AIIM22 - A Preview

This week marks the return of the AIIM conference in-person. This is my first AIIM conference since 2010 in Philadelphia that I'm not attending as a member of AIIM staff. And of course this will be the first AIIM conference since the world shut down due to COVID. I expect a lot of changes, and it will be interesting to see the final attendance numbers since so many organizations are still shut down for nonessential travel. 

With all of that as background, here is my preview of the AIIM22 conference, scheduled for April 27-29 at the Hyatt Regency Convention Center in downtown Denver, CO. 

Denver

The weather is looking fantastic - and I predict lots of sunburns! Here's my post on how to prepare for Denver weather. The word of the week is, "layers". 

Denver may not have the repution as a "foodie city" that some other cities have, but there are many hidden gems to uncover (and I wrote about some of them as well). We are definitely the place for beer drinkers, with more than 150 breweries just in the Denver Metro area alone. 

Masks are not currently required in the City of Denver; I haven't checked with the Hyatt, but I don't think they are required there either. There are likely still some shops, restaurants, etc. that require them as do healthcare providers. I will be bringing a mask with me just in case and strongly recommend that AIIM22 attendees do the same. 

General

The conference seems to be scaled down compared to years past. The sponsor prospectus encourages vendors to join 400 information professionals in Denver, which is down significantly from previous years. That's likely a recognition that COVID hasn't completely gone away, nor have the associated travel restrictions. I took a look at the attendees list, though, and it's quite impressive. 

The event app is live, as is the Event Hub; unfortunately, the CVent event app doesn't appear to have a way for attendees to network with each other except 1-on-1 messages and scheduled meetings. I vaguely remember the same issue with AIIM20's event app; this is unfortunate and a significant loss to the overall conference experience in my opinion. 

Sponsors

Among the 25 sponsors for AIIM22 are many of the industry standardbearers as well as some new names - well, new to me anyway. I did find it interesting that the sponsors include a couple of toolkit providers. 

All sponsors have at least one speaking session - more on that in the Content section below. 

I haven't heard any scuttlebutt about major announcement, but who knows? 

Content

There are a lot of sessions to choose from - more than 90 in total, and a wide variety of types of sessions. From the agenda: 

Over the last two years, you've attended plenty of Zoom sessions featuring speakers over PowerPoint. Why would you travel to an in-person conference for the same thing? Our sessions have been crafted to ensure group learning, collaboration, and problem-solving:

Here are some of the types of sessions I'm planning to attend. 

• Speed Dating/Networking - groups of attendees with some interest in common get the chance to network and build or deepen relationships. This is my absolutely favorite thing about any conference. 
• "Ask Me Anything How I Did It!" - speakers will hold court on a topic with which they have specific experience and expertise
• "I'm Stumped" - speakers will have an opportunity to crowdsource solutions to their pressing problems
• Customer Fireside Chats - these are case studies offered by sponsors and sound like facilitated interviews. 

The General Sessions, RoundTables, Customer Fireside Chats, and Solution Showcases are delivered or run by the sponsors. Many of these speakers have deep subject matter expertise across a variety of industries and types and sizes of organizations, so don't be scared off by the fact that it's a vendor-led session. 

I'm really interested to see how the closing keynote goes as a CIP panel has been added, comprised of five incredibly smart, talented, and experienced professionals. 

Finally, congratulations in advance to the professionals who will be enrolled in the AIIM Company of Fellows during the keynote. And thanks to AIIM for listing the Fellows that will be in attendance in the Event Hub! 

Aside: AIIM, can you please put the list of Fellows and recipients of the Order of Merit back on the website, or in the Community, or somewhere?

Open questions

AIIM's gone through a lot of changes in the last 12 months - some good, some ... interesting, and all depending on your perspective. Here are a couple of significant outstanding questions for AIIM - I think both are a possibility to be addressed at AIIM22, but AIIM is still less transparent than they could be so we may not see anything on either. 

1. Peggy Winton's replacement as CEO. It's only been 10 weeks since Peggy Winton announced it was time to pass the baton - that's no time at all for finding a replacement for a CEO. However, AIIM didn't post the actual opening or job description until March 25 - with a closing date of March 25. The AIIM website gave a little more time, until April 15, but still. To me that's at least a little suggestive that the search was a foregone conclusion - perhaps the replacement will be someone on staff or someone on the Board of Directors. This is wild speculation, of course, and I have zero insight as to how the search is progressing. But I will not be shocked or surprised if an announcement does come this week. 

2. The future of CIP. February was a busy month - AIIM also announced changes to the CIP program including making it an unproctored exam, allowing unlimited attempts to pass, and removing renewal through CEU as an option. I've written a number of blog posts about this, so I won't belabor it here. After significant blowback, AIIM announced that they were reconsidering and that "everything was on the table". They sent out a survey that just closed last week asking CIPs a number of questions about what they wanted to see in CIP. 

While I pushed the survey as hard as I could, I doubt they are going to get thousands of responses. I'd think therefore that it should be pretty straightforward to analyze the results, analyze suggestions I and others have made, and announce their plans for CIP at AIIM22. 

As I've previously written, the CIP exam has been compromised since the day it went live in an unproctored format, so any changes to return it to a proctored exam require that the exam itself be updated from scratch, and that's not a quick process. If they want the revised CIP exam live by Jan 1, 2023, they need to kick it off soonishly. I'd love to see an announcement to that end at AIIM22. 

I plan to have a recap post at the end of the week with my thoughts and observations about the event. I hope the conference meets and exceeds everyone's expectations and that we all come out of it refreshed and excited about the things to come! 

AIIM22 in Denver Part 3 - Preparing for Your Trip to Denver

Bordered on the west by the Rocky Mountains and on the east by the Great Plains, Denver's weather may not be what you'd think. While the moutainous areas can get dozens of feet of snow a year, most of what we call the Front Range is quite a bit more arid. And at 5,280 feet altitude above sea level, there's less oxygen and less atmosphere in general to protect you from that giant fusion reactor in the sky. With that in mind, here are some specific tips. 

Drink water. Now, drink some more. Well, when you get here. The altitude + the low humidity is going to dry you out - and if you drink alcohol, it just exacerbates it. 

Take it easy-ish. Altitude means less air pressure so you have to work harder to breathe. 

Go easy on the alcohol. Notwithstanding the Denver.org tip sheet below, alcohol doesn't "hit harder" in the sense that your BAC will be the same - but if you're also fatigued, dehydrated, and not breathing as well as at sea level, it will definitely feel like it does. 

Use sunscreen. You will burn very quickly here - and nobody looks good in beet red. 

Bring sunglasses. Again, very bright sunlight. 

Bring a hat or head covering of some sort. Did I mention the sunlight? 

Bring lip balm. Dry air & more sun = dry, chapped lips. 

Bring layers. I'll keep updating the expected weather on Twitter, but as of today, a week out, it's looking like daytime highs in the mid 70s to low 80s (22-28 C) and overnight lows in the upper 30s to upper 40s (3-8 C). The hottest time of day is around 3 - 6 pm and once the sun goes down the temperature falls pretty quickly. We're known to be a bit blustery wind-wise at times too. Not expecting any precipitation at the moment but again I'll keep updating as we get closer. 

Marijuana. Marijuana is legal for both medicinal and recreational use in Colorado, and there are dispensaries all over the city including just a couple of blocks from the Hyatt. However, it is still quite illegal at the U.S. Federal level, which means you can't take it into any Federal facilities...like airports. So if you want to partake while here, you do you, but don't try to take any home as a souvenir or you may find your stay extended in a decidedly less comfortable fashion. Also - watch the edibles, as many of them are sold in convenient multi-serving/dose packages. Be sure that you're clear on your expected dosage before you pound a 1-lb "green brownie" or bag of edibles gummi bears. 

