role, like a police records manager or zoo registrar, and/or offered tours. Note that this doesn't have to be you, and your project, at your company - what about the work your colleagues are doing that has some relevance? 
• Consulting firms. There are some really smart people that become consultants, and that broadens their perspective because instead of being a records manager or business analyst for this company, or even this industry, they are doing it across multiple companies and industries. Some of the best sessions I've ever attended have been delivered by consulting firms like Doculabs, Access Sciences (full disclosure - I worked there from 2007 - 2010), Infotechtion, and the like. Of course, due diligence and alignment of expectations is even more important here to make sure the session is not pitching their service offerings. 
• Vendors. Like consultants, vendors often bring a broader perspective; and like consultants, many vendors hire from the ranks of deep dive experts to support their solution offerings, so there is some real expertise to be had. But again, like consultants, you have to be careful to set expectations that a particular presentation is not to be a sales pitch. Case studies can be fantastic, but I'd set it up to require that an end user be involved and ideally be the one talking, with the solution provider relegated to a supporting role (and same by the way with consultant case studies). I am also pretty leery of vendor speakers whose job title includes CEO, product marketing, product management, marketing, or sales. I know some fantastic speakers with those titles, but the most sales-y presentations I've ever heard - the ones I've walked out of at conferences - generally come from them. 

In short, there are lots of speakers out there, and many of them are happy to share their time and energy for low or no cost. If you absolutely cannot seem to make headway in finding a speaker, reach out to me and I'd be happy to try to help - and I don't mean just as a speaker. 

Possible Speakers for Your Events

In the meantime, here's a starting point of people I know are generally available as speakers and are good at it. It's up to you to reach out to them directly to discuss topics, fees, logistics, etc., but they've given me permission to include an email to contact them at. 

• Angela Watt, info@thanksawatt.com
• Dave Jones, dave@instinctivesolutions.co.uk
• Donda Young, dlyoung@heliasconsulting.com
• Jesse Wilkins, jesse.wilkins@athroconsulting.com
• Lewis Eisen, leisen@pfx.ca
• Rob Bogue, rbogue@thorprojects.com
• Rich Lauwers, richlauwers@gmail.com
• Sheila Taylor, staylor@eimc.ca
• Steve Weissman, steve@hollygroup.com

Upcoming Industry Meetings and Webinars - June 16 - July 15, 2022

Here are the webinars and podcasts I'm aware of for June 16 - July 15, 2022. I don't have anything to do with them from a planning perspective, so please reach out to the individual event producers with any questions. I also don't get paid or get anything out of this other than the satisfaction of helping get the word out.  

6/16 - ARMA Greater Seattle, Why Records and Governance Matter - A Personal Journey

6/16 - ARMA Utah, Summer Social

6/16 - ARMA St. Louis, Member Appreciation Celebration

6/16 - ARMA New England, End of Year Event - Hingham Historical Society

6/21 - ARMA Mile Hi Denver, Information Architecture Workshop

6/21 - ARMA Atlanta, State of the Chapter

6/21 - ARMA San Antonio, Virtual Meetings and Ephemeral Messaging: Preservation and Spoliation Issues

6/21 - ARMA Tidewater, Reflections on a Chapter Year

6/21 - AIIM+, Meeting the Challenge - Transition from a Physical to Digital Paradigm (members only)

6/22 - ARMA Houston, Supporting Privacy Compliance with Effective Records Management

6/22 - ARMA Jacksonville, The Information Circle, An Archival Approach to a Records Management Challenge

6/23 - ARMA Southwestern Ontario, The Opportunities and Challenges for a Police Service to Implement Body-worn Cameras & In-Car Videos

6/23 - ARMA Toronto, Annual General Meeting and Virtual Social

6/23 - ARMA Northern Virgina, Wrap Up for 2021-2022

6/23 - ARMA and ACEDS, Ethics of Artificial Intelligence (members only)

6/28 - AIIM+, Canada Coffee & Conversations: Best Practices in Canadian Government (members only)