Also, understand that consuming marijuana in public is still illegal under Colorado law, and the amount you can possess is limited to 1 oz I believe. I am not a lawyer nor law enforcement, and I will not bail you out if you fall afoul of the law, so if this is something of interest to you, do some looking into it.  

Preparing for the Mountains

All of these tips apply; in addition, once you hit around 8,000 feet in elevation, and that starts not that far west of Denver, you can get altitude sickness, and the temperature can drop quite quickly, and the chances of adverse weather, including snow and 50 mph/80kph gusty winds, rises. If you're planning on taking a day trip to the Colorado high country, whether for hiking or skiing or just sightseeing, do a bit of research on how to prepare including emergency preparedness. 

Most of these tips are common sense; for another take on them, Denver.org has some useful links. 

https://www.denver.org/about-denver/resources/high-altitude-tips/

https://www.denver.org/about-denver/resources/weather/

AIIM22 in Denver Part 2 - Places to Eat and Drink

 In pulling this list together, I relied on a couple of sources:

• The annual Westword Denver Best of 2022 list. This is Denver's alternative weekly newspaper, and they evaluate Denver through lots of different filters (Best Corn(flake) Dog, anyone?). Note, however, that the writers are often a bit potty-mouthed in their writeups and elsewhere throughout the paper. In other words, click through those at your own risk; I've denoted those in my listings. 
• Recommendations from other Denverites whose opinions I trust
• My experiences living here for the last 40 years. 

I did make an effort to confirm that these are all still open, but I didn't check days/hours of service and restauranting remains a little...fluid. Hence inclusion of the website links - click through and call 'em. 

Denver is probably most well known for its green chili and "Den-Mex" cooking - and most notorious for its Rocky Mountain Oysters, a particular delicacy that I'll leave as an exercise to the reader. Colorado is also fairly well-known for its beef, lamb, bison, and trout. You can get other types of seafood here, but as Denver is 800+ miles from anything bigger than a reservoir....

Finally, we also have as many microbreweries per capita as anywhere in the country, and a growing distillery scene. 

Buckhorn Exchange - iconic Denver restaurant open since 1893. Steakhouse focused on wild game. 1000 Osage Street, Denver, CO 80204, walking distance.

Sam's No. 3 Downtown - HUGE menu, known for burritos and green chili.1500 Curtis Street, Denver, CO 80202, walking distance.

5280 Burger Bar - Burgers and fries - Best of Westword 2022. 500 16th St Mall, Denver, CO 80202, walking distance.

Nola Jane - Southern/soul - Best of Westword 2022. 1435 Market Street, Denver, CO, walking distance.

Los Cabos - Peruvian - Best of Westword 2022. 1525 Champa St, Denver, CO 80202, walking distance.

French 75 - French - Best of Westword 2022. 717 17th St, Denver, CO 80202, walking distance.

Water Grill - Seafood - Best of Westword 2022. 1691 Market St, Denver, walking distance.

Bistro Vendome - French - Best of Westword 2022. 1420 Larimer St, Denver, CO 80202, walking distance.

Rhein Haus - German - Best of Westword 2022. 1415 Market St, Denver, walking distance.

Guard and Grace - Steakhouse - Best of Westword 2022. 1801 California St, Denver, CO 80202, walking distance.

A5 - Steakhouse - Best of Westword 2022. 1600 15th St, Denver, CO 80202, walking distance.

Union Lodge No. 1 - Cocktails. 1543 Champa St, Denver, CO 80202, walking distance.

Stoic & Genuine - Seafood - Best of Westword 2022. 1701 Wynkoop St, Denver, CO 80202, 0.9 miles from Hyatt. 

La Fiesta Mexican - Mexican - Best of Westword 2022. 2340 Champa St, Denver, CO 80205, 0.9 miles from Hyatt.

La Popular - Mexican - Best of Westword 2022 2033 Lawrence St, Denver, CO 80205, 0.9 miles from Hyatt.

La Diabla - Mexican - Best of Westword 2022. 2233 Larimer St, Denver, CO 80205, 1.0 mile from Hyatt.

Aloy Modern Thai - Thai - Best of Westword 2022. 2134 Larimer St, Denver, CO 80205, 1.0 mile from Hyatt.

Uchi - Japanese - Best of Westword 2022. 2500 Lawrence St, Denver, CO 80205, 1.1 miles from Hyatt.

Three Saints Revival - Mediterranean - Best of Westword 2022. 1801 Wewatta Street, 1.1 miles from Hyatt.

Blake Street Tavern - Sports bar - Best of Westword 2022. 2301 Blake St, Denver, CO 80205, 1.2 miles from Hyatt.

Denver Central Market - Food hall - Best of Westword 2022. 2669 Larimer Street, Denver, CO 80205, 1.3 miles from Hyatt.

Redeemer Pizza - Pizza - Best of Westword 2022. 2705 Larimer St, Denver, CO 80205, 1.3 miles from Hyatt.

El Taco de Mexico - Mexican - Best of Westword 2022. 714 Santa Fe Drive, Denver, CO 80204, 1.3 miles from Hyatt.

Ohana Island Kitchen - Hawaiian - Best of Westword 2022. 2563 15th St, Denver, CO 80211, 1.4 miles from Hyatt.

Cerveceria Colorado - Taproom focused on beer pairings - Best of Westword 2022. 1635 Platte St, Denver, CO 80202, 1.4 miles from Hyatt.

Denver Beer Co.  - Taproom and beer garden - Best of Westword 2022. 1695 Platte St, Denver, CO 80202, 1.4 miles from Hyatt.

Bierstadt - Taproom and beer garden - Best of Westword 2022. 2875 Blake St, Denver, CO 80205, 1.6 miles from Hyatt.

Little Man Ice Cream - Premium ice cream. 2620 16th St, Denver, CO 80211, 1.6 miles from Hyatt.

Mockery Brewing  - Brewery. 3501 Delgany St, Denver, CO 80216, 2.3 miles from Hyatt.

Ironton Distillery - Distillery 3636 Chestnut Pl, Denver, CO 80216, 2.5 miles from Hyatt.

Diebolt Brewing - Brewery. 3855 Mariposa St, Denver, CO 80211, 2.6 miles from Hyatt.

This one is significantly further away but it is definitely an experience.

The Fort in Morrison - Wild game steakhouse. 19192 Highway 8, Morrison, CO 80465, 20 miles SW of Denver.

AIIM22 in Denver Part 1 - Things to See and Do

This is more focused on shopping and other activities, though many of the locations listed do have bars, restaurants, etc. in them or nearby. I'll pull together a separate post on eating and drinking establishments. 

Touristy Things - Walking Distance

These are things within about a half mile/1 km of the Hyatt Regency conference hotel. 

16th Street Mall - this is a pedestrian mall starting 1 block away from the Hyatt. It's maybe a mile long, and filled with shops, restaurants, breweries, etc. There's also a free shuttle that runs up & down the Mall. 

Denver Pavilions - this is an indoor-ish mall, connected to 16th Street Mall. It's about 1 block northeast of the Hyatt.

Lower Downtown Historic District (LoDo) This is a historic entertainment district found north and west of the Hyatt. It comprises a number of city blocks and features shops, restaurants, and breweries. 

Larimer Square is another historic entertainment district that is considered part of LoDo.  1430 Larimer Street, about 6 blocks northwest of the Hyatt. Some fairly unique shops and restaurants, plus the Comedy Works comedy club and a disco! 

Tattered Cover - This is a unique Colorado independent bookstore with several locations in walking distance. 

The Denver Art Museum is a few blocks south of the Hyatt. 

The Brown Palace Hotel and Spa. A luxury hotel and spa that has hosted several American Presidents, it offers afternoon tea and other events.

Coors Field - Denver's Major League Baseball park, home of the Colorado Rockies. The surrounding Ballpark neighborhood is filled with breweries, bars, and restaurants. 2001 Blake Street, Denver, CO

Denver Selfie Museum - EXACTLY what it sounds like! 1531 Stout Street, Denver, CO 80202, 2 blocks northwest of the Hyatt .

Clyfford Still Museum - the only museum in the US dedicated to one of the founders of abstract expressionism 1250 Bannock Street, Denver CO 80204.

Touristy Things - You'll Need Transportation

Cherry Creek Shopping Center - Very upscale mall featuring 160 stores.

Cherry Creek North - Walkable district with shops & restaurants

Denver Museum of Nature & Science - as the name suggests. 

Denver Zoo - as the name suggests. 

Denver Botanic Gardens - as the name suggests. 

Downtown Aquarium - Aquarium and restaurant in downtown Denver.

McGregor Square - Newish sports entertainment venue near Coors Field.

Evergreen - Picturesque town in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

Golden - Historic mining town in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

Red Rocks Amphitheater - Natural amphitheater in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

The Beer Spa - Part day spa, part taproom.

The Infinite Monkey Theorem Urban winery, 3200 Larimer Street, Denver CO 80205.

Stanley Marketplace - Shopping center in Aurora, CO, about 10 miles east of the Hyatt.

Dairy Block - Shopping and entertainment micro-district

Selfie Mirage - Selfie museum and gallery!

Denver's 8 art districts: https://www.denver.org/things-to-do/arts-culture/art-districts/

Sporting Venues and Events

Go to Ticketmaster, or do a search for your ticket vendor of choice. 

April 26, Ball Arena, Colorado Avalanche vs. St. Louis Blues (hockey)

April 28, Ball Arena, Colorado Avalanche vs. Nashville Predators

April 29-30, Coors Field, Colorado Rockies vs. Cincinnati Reds (baseball)

The Information Management Menu - April 2022

The latest issue of my newsletter is now available at https://mailchi.mp/46404bc7efe4/the-information-management-menu-april-2022. I welcome you to AIIM22 in Denver, CO, my adopted home town of 40 years, and offer some tips to prepare for coming to see us at the end of April! 

This issue features news from ISO, ARMA, and the ICRM, as well as a link to AIIM's CIP survey. It also includes a couple of recent blog posts including one of my most viewed and liked posts, on how to identify the ownership of information stores. And if you're delivering a presentation any time soon, I have some tips to tighten up your presentation so it's more valuable to your audience. 

You can subscribe using the big blue button at the bottom; I will only ever use your email to send you the newsletter, and you can unsubscribe whenever you like. 

Comments or suggestions? Contact me at jesse.wilkins@athroconsulting.com. 

Upcoming Industry Meetings, Webinars, and Podcasts - April 16 - May 15, 2022

Here are the webinars and podcasts I'm aware of for April 16 - May 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.  

Aside: I see a couple of multi-chapter presentations. If you're a small chapter struggling to find speakers, consider partnering with other nearish chapters. Don't limit yourselves to just your association - I used to see joint AIIM/ARMA meetings all the time, as well as ARMA/IIMC, AIIM/PMI, etc. Note also that multi-chapter virtual presentations don't have to be within the same state, region, etc. 

4/19 - ARMA Greater Kansas City, The Pandemic and the IG Profession

4/19 - AIIM, Meeting the Challenge - Knowledge Management (members only)

4/19 - ARMA Mile Hi Denver, Virtual Spring Seminar

4/19 - ARMA Atlanta, Alexa - Can You Delete My Conversations With You? Contact atlarma@gmail.com for an invitation.

4/19 - ARMA North Dakota, Taking Your IG Program from Great to Exceptional

4/19 - ARMA Hawaii, The ICRM Goes Virtual: Application to Certification

4/19 - MER Sapient, How are Companies Really Using M365?

4/19 - CIGOA, IG Practitioner Salary & Compensation Survey Results

4/20 - ARMA Saskatechewan and ARMA Edmonton, Data Governance in an Information Management World

4/20 - ARMA Southern California Inland Empire, How Does RIM/IG Impact the Selection and Implementation of Technology

4/20 - ARMA Nebraska, Spring Seminar

4/20 - ARMA Golden State, Get Ready for the Office of the Future

4/20 - ARMA Fort Worth, IG and Privacy Management

4/20 - AIIM, The Perfect Storm Driving ECM Into the Age of Automation

4/20 - Colligo, How Financial Services Organizations Can Increase ROI of Microsoft 365 Business Investments

4/21 - AIIM Florida, Driving Transformation Past the Mountaintop

4/21 - ARMA St. Louis, A Day in the Life of the Information Manager of the St. Louis Zoo

4/21 - ARMA Indiana, Handling the 7 Deadly Stakeholders. Send an email to msfox@lilly.com for an invitation. 

4/21 - ARMA Arizona, Archives: History or Hoarding?

4/21 - ARMA Utah Salt Lake Chapter, Tour of the Diocese in Salt Lake

4/21 - ARMA Greater New Orleans, Preparing for Disasters

4/21 - ARMA, Building a Records Program from Scratch Part 4

4/21 - Iron Mountain, Covid-19 Lessons Learned: Preparing for the Norm of Uncertainty and Lingering Data Governance Impact

4/26 - ARMA Florida Gulf Coast, Establishing Organizational Governance to Expand Your RIM Program

4/26 - ARMA Lexington, Moving Your Organization Towards Compliance

4/26-27 - ARMA Houston, Spring Conference

4/27 - ARMA Saskatechewan and ARMA Vancouver Island, From Sludging Through ROT to Embracing Knowledge Management

4/27 - Earley & Associates, The Knowledge Management Imperative: Why KM is Essential for AI

4/28 - ARMA New England, Blending Empathy and Emotional Intelligence into your Information Governance Career Trajectory

4/28 - ARMA Liberty Bell, Back to the New Normal: A Multidisciplinary Look at Challenges and Solutions

4/28 - ARMA Austin, Crossing Over from RIM to IG

4/28 - ARMA, Building a Records Program from Scratch Part 5 (members only)

4/29 - ARMA Jacksonville, How to Handle Records Storage for a Successful Digital Transformation

5/2 - Doug Laney, Squeezing value from your data assets 

5/3 - ARMA Western Michigan, IG Career Planning

5/3 - AIIM, Records Management Coffee & Conversations - Best of AIIM22 Records Management Sessions (members only)

5/4 - ARMA Detroit, You're So Sensitive! Why IG and Data Privacy Should be Best Friends

5/4 - Access Sciences, Deconstructing AI - A Deeper Dive into Common AI Solutions

5/5 - ARMA Alaska, Essential Negotiation Skills for RIM Professionals

5/5 - AIIM, Poking Holes in Big Buckets - the Impacts of Data Privacy and Security on Simplified RRS Odd, this one, because the description says it's an ARMA webinar. 

5/9 - ARMA Greater Sacramento, 2022 Records Knowledge Conference

5/10 - ARMA Dallas, Public Speaking with Metrocrest Toastmasters

5/10 - AIIM, Meeting the Challenge - M365: SharePoint Management (members only)

5/12 - ARMA Toronto, 3 Myths About Document Control

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, irrespective of the organization providing them. I know that demos are quite educational, as are customer case studies, but I also know that they are self-serving and, frankly, often aren't described as demos or product pitches. If you're a solution provider, I'll list your webinars on a case-by-case basis that will depend on the topic and speaker, and if you want to include a demo, please let me know so I can add "demo" to your listing. If you don't, and I get word that it was, you'll be off my list. If you're not sure, let's talk. 

Tips to Improve Your Presentations

Updated 4/18 with a really good point I overlooked - it's in the Your Content section below. 

It's conference season, and it looks like many events are returning to in-person get togethers. AIIM22 is April 27-29, followed two weeks later by MER 2022. Having sat through easily a hundred presentations in the last two years, and being a speaker myself with more than 400 presentations under my belt, I thought I'd offer some tips for a better presentation. 

These tips are not so much related to content as to how it's delivered. So the usual platitudes about knowing your audience and tailoring your message, engage your audience, etc. all apply but I won't belabor them here. Rather, I'll focus more on the mechanics and how not to lose your audience. Note that most of these apply whether a presentation is in-person or virtual. 