6/29 - AIIM, It's All in the Tools: Putting M365 to Work for Information Management

6/29 - IGWorld Magazine, Data Security Basics for Information Managers

6/29 - ARMA Greater Los Angeles, Preparing for the CPRA and Other Compliancy Requirements

6/29 - ARMA Greater Washington DC Chapter, End of Year Mixer

6/29 - ARMA Upstate New York, Erie Canal Heritage Park Tour

6/30 - Austin ARMA, Member Appreciation Meeting

7/5 - AIIM+, Records Management Coffee & Conversations: Return to Office (members only)

7/12 - AIIM+, Meeting the Challenge - M365: Third Party Add-Ons (members only)

7/12 - MER Sapient and Contoural, Getting RIM on an Equal Footing with IT

7/13 - AIIM International, Rethinking Risk: What AIIM Resaerch Reveals About New Drivers and Approaches

7/14 - ARMA International and Access Sciences, IG Program Progress: Focus on the "Why" Before the "What" and "How" (members only)

If you know of a webinar or podcast during this period that is focused on IM, IG, RM, etc. that's not listed, let me know here or at jesse.wilkins@athroconsulting.com. 

Re: vendor/consultant-led webinars, I know that demos are quite educational, as are customer case studies - but they are generally too narrow (and self-serving) for me to list them. This is irrespective of source; AIIM/ARMA/MER/etc. webinars that are basically sales pitches won't get listed either. MER Sapient-type stuff, or Access Sciences' webinars, are good examples that I'm happy to include. If you think yours will pass muster, contact me at jesse.wilkins@athroconsulting.com and let's talk. No cost to list anything, I just need the details (and for it to meet my criteria for educational value). 

About My CIP "Renewal"

As they typically do, AIIM posted a list to the AIIM Community today recognizing new and renewing CIPs for the month of May. (I'd link to the post, but the AIIM Community is members-only). My name was on the list, and I've since had a couple of people reach out to me to ask why, given my overwhelming opposition to the changes to the CIP program AIIM announced in February. My opposition to those changes has not changed; recent announcements that seem to walk most if not all of them back sound good, but I'll believe them when I see them. 

No, the reason for my "renewal" is pretty simple. I *did* pay the $150 (non-member rate) required to renew, so I could take the compromised, unproctored exam and gauge how it worked. I did take the exam - 5x so far in fact, and passed it 3 of those times - the other two intentionally failing to see what that behavior looked like. Before I left AIIM I'd also submitted 92 CEUs, and AIIM retained a record of that. So the administrative requirements had been met, and my status was renewed as of the date I passed the exam again. 

But until it goes back to being a proctored exam - and, since as noted above, the current exam is compromised, that means the exam is updated as well, and the right way - I continue to view it as just a certificate program. Then again, certificate programs don't require or offer renewal requirements, so even that doesn't really apply. 

That means that I will not use the designation, I will not bring it into certification discussions, I won't be fighting to include it in my panel discussion on certifications at ARMA InfoCon 2022 in October, etc. This is a defensible position, one that I'm pretty qualified to make based on my background with CIP and several other certifications - and a certification in certification development too. 

I do not trust AIIM senior management to do the right thing, or to even understand what the right thing is, despite my many blog posts on the matter, so I'd need a whole lot more visibility into how they are updating the CIP exam and program before I'm prepared to trust it and refer to it as a certification. If you search "CIP" on this blog, you'll see a plethora of posts from each of the three development phases - 2011, 2016, and 2019 - with the type of information that would make me trust the process. Until they do those things, meaningfully and the right way, CIP is just a certificate program. 

ARMA Nears Release of Updated IGP Exam

I first wrote about ARMA's project to update their Certified Information Governance Professional (IGP) certification in December 2021. Last week, ARMA announced an update to the status of that project. Specifically, the exam has been written and pilot testing of the exam questions is underway through June 18, with a go-live date for the new exam of July 15, 2022. 