Be prepared. Again, I'm not talking about your content per se. Rather, I'm talking about the 24 or so hours leading up to your presentation. 

• Know where you're supposed to be and at what time. That includes time to get set up, microphone attached, etc. 
• Don't....um.... "impair" yourself the night before. An 8:00 am session sucks when you're hung over and dehydrated, and your audience will know. 
• Drink plenty of water the day before, the day of, and have some with you if allowed. 
• Practice, and time, your content. If you do this, you may be able to address some of my content points below proactively.

Technology. Have your tech squared away before you get there. In many bigger events, the tech will be provided for you and you just need to have sent your materials in on time. Also - meet your deadlines. If you use a Mac, have an HDMI converter. If you have an older, HDMI-challenged laptop, have an HDMI converter. Bring your own remote and extra batteries. Bring a printed copy of your materials in case things seriously go sideways. 

Your intro. I like to provide a long, glorious, verbose bio for the website and any advertising. The day of, the shorter the better - no more than name, rank & serial number, err, title and company. The attendees are there for your content, not your life story. If you've got the podium, you're going to get the benefit of the doubt for at least a few minutes, and once you establish rapport, your materials and your facilitation of the discussion should be the focus. 

Ditch the bio slide. Again, it isn't about you. 

Ditch the logo slides. Looking at you in particular, vendors and consultants. We know you've done work for 99.4% of the Fortune 100. So has everyone else. Similarly, ditch your solution/methodology slide. It's off-putting outside of a specific context and expectation. Put a link to a landing page in your Thank You or contact info slide, or add the solution/methodology slide at the very end AND DON'T CLICK IT. It's there if people want to see it. 

Provide some sort of an agenda. Doesn't have to be fancy, but help people understand where they are and where they are going. 

Your content. Get rid of half your slides. Seriously. Almost everyone puts way too many slides together, which generally leads to one of three outcomes: 

1. You realize you're running out of time, so you skip some/many/most slides. And those tend to be at the end, and are often the entire point of your presentation. 
2. You realize you're running out of time, so you start whipping through the slides just to get through them. 
3. You DON'T realize you're running out of time, so you go over. WAY over. 

Bonus: in all three cases, you also don't provide any opportunity for people to ask questions. 

Which slides can you get rid of? Almost certainly your first few where you're level-setting. Want a pithy quote? Fine. But everyone at your presentation knows, e.g., from my world, "The amount of information continues to explode." "More information has been created in the last 10 minutes than in the first 100,000 years of human communications." "Up to 80% of information is unstructured." "A record is defined as (insert some overly technical explanation here)". Unless your audience is brand new, and I mean months of experience at most, they know all of that. They are there to talk about whatever the topic is. 

Take out insanely detailed tables, charts, or images that use 2-point font. Nobody can read them anyway, and you already knew that because you probably said something like "I don't know if you can read this, but..." 

As my colleague Karen Stanley reminded me, "Avoid reading your slides out loud, particularly if they're all text. There's nothing more boring. Put the details in a handout - they'll be more appreciated and useful - and focus on the most critical "so whats" in the actual talk." I don't know how I overlooked that one, but it's horrible to be in a presentation with a slide-reader. We read so much faster than we hear, that we're done reading before you're done talking - and now we're bored. 

In fact, if you're a "wall of text" PPTer, I suggest you change your approach. Use more images - I like photos, relevant ones, and I like a photo with maybe a title or a line of text. Your other 6 bullets are your talking points. By making this simple change, you can kind of keep reading from slides, except you're not. If you can't remember them all, you probably haven't practiced enough, but print them as notes. Make flash cards. Put them on your phone. 

If you mention additional resources - standards, books, etc. - consider adding one or more slides that list them with links. Don't read those slides to attendees, but let them see them and write them down or take pictures as appropriate. If you have a relevant book, white paper, etc. I think it's OK to list it, but not sell it from the podium or push people to your website to get it. If they want it, they'll figure out how to go get it. 

Your closer. Unless it's a keynote where you're not taking or expecting questions, leave some time for them. I generally prefer not to take questions during because there is a good chance I'll answer them later in the session, but if you do take them during, build time in for that, and still keep a couple minutes at the end as well. 

What tips would you give speakers to improve the sessions you're going to attend? 

Additional resources:

This video by Sanjeev NC called "Every Conference Presentation Ever" illustrates many of these points succinctly. Also, it's a long comment thread, but there are some amazing comments in there, including this one: 

Hilarious (because they're spot on)!!!

More gems:

• Let's go around the room and introduce ourselves.
• A big round of applause for...
• Hmm, the demo doesn't seem to be working...
• That's a great question:
• Can we take it offline?
• I'll answer it after the break.
• Would anyone like to take a shot at answering it?
• Please make sure you fill the feedback forms before you leave.

Similarly, Don McMillan offers his take on Life After Death by PowerPoint: 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MjcO2ExtHso&t=153s

Here are some other great tips that will make you a better presenter: 

Top Eight Rules for Creating a PowerPoint Presentation, courtesy of the International Society of Pharmacoepidemiology: https://www.pharmacoepi.org/pub/?id=76a123f3-c419-8689-f823-a38e28f5fd02

Guy Kawasaki's 10-20-30 rule of PowerPoint: https://guykawasaki.com/the_102030_rule/

SlideGenius looks at the 10-20-30 rule 15 years later: https://www.slidegenius.com/blog/guy-kawasakis-10-20-30-rule-presentation

ARMA Forms Global Partnership with RIMPA

From the press release: 

ARMA International, the world’s leading membership organization serving professionals who manage and govern information assets and the Records and Information Management Professionals Australasia (RIMPA), the longest serving peak body for industry practitioners in the southern hemisphere announced today a Global Partnership to better serve the information management profession worldwide.

The global partnership between these two leading worldwide organizations will provide many benefits to their collective 7,000 members who will now have the opportunity for joint membership in both organizations; access to reciprocal resources including communities and professional development, education and certifications; and advocacy for the information management and information governance profession.  Together the two organizations will work together to provide a unique perspective on global information issues.

I've known of RIMPA for some time, I think from when I was attempting a distance learning degree from RMIT University in Melbourne. I do think it's interesting that ARMA notes they represent almost 5,000 professionals; I'm pretty sure I saw that number at "almost 6,000 members" as recently as last month. 

Looking forward to seeing what comes of this new partnership. 

ISO Releases New Standard on Governance for AI

 The International Organization for Standards (ISO) has announced the availability of ISO/IEC 38507:2022, Information technology — Governance of IT — Governance implications of the use of artificial intelligence by organizations. From the abstract: 

This document provides guidance for members of the governing body of an organization to enable and govern the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI), in order to ensure its effective, efficient and acceptable use within the organization.

For more information, or to purchase, visit https://www.iso.org/standard/56641.html

Karl Melrose: Records Management Standing on its Own

Karl has another fantastic post here, making the case that records management can improve organizational business outcomes, and that we should make that case rather than falling back on compliance. 100% agree; I would add that effective records management practices that support business outcomes will also tend to meet the compliance requirements. There may be some tweaks around the edges for particular regulatory requirements, but an effective program will dot most of those i's. 

Read the entire thing: https://metairm.substack.com/p/records-management-standing-on-its?s=r

The Origins of the ICRM, By Steven D. Whitaker, CRM - April 2022

Long-time CRM Steven D. Whitaker has written a great, succinct post about the origins of the Institute of Certified Records Managers (ICRM). In the post, he traces the history of the ICRM, and the CRM program, from the events that led to the need for an exam and a certifying body, to its establishment in 1975, and some of the seminal events in its history since then. If you're a CRM, CRA, or just interested in the history of a key contributor to the information management industry, I highly recommend it. 

https://www.icrm.org/node/3147

Staffing the CIP Program at AIIM

As I posted earlier, AIIM sent out an email last week summarizing the CIP Town Hall on March 18 and providing a link to a survey. One of the lines in the email jumped out at me: 

" It is the intention of the AIIM staff to continue to develop the CIP curriculum and examination with regular updates. Two members of the AIIM team have been tapped for content development and CIP lifecycle management."

I reached out to AIIM to learn who those two members were, and was informed that it was Peggy Winton and Theresa Resek. For Peggy, I find this a little odd, given that Peggy has already announced her intention to step down as President, unless the thought is that she would remain on staff in some capacity. 

When I left AIIM in August 2021, Theresa was already running the Market Intelligence program full-time, including webinars and managing the production of AIIM's research papers, eBooks, and other assets. She was also managing the production of AIIM+ Pro training modules. I have nothing but the utmost respect for her experience, her attention to detail, her time management, and her willingness to do what is necessary to get things done. 

But I think CIP needs a full-time person. The work needed just this year, to update the now-compromised CIP exam and related study guide and training materials, will require significant resources. That's before any awareness, partnerships, marketing, outreach, or anything else I posted in my list of suggestions. 

And if, as AIIM also stated in that email, 

The body of knowledge upon which the exam is based and the exam question set should be updated on a regular basis.

those become an ongoing effort, and that's before figuring out how to address the actual exam form construction, test validation, score setting, etc. The paragraph above continues, 

Efforts in this regard have begun at the staff level and will be expanded to include select CIP content advisors in this calendar year.

So again, I don't know where Peggy and Theresa will find the time to do that in the short term, i.e. this calendar year. If Theresa is doing CIP on the more or less full-time basis it will require in the short term, I wonder what AIIM's plans are for Market Intelligence and AIIM+ Pro...?

I do think that having a body of CIP content advisors is a fantastic idea, but they will require care and feeding as well, as even the best-intentioned volunteers will run into issues with work, and life, and other things that get in the way. 

Upcoming Industry Meetings, Webinars, and Podcasts - April 1 - 30, 2022

Here are the industry meetings, webinars, and podcasts I'm aware of for April 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.  

This listing is for typical 60-120 minute sessions - as you can see, many of these are chapter meetings. I include longer events - half-day or longer - in my newsletter.  

4/2 - ARMA Terra Nova, IM Education and Awareness

4/5 - AIIM, Records Management Coffee & Conversation: The Future of the Practice (members only)

4/5 - Feith, Records Management University Class 4: Sharing and Selling the Value

4/5 - ARMA Milwaukee, Fetch the Future, Rethink the Ink

4/6 - ARMA Triangle, The Value of RIM Program Audits

4/6 - ARMA Saskatechewan and ARMA Calgary - Privacy Considerations for RIM

4/6 - ARMA Seattle, Adapting to Scale: Comparing IG Targets in Large and Small Organizations

4/7 - ARMA Madison, Cloud File Migrations Technologies and Services – What to Look For and Best Practices

4/7 - ARMA, Building a RIM Program from Scratch Part 2 (members only)

4/7 - NAGARA, Why Records & Governance Matter: A Personal Journey

4/7 - MER Sapient, Data Privacy 101 - New Privacy Law Requirements

4/12 - Twin Cities ARMA, Spring Seminar

4/12 - ARMA Central Illinois, ECG and RIM: A Critical Partnership

4/12 - ARMA Northeast Ohio - Establishing a Records Management Audit Program. Email marie_jones@progressive.com for an invitation.

4/12 - ARMA Dallas, Simple Ways to Turn your Records Liaisons into Records Ambassadors

4/12 - ARMA Chicago, Social Networking, Twittering, and Blogging: Considerations for Policy and Management

4/12 - AIIM, Meeting the Challenge - M365: OneDrive Management (members only)

4/12 - MER Sapient, "I Love My Organization’s Records Policies,” said No One 

4/13 - ARMA Saskatechewan and  ARMA Vancouver, Context is Everything - A case study of an Electronic Records Management System (ERMS) project

4/13 - ARMA Toronto, Processing Library and Archives Canada's Largest Private Digital Records Collection

4/13 - ARMA New Jersey, Privacy by Design and IIM/ECM

4/13 - ARMA DC, Metro Maryland, and Northern Virginia Virtual Spring Seminar

4/13 - ARMA Boise, Improving Buy-In to IM Policies

4/14 - ARMA Upstate New York, From IM / Archivist to Risk Manager: How to transform your role to focus on risk management

4/14 - MER Sapient, Long Run Governance: New Ways to Meet Persistent Challenges  

4/14 - ARMA, Building a RIM Program from Scratch Part 3 (members only)

4/14 - AvePoint and 2toLead, The Biggest Microsoft M365 Management Mistakes and How to Solve Them

4/19 - ARMA Greater Kansas City, The Pandemic and the IG Profession

4/19 - AIIM, Meeting the Challenge - Knowledge Management (members only)

4/19 - ARMA Mile Hi Denver, Virtual Spring Seminar

4/19 - ARMA Atlanta, Alexa - Can You Delete My Conversations With You? Contact atlarma@gmail.com for an invitation.

4/19 - ARMA North Dakota, Taking Your IG Program from Great to Exceptional

4/19 - Feith, Records Management University Class 5: Re-Imagining Records Management Value

4/19 - MER Sapient, How are Companies Really Using M365?

4/20 - ARMA Saskatechewan and ARMA Edmonton, Data Governance in an Information Management World

4/20 - ARMA Nebraska,  Spring Seminar

4/20 - AIIM, The Perfect Storm Driving ECM Into the Age of Automation

4/20 - ARMA Southern Califormia Inland Empire - How Does RIM/IG Impact the Selection and Implementation of Technology

4/21 - ARMA St. Louis, A Day in the Life of the Information Manager of the St. Louis Zoo

4/21 - ARMA Indiana - Handling the 7 Deadly Stakeholders. Send an email to msfox@lilly.com for an invitation. 

4/21 - ARMA, Building a Records Program from Scratch Part 4 (members only)

4/26 - ARMA Lexington, Moving Towards Compliance

4/26 - ARMA Florida Gulf Coast, Building Good Organizational Governance to Expand Your RIM Program

4/26-27 - ARMA Houston, Spring Conference

4/27 - ARMA Saskatechewan and ARMA Vancouver Island, From Sludging Through ROT to Embracing Knowledge Management

4/28 - ARMA New England, Blending Empathy and Emotional Intelligence into your Information Governance Career Trajectory

4/28 - ARMA, Building a Records Program from Scratch Part 5 (members only)

If you know of a chapter event, 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 Feith's RMU, 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. 

WBT Systems: How Could Your Association’s Learning Business Shape a Better Future for Your Industry?

Fascinating read. I remember doing some, albeit somewhat shorter-timelined, exercises along these lines several years ago. To those who say 10 months out is unreadable, much less 10 years, I'd say the details and the tools are for sure. But if you don't have a published strategy that's a stake in the ground looking further ahead than this quarter's revenues, you're not going to need to worry about 10 years out. 

https://www.wbtsystems.com/learning-hub/blogs/shape-better-future-for-your-industry

Thoughts on AIIM's CIP Town Hall Summary and Survey

Update 4/7: Minor updates including adding a couple of links to blog posts I wrote after this one.

And here is my more in-depth response. I was one of the 64 CIPs who attended the live Zoom meeting and I had previously shared my thoughts about the changes and the CIP town hall itself. I have been unable to locate either the transcript or the recording; if you can find the link, please send it to me at jesse.wilkins@athroconsulting.com and I'll post it. 

Good Afternoon,

Our sincere thanks to the CIPs that have provided feedback through various channels and to the 64 CIPs who joined the recent live meeting via Zoom.