The announcement is available at https://www.arma.org/news/news.asp?id=606472; you can find some additional information about the IGP program at https://www.arma.org/page/igp 

H/T: IGGuru.Net

Upcoming Industry Meetings and Webinars - June 1-30, 2022

Update 6/6: Added ARMA Greater Seattle event on 6/16

Update 6/2: Added IGWorld Magazine event on 6/29

Here are the webinars and podcasts I'm aware of for June 1-30, 2022. I don't have anything to do with them from a planning perspective, so please reach out to the individual event producers with any questions. I also don't get paid or get anything out of this other than the satisfaction of helping get the word out.  

Note that if your webinar is not RIM-related, even if it's put on by an industry group such as an ARMA chapter, I'm not going to list it. Change management is RIM-related IMO, "How to Write a Cover Letter" is not. 

6/2 - NAGARA and Iron Mountain, Moving the Masses: Office Consolidations and Records Management in the Post-Pandemic World

6/7 - MER Sapient and Contoural, How Your Records Retention Schedule Helps or Hurts Your M365 Deployment

6/7 - AIIM+, Records Managers Coffee & Conversation - Records Management vs. Information Governance (members only)

6/8 - ARMA Puget Sound, Responding to Public Records Requests for Emails

6/8 - Access Sciences, Unforced Errors: 4 Costly AI Mistakes

6/9 - ARMA Greater Sacramento, Remote Dispositions

6/9 - ARMA Vancouver, Annual General Meeting

6/9 - ARMA Detroit, ARMA Mid-Michigan, ARMA Western Michigan, Managing Presidential Records

6/9 - AIIM+ WIIM, Virtual Onboarding - The New Norm (members only)

6/9 - MER Sapient and Valora, How to Manage Data Privacy While Managing Records

6/13 - ARMA NCR Ottawa, Annual General Meeting and Top Trends Shaping Content Management for 2022-23

6/14 - AIIM+, Meeting the Challenge - M365: Remaining Functionality Gaps (members only)

6/15 - ARMA Nebraska, FUNdamental of IG Panel Discussion - Securing Information

6/15 - ARMA New Jersey, INFORM22 - Full Day Conference

6/15 - AIIM True North, Leveraging AI to Improve IG - And Vice Versa. 

6/15 - AIIM, When Information Management and Automation Converge, Everybody Wins

6/15 - ARMA Golden State, Summer Roundtable - What's Up with You?

6/16 - ARMA Utah, Summer Social

6/16 - ARMA St. Louis, Member Appreciation Celebration

6/16 - ARMA Greater Seattle, Why Records and Governance Matter - A Personal Journey

6/21 - ARMA Mile Hi Denver, Information Architecture Workshop

6/21 - ARMA Atlanta, State of the Chapter

6/21 - AIIM+, Meeting the Challenge - Transition from a Physical to Digital Paradigm (members only)

6/22 - ARMA Houston, Supporting Privacy Compliance with Effective Records Management

6/22 - ARMA Jacksonville, The Information Circle, An Archival Approach to a Records Management Challenge

6/23 - ARMA Southwestern Ontario, The Opportunities and Challenges for a Police Service to Implement Body-worn Cameras & In-Car Videos

6/23 - ARMA Toronto, Annual General Meeting and Virtual Social

6/23 - ARMA and ACEDS, Ethics of Artificial Intelligence (members only)

6/28 - AIIM+, Canada Coffee & Conversation: Best Practices in Canadian Government (members only)

6/29 - AIIM, It's All in the Tools: Putting M365 to Work for Information Management

6/29 - IGWorld Magazine, Data Security Basics for Information Managers

If you know of a webinar or podcast during this period that is focused on IM, IG, RM, etc. that's not listed, let me know here or at jesse.wilkins@athroconsulting.com. 