Peggy Winton re-iterated her apologies for not casting a wider and more comprehensive net of feedback from among the CIP community before making the three recent changes to the CIP program: 1) exam proctoring 2) CEU submissions 3) recertification. She explained the business rationale for the changes: to modernize and grow the program by appealing to the next generation of information management professionals. Several trusted and reputable entities have switched to this model based on continuous and pervasive learning with relaxed barriers to the examination process. 

JW: I regularly research certifications in the information management industry, in adjacent industries, and even in completely different ones like human resources. There are no significant exceptions to the former approach of a proctored exam and the ability to renew via continuing education. I'm very curious to know who those trusted and reputable entities are. I'm 100% certain AIIM won't share any names. 

It is the intention of the AIIM staff to continue to develop the CIP curriculum and examination with regular updates. Two members of the AIIM team have been tapped for content development and CIP lifecycle management.

JW: I reached out to AIIM and confirmed that the two are Theresa Resek and Peggy Winton. I wrote about my concerns about that in a separate post. 

Questions and Comments were taken from the meeting participants using the hand-raising feature. All participants desiring to speak were given the opportunity to do so. Their speaking position was automatically assigned by the order in which their hand was raised.

Feedback provided from participants was largely consensual and can be summarized within these key areas:

1. Proctoring. Folks feel strongly that a proctored exam means more to them and their organizations/potential employers because of the perceived rigor and restrictions imposed. There were various suggestions for ways that proctoring might be handled, based on the experience and practices of other organizations. To understand all options, AIIM is in direct communication with the meeting participants who shared their proctoring ideas in this way. JW: I encourage AIIM to make this part of the discussion public ASAP - this is the key issue that has to be addressed in order for CIP to become a certification again. And note that as part of that process, the CIP exam needs to be 100% redone from scratch because it's been compromised since it went live as an unproctored exam. 
2. Recertification. Folks feel that, while the process can be cumbersome, the submission of CEUs provides an alternative to retaking the exam (which carries much angst and trepidation) as well as a justification for attending continuing education programs and events (some of which require fee approval).
3. Folks do have an interest in new course-based learning paths (with certificates of completion awarded) as potential alternatives to a CIP exam re-sit and/or CEUs at some reasonable time intervals. (Those are currently available as part of the AIIM+ Pro subscription). JW: I did not hear this as an alternative to CEUs or resitting the exam. AIIM+ Pro came up in the context of CEUs and I wrote about that in a separate post. 
4. CEU Submission. Folks understand that certain events and activities are more CEU-worthy than others, and they believe that AIIM is within its right to set stricter CEU acceptance parameters accordingly. They acknowledge that the process can only be fully vetted and automated if aligned primarily with AIIM programming and systems. JW: This conversation suggested that AIIM events should be given more CEU weight than non-AIIM events, regardless of their source. Every certification that takes CEUs, which is almost all of them, awards 1 credit per educational contact hour. Of course the topic has to be relevant to the body of knowledge, and there are ways to "vet" or preapprove events or providers, but an hour is a CEU. Not addressed here: finally providing CIPs a way to submit and track their CEUs and status. This is not currently available in AIIM+ Pro either.  
5. Future Readiness. The body of knowledge upon which the exam is based and the exam question set should be updated on a regular basis. Efforts in this regard have begun at the staff level and will be expanded to include select CIP content advisors in this calendar year. JW: I'm not sure now what AIIM means by this. The practice was to update it every 3 years, meaning it should be done in 2022 since the last update went live in June 2019. And as noted above, it has to be done anyway because the exam is compromised. However, they may mean on an ongoing or rolling basis. This is certainly doable as well, though it increases the complexity of the process and possibly the cost as well if it's done the right way. In addition, the point of a certification is that it tests against a body of knowledge, and that body of knowledge should come from a job task analysis. This has *never* been properly done and should be; in turn, this drives the BoK, which then should drive AIIM's content strategy for training and beyond. 

Finally, I think AIIM is still trying to be too clever here, because none of the changes they introduced in February address the single biggest issue with the CIP program: a complete and utter lack of marketing. I've offered a lengthy list of ways to improve CIP, starting with fixing the exam as noted earlier, but if they don't start marketing it, it won't matter. 

AIIM Releases CIP Town Hall Feedback and Survey

Update 4/7/2022: AIIM has clarified that the survey is open through April 20, 2022. 

As with the previous email, posting the email I just received without comment or editing except to keep it readable as a blog post. I'll have a more thorough response as a separate post. 

Good Afternoon,

Our sincere thanks to the CIPs that have provided feedback through various channels and to the 64 CIPs who joined the recent live meeting via Zoom.

Peggy Winton re-iterated her apologies for not casting a wider and more comprehensive net of feedback from among the CIP community before making the three recent changes to the CIP program: 1) exam proctoring 2) CEU submissions 3) recertification. She explained the business rationale for the changes: to modernize and grow the program by appealing to the next generation of information management professionals. Several trusted and reputable entities have switched to this model based on continuous and pervasive learning with relaxed barriers to the examination process. 

It is the intention of the AIIM staff to continue to develop the CIP curriculum and examination with regular updates. Two members of the AIIM team have been tapped for content development and CIP lifecycle management.

Questions and Comments were taken from the meeting participants using the hand-raising feature. All participants desiring to speak were given the opportunity to do so. Their speaking position was automatically assigned by the order in which their hand was raised.

Feedback provided from participants was largely consensual and can be summarized within these key areas:

1. Proctoring. Folks feel strongly that a proctored exam means more to them and their organizations/potential employers because of the perceived rigor and restrictions imposed. There were various suggestions for ways that proctoring might be handled, based on the experience and practices of other organizations. To understand all options, AIIM is in direct communication with the meeting participants who shared their proctoring ideas in this way
2. Recertification. Folks feel that, while the process can be cumbersome, the submission of CEUs provides an alternative to retaking the exam (which carries much angst and trepidation) as well as a justification for attending continuing education programs and events (some of which require fee approval).
3. Folks do have an interest in new course-based learning paths (with certificates of completion awarded) as potential alternatives to a CIP exam re-sit and/or CEUs at some reasonable time intervals. (Those are currently available as part of the AIIM+ Pro subscription).
4. CEU Submission. Folks understand that certain events and activities are more CEU-worthy than others, and they believe that AIIM is within its right to set stricter CEU acceptance parameters accordingly. They acknowledge that the process can only be fully vetted and automated if aligned primarily with AIIM programming and systems.
5. Future Readiness. The body of knowledge upon which the exam is based and the exam question set should be updated on a regular basis. Efforts in this regard have begun at the staff level and will be expanded to include select CIP content advisors in this calendar year.

In order to receive and quantify feedback from the entire CIP community, please take 10 minutes now to let your voice be heard. 

Link to the survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/XGR8XMG

AIIM Removes Access to Old Learning Management System, Transcripts

Update 4/5: Some time this week, AIIM also did something that broke the link. Instead of seeing the message below, the link simply returns an error, "This site can't be reached." Again, no direct communication of this nor, now, any direction as to how to get your transcript - I'd have expected something on the AIIM+ Pro landing page, but no. I also find it odd that the link is still present in the navigation, i.e. Education > My Courses. 

Some time this year, AIIM finally removed access to their old learning management system (LMS). I attempted to access it yesterday to look something up, and the login page has been updated to feature a new message, "AIIM has reimagined our learning delivery and access to this site ceased as of January 22, 2022." I don't know when this access changed, but I am 99+% certain that I accessed it this month - this is the first I'm seeing it and I'm writing about it immediately because of the issues it presents. 

Aside - I find it fascinating that this change was supposedly made more than two months ago, yet the link remains on the AIIM website. Go to https://www.aiim.org, then select Education and then My Courses and you'll be brought to https://learning.aiim.org/login/index.php, with that verbiage. It further notes that "Any questions, or need a transcript of your learning please drop us an email at hello@aiim.org".

None of this is entirely unexpected - AIIM moved to a new LMS with the launch of AIIM+ Pro late last year. What concerns me is that, yet again, AIIM provided zero communication of this change. It's not posted on the AIIM+ Pro page. It wasn't emailed out. AIIM didn't even tweet about it. 

Why does this matter? Because the old LMS was where your CIP certificate was. It is where your other certificates and dates were. For some CIPs, it was where your CEUs were listed, though likely inaccurately because the upload was a manual upload and a snapshot in time sometime early in 2021. If you didn't already download them, you no longer have access to them. And because AIIM didn't make any announcement about this before it happened, you may not have. 

Now, as noted above and on the old LMS login page, you can send an email to hello@aiim.org to request a transcript. I had gone through this process in February and received the image at the end of this post embedded into an email. I did it again today to make sure I was following the process, and the transcript was text copied into the body of the message, and included a few more fields as well. Since the email came from an aiim.org domain, maybe someone would accept it as proof of learning? 

I also wonder whether AIIM can get to the certificates at all, and if so, how willing they will be to go through whatever the process requires to get them and email them to individual students. I requested my CIP certificate, and that was provided; when I asked about the others, the response was, "As you know we’ve always asked customers to download their certificates for their records." I don't have any of my old award emails so I don't know what they say/said. The current LMS does send out an email saying that "Your certificate is ready for download", but I wouldn't say that that is equivalent. But this response suggests that they can't, and I wonder whether my CIP certificate was actually generated upon receipt of my request. 

More importantly, how is it OK in 2022 for the "Association for Intelligent Information Management" to require an email query, and presumably a manual, staff-generated response, for what was previously available to individual students via a self-service portal? This feels like yet another step backwards. 

Here's my "transcript" from the old AIIM LMS. Some things were assigned CEUs in the LMS, most weren't, so the accuracy here is more in the course names, dates, and "Passed". 

ISO Committee Shares Insights on Working Remotely

The ISO TC46 SC11 Ad Hoc Group 6 has released a white paper on RIM issues associated with working remotely. The 6-page white paper, titled "Insights on Records Management Challenges While Working Remotely", is available at https://committee.iso.org/sites/tc46sc11/home/news/content-left-area/news-about-standarization-in-t-1/committee-shares-insights-on-wor.html. 

AIIM+ Pro and the CIP

Update 3/25: I'm not sure whether AIIM is recording AIIM22 sessions; if not, they obviously wouldn't be available to be added to the AIIM+ Pro catalog. 

Update 5/23: Added current figures, timings, and CEU totals. 

One of the topics that came up on AIIM's CIP Town Hall on March 18 was the possibility of allowing CIPs to renew using CEUs again. That topic led to a discussion of AIIM+ Pro, AIIM's new approach to training. In this post, I will explore why I think AIIM+ Pro isn't the right approach for CEUs, at least as currently implemented. 

I have an AIIM+ Pro membership, and everything in this post reflects my interacting with it on an ongoing basis since early February. 

First, let me start by noting that it is a massive improvement to the look & feel to the old AIIM training. If you haven't taken a look at AIIM training in a while, since the old "death by PowerPoint", it really is night & day difference. So kudos to AIIM, and in particular Peggy Winton, Georgina Clelland, and Theresa Resek, for an exceptional reimagining of AIIM's training offerings. 

However, from a CIP's point of view, AIIM+ Pro doesn't really meet the need for CEUs from a couple of different perspectives - at least by itself. First, and most significantly, at present the content consists of: 

• The reimagined learning modules. These are a synthesis of the best of the preexisting AIIM content - courses like Foundations of Intelligent Information Management, Modern Records Management, Business Process Management, and Taxonomy & Metadata. So while there are likely nuggets of value here & there, the CIP exam covers all of these areas already and it's reasonable to expect a CIP to be familiar with most of them. There is new content coming - but is new content going to be added regularly enough to make it a reasonable ask for CIPs for CEUs? 60 CEUs over 3 years = a lot of courses to be developed. 
• Update 5/23: 
• No new educational content has been added since I wrote the original post, though there have been some tweaks to learning paths etc. 
• There are 29 educational courses, with durations ranging from 20 - 60 minutes and an average of 32 minutes. Since most certifications award 1 CEU per educational contact hour, calculating by the average gives 14.5 CEUs, while using the exact timings gives 16.0. (I can't get timing for 4 of them as they still show "new" instead of the duration. Calculating them at 30 min each.)
• AIIM21 conference sessions. If a CIP didn't go to conference, or even did but didn't attend all the sessions, there is some valuable content here. I don't know whether AIIM plans to record the AIIM22 sessions, but if so I'd expect that they'd be added sometime after conference.
• The CIP Study Guide. If you're a CIP, you should already have this and be sufficiently familiar with it that I don't think this is a value-add from a CIP CEUs perspective. 

In other words, much of the content currently in AIIM+ Pro wouldn't be that suited to the purpose of CIPs' continued professional growth and development.  

In addition, the way in which CEUs are currently tracked is also problematic in a couple of different ways. First, CEUs are awarded arbitrarily, something Peggy explicitly identified as an issue with the previous approach. 

• Every item completed is awarded 1 CEU, irrespective of its duration. So the "Introduction to Creating, Capturing and Sharing Information" course, which is listed in the AIIM+ interface as 2 minutes long, is worth 1 CEU. CEUs for CIP, and most certifications, generally track at 1 CEU per contact hour of educational content. 
• Every item completed is awarded 1 CEU, whether it's technically educational content or not. I have completed 4 of the learning paths, and the certificate awarded for each learning path is itself worth 1 CEU as shown in the screenshot below. 

• Every item completed is awarded 1 CEU, irrespective of how long you took to complete it. As a test, I just completed the How to Improve Information Security course. It's listed in the interface at 20 minutes. I timed it, and from open to completion it took me about 1:30 to do it. But I still got 1 full CEU for it. 
• As of May 23, I have completed all learning paths, all learning courses, all 11 of the CIP Study Guide sessions, and one AIIM21 webinar. The interface shows me as having completed 55 courses; the CEUs are not summed, and 1, Introduction to Digitalizing Information-Intensive Processes, is listed at 0 CEUs. If I add up all the "1 CEU" messages as shown in the screenshot, AIIM shows me as having 54 CEUs. 

Next, any AIIM content that isn't in the LMS - webinars, the AIIM conference, etc. is not tracked in the LMS. In years past, AIIM awarded a set amount of CEUs for an in-person conference - say, 12.5 - based on the combined length of the educational session days, so having a set amount of CEUs might skirt that issue. But I couldn't find any way in the interface to add them. If the answer is to have AIIM do it on your behalf, that seems like going back to the same issues AIIM had identified with the previous process in terms of both the customer experience and staff resource requirements. 

There is no non-AIIM content tracked. This makes sense of course - but if AIIM does go back to doing CEUs, they cannot limit them to just AIIM content. I mean, they can, but that's a terrible approach and one that would be significantly outside the norms of certifications and CEUs. And again there is no way to upload non-AIIM CEUs at present. 

There is no indicator for any previously submitted CEUs, so if you already submitted some, or even all, you needed for renewal, they aren't listed here. I know Peggy said that everything is on the table, but I think this is going to take some thinking through in order to not alienate the CIPs who neared or met the requirements as well as concerns about those who hadn't or won't. 

There's no indicator for when your CIP is due for renewal. As I noted in a previous post, AIIM is currently relying on its records to send you an email allowing you to retake the CIP exam a few weeks or months before your renewal date. 

And there's no CIP certificate, or badge, or any way for you to know whether your CIP is active or not. 

Maybe some of these are configuration issues where something just needs to be enabled that hadn't been because CEUs for CIP were going away. But the other issues, around non-LMS content, still need to be addressed. And this only matters if CEUs for renewal return. 

One last thought. Currently, CIP renewal via exam is $135 for members and $150 for non-members. This is also what it cost to do CEUs-based renewal before the February changes. However, in order to use AIIM+ Pro, CIPs *also* would have to pay the AIIM+ Pro subscription fees of $49/month or $490/year. Over the course of 3 years, that works out to $1,470 if the CIP maintained it the entire time PLUS the member renewal fee of $135, for a total cost over 3 years of $1,605. That's an expensive certification to maintain. 