Re: vendor/consultant-led webinars, I know that demos are quite educational, as are customer case studies - but they are generally too narrow (and self-serving) for me to list them. This is irrespective of source; AIIM/ARMA/MER/etc. webinars that are basically sales pitches won't get listed either. MER Sapient-type stuff, or Access Sciences' webinars, are good examples I'm happy to include. If you think yours will pass muster, contact me at jesse.wilkins@athroconsulting.com and let's talk. No cost to list anything, I just need the details (and for it to meet my criteria for education). 

AIIM CIP CEUs Update

Update 6/7: I've rewritten this entire post due to a number of updates and actions that AIIM has taken since the original was published. 

I mentioned in a recent post that AIIM had provided an update to the CIP program. The email closed with this note: 

"Thank you for your patience and your understanding as we modernize and grow the CIP program. You will shortly receive a personal status update with a requalification timeline."

I received that updated email and it does show my correct renewal date of 5/4/2025. There are some issues that AIIM is still working through with regards to the CEU visibility and inclusion in the email, but as they clarified viia email and in the AIIM Community, 

"We most certainly are able to track your CEUs from our systems -- even the legacy ones. All conferences you have attended with AIIM, all courses in the legacy learning management system and within AIIM+ Pro, AIIM webinars and virtual events, and downloaded ebooks. These are all trackable by AIIM, and we are working to update all these totals into one system."

As you would expect, non-AIIM CEUs need to be submitted manually - this form https://gzclelland.wufoo.com/forms/cip-certification-maintenance-form/ and process have not changed, but the form does need to use the email address at which this email was received. If changes are required, CIPs should reach out to AIIM at hello@aiim.org to make them. 

If you haven't accessed AIIM+ Pro yet, it consists of 30 courses as of today, June 7, 2022, mostly taken from the legacy content but given a massive makeover to be much more engaging and valuable. I've been critical of AIIM for a lot of things since I left, but this is one I think they've gotten substantially right. In additional to the individual courses, AIIM has created a number of learning paths that gather anywhere from 3 - 12 related courses together into, e.g., "Capturing and Sharing Documents" or "Modern Records Management." 

The courses show a timing of anywhere from 20 - 60 minutes, but this is only an approximation of the actual video run time. Students should expect to take up to 2-3x the time shown to complete a module if they do the exercises and activities included. 

The CIP study guide is also there, and broken into 11 easier to consume chunks of content. This is also where you would access the currently still unproctored CIP exam - note that you do NOT need an AIIM+ Pro subscription to access it. 

Remaining concerns with AIIM+ Pro as a mechanism for doing and tracking CEUs: 

• There are still 4 "modules" that are 2-minute intros to the first 4 CIP domains that are being awarded 1 CEU each. This should be changed as with the removing of CEUs from some of the other non-learning, administrative assets. 
• I hadn't been keeping careful track of their course release cadence, but the M365 Governance with Exchange course was the first one released in nearly 2 months (my previous latest completion date was for April 4, 2022). I'll see when the next one is, but 9 months or so from start to launch means they need about a dozen courses underway right now and I'm not seeing any indication of that. 
• There's still nothing to show your active CIP status and renewal date. The email I received is helpful; I suspect many people won't be able to locate and may miss their next renewal date without its being shown someplace. I'd also note that it's nowhere else either - not in your Community profile, for example. 
• There's still no way to see an accurate count of your CEUs. I'd expect to see everything they listed above - all AIIM-sponsored content - as well as anything submitted by CIPs, and that deduped of AIIM content. In other words, if I submit 40 CEUs but 10 of them are AIIM22, the tracking should be smart enough to only count it once. At a minimum AIIM needs to reinforce that they are tracking everything they produce or provide. 

And of course my ongoing concerns: 

• The exam is compromised by dint of being unproctored for nearly 4 months and needs to be developed from scratch. AIIM cannot simply turn on proctoring for this exam if they see any value in it whatsoever. I will be taking the new proctored exam again as soon as it goes live and will compare it with the one I saved (because it was unproctored and therefore compromised). 
• AIIM still has not done any marketing for CIP despite my calling them out on it in nearly every blog post I've written this year.