AIIM's CIP Townhall - My Thoughts and Takeaways

AIIM held a town hall today to discuss the recent changes to CIP. Outgoing AIIM President Peggy Winton noted that there were two major topics in scope for the town hall - proctored vs. unproctored exam and retesting vs. CEUs. Originally scheduled for 45 minutes, it ended up going close to double that and frankly probably could have continued. 

Update: I want to thank Peggy and AIIM for holding this, for giving the CIP community an opportunity to weigh in, and for staying on significantly past the scheduled ending time. 

I will post a link to the video and/or transcript once they are available, but here are my brief notes and takeaways. 

• AIIM apologized - for the lack of communication. 
• Peggy opened by noting that she'd talked to the AIIM Board and a number of other association people and that she believed this was the right decision. 
• Nobody spoke in favor of taking an exam every three years, even an unproctored one. One person did suggest a combination of CEUs and a retake every 5 years (I think?)….
• There was some consensus around the suggestion to have preapproved providers in order to ensure the quality of CEUs.
• Several speakers noted that PMI, IAPP, etc. have figured out how to balance proctoring and CEUs, ISO 17024 accreditation, etc. in the time of COVID. Those organizations have been ridiculously successful over the last couple of years. Then again, they also had marketing....
• There were a couple of suggestions about how to deal with the "significant number" of CIP candidates who for various reasons can't take a proctored exam online or in person, including using AIIM staff and AIIM community volunteers. The former doesn't scale, not with 14 staff, but as this is an exception, I think it's doable. Having AIIM volunteers do it is a little more problematic from an exam security perspective, but it's not insurmountable I don't think.. 
• Peggy alluded to my post about the exam being compromised twice and was very dismissive of concerns about exam security. 
• Peggy kept referring to CIPs who were grandfathered in and have maintained their CEUs ever since, with the result that they've never taken the actual exam. That list is down to me - and I've taken the exam, beta, proctored, and unproctored - at least a dozen times - and perhaps one other CIP. I can't confirm because I don't have access to those records anymore. But this is a complete non sequitur, yet she repeated it more than once.
• Strategy and marketing were outside the scope of this Town Hall, but one participant did bring up AIIM's apparent lack of strategy towards the end. Peggy did indicate that there was "now" staff ownership of CIP and that things would improve moving forward. I'll be curious to determine who that owner is because from the outside it appears that current staff is pretty well booked doing other things. Still no, nada, zero marketing of CIP. 
• AIIM is going to send out a survey on the two issues identified - what the exam process should look like including proctoring, and what the renewal process should look like. 
• Peggy ended the session with a couple of minutes of discussion about how CIP is a separate stand-alone thing that isn't updated as AIIM+ Pro is, it's out of sync with AIIM's content strategy, etc. There's too much to unpack there for this blog post, but it sounded like she wanted the CIP exam to move to rolling updates. If the exam isn't proctored and doesn't need to be psychometrically defensible, this is a pretty easy thing to do - but in my professional estimation, it misses the point. It also has implications for updating training materials to ensure they remain aligned to the exam. 

My takeaway is that AIIM did not anticipate this amount of blowback, but still doesn't understand that it's not just the lack of communications. 

I didn't hear any willingness to go back to a proctored exam. I do think they might be willing to go back to CEUs as an option, though Peggy seemed strongly inclined to limit CEUs from outside AIIM and mentioned AIIM+ Pro a number of times as the path forward. I wrote a separate post addressing the AIIM+ Pro subscription as a CEU mechanism. 

Without a proctored exam, the CIP remains a weird hybrid - it's a certificate program that requires ongoing maintenance. This is the Hubspot model, which Peggy cited, but it flies in the face of literally every other certification in the information management/information governance industry. I'm not prepared to believe that AIIM is smarter than PMI, CompTIA, Microsoft, IBM, ASAE, IAPP, ISACA, ISC(2), and the list goes on for a while. 

At this point I see no indication that AIIM will change back to a proctored exam, at least while Peggy remains in place. I don't know the extent to which the rest of AIIM's senior management backs that specific decision, but if CIP is to be successful, the next CEO needs to make that change, the required development of a non-compromised exam, and an actual strategy and marketing plan, the top priorities. If this doesn't happen, I predict that CIP numbers will drop precipitously and AIIM will be left with no choice but to end it. 

The Information Management Menu - March 2022

The latest edition of my newsletter, The Information Management Menu, is now available at https://mailchi.mp/6c50f4b2f3b9/the-information-management-menu-march-2022. This issue features lots of events; new announcements from ARMA, the ICRM, and ISO; and lots of discussion about AIIM's changes to the CIP program, including your chance to weigh in on March 18.  

You can subscribe using the big blue button at the bottom; I will only ever use your email to send you the newsletter, and you can unsubscribe whenever you like. 

Comments or suggestions? Contact me at jesse.wilkins@athroconsulting.com. 

A Tale of Information Management - the United States Postal Service

Last week, while I was away from my home office, the United States Postal Service attempted to deliver a letter to me that required a signature. I wasn't home, so they left a slip in my mailbox. 

As you can see, the slip includes instructions on how to schedule a redelivery, either by scanning a QR code or by going to https://usps.com/redelivery. There's a 16-digit (4 x 4) article number below that. I went to the website, and it's a four-step process. 

Step 1: Check if redelivery is available for your address. I entered my address, NOT as shown on the slip, but as an actual address. More on that in a minute. I spelled out "Street", and I didn't use a ZIP+4 ZIP code, but when I clicked the Check Availability button, the page refreshed, the address was reformatted to all caps and with "ST" instead of "Street", and the ZIP code had also been updated to the ZIP+4. 

Step 2: Select packages for redelivery. The instructions, verbatim: "Enter a tracking or barcode number shown on the back of your PS Form 3849, We ReDeliver for You! All packages in a single Redelivery request must be associated to the same PS Form 3849."

It asks you to enter a Tracking or Barcode Number; the slip identifies my letter as an Article Number as noted above. I entered the code, both as a 16-digit number and as 4 4-digit numbers. Either way, when I clicked the magnifying glass to search for the number, I got an error, "The address entered for this tracking number does not match the original delivery address. See FAQs

To send the package to a different address than the original delivery address, please use Package Intercept. To modify the Redelivery address, go back to Step 1 and select Edit." I also tried the QR code, which took me to the same form and produced the same results. 

At the top of that error, there was a tracking number listed, a 20-digit code with no resemblance to the one I entered. 

Needless to say, Step 3 and Step 4 were right out. 

Next, I tried the Package Intercept. Both the original article number on the slip and the tracking number generated in Step 2 were unable to be intercepted for any of a number of vague and vaguely technical reasons. 

So I went back to Step 2 and the FAQs. I copied my error, "The address entered for this tracking number does not match the original delivery address" and, sure enough, there was an entry for that. The explanation for that error was, "Redelivery cannot be requested because the original tracking number does not match the original address." Very, very helpful....

I mentioned the address above. On the slip, the entirety of the address hand-printed on the slip was "Street number street name", e.g., "123 main". No street, no city, no state, no ZIP. 

As of now, there is no way for me to schedule a redelivery because whatever address the USPS has for me, for this letter, is not the same as my standard mailing address nor as the USPS-reformatted one. I thought literally the entire point of ZIP+4 was to identify an actual street address (or PO Box), yet that seems to be failing me here.  

How does this relate to information management? Metadata. Again, the USPS is relying on metadata to identify me and confirm that I am entitled to this letter. However, something is off between what they have in this confirmation system and what their master addresses list shows and uses. I know they have a very sophisticated approach to address recognition - have you SEEN some peoples' handwriting in addressing envelopes? - yet it's failing here for what has to be an absolutely simple, yet unforeseen, reason.