From the President's Desk….

Your help is requested for the 2008 PMI GLC Membership Campaign, which has a goal of increasing membership by 300 new members. As a start, please "share the word" about the value offered by PMI GLC and encourage your colleagues to consider membership in PMI GLC.

To better serve and provide value to members of PMI GLC, your PMI GLC Committee volunteers have planned several upcoming events and activities focused on a broad variety of topics suited for various phases of your career! These events are an excellent opportunity for low cost continuing education that provides PDU credits toward re-certification. Topics presented are appropriate for the interests of new members, PMP Certified members and for those involved with Program/Portfolio Management.

1. Monthly PMI GLC Dinner Meetings are currently attended by 100-140 members each month.

For March 10th,'08 see: http://www.pmiglc.org/pd/mtg_08_03.html

At the Dinner Meetings, look for display boards to find postings of new PMP's, new members, events, awards and other information/announcements. The display boards are managed by Jeanne Stone who collects information and updates the display boards each month.

The Buddy program, managed by Steve Wargo, helps new attendees become acquainted with PMI GLC. At dinner meetings new attendees are greeted by a PMI-GLC member, who introduces them to board members and other members of the chapter for networking purposes. The "Buddy" program explains chapter benefits and socializes new attendees through dinner.

We are looking for volunteers for these and other programs.

2. A PMI GLC PMP Exam Review course is offered again on-ground beginning March 8th at Macomb Community College. On-ground and on-line versions of the course are offered throughout the year. These courses continue to serve members interested in becoming PMP Certified. Many members who have successfully passed the PMP Exam have favorably commented that the course helped them prepare for the exam. For members PMP Certified prior to PMBOK 3rd edition, you can take this course and earn 42 PDUs toward re-certification. Members who are not PMPs should consider the CAPM course that will be launched later this year to help prepare for the Certified Associate Project Manager Exam. See: http://www.pmiglc.org/pd/pmp.html

3. Seminars Series/Advanced Topics begin again on April 10th. Seminars series are held 1 evening per week for 3 weeks, offering 3 PDUs per seminar, 9 PDUs in total. The April seminar topics include: Strategic Management, OPM3 and Project Leadership.
See: http://www.pmiglc.org/pd/pmp_seminars_spring.html

4. The 7th Annual PMI GLC Symposium, to be held April 23rd, is the premier event for the year. Over 500 attendees are expected to participate in the all day event of speakers, lunch and networking. Register now to obtain the best early registration discount and ensure a seat. For further information see: http://www.pmiglc.org/pd/2008symposium/index.html

5. Monthly Newsletters, from John Schnable, continue to provide members with the latest information about events, announcements, articles of interest, etc. Please be sure to see what's new and different each month, as well as the schedule of upcoming events.

6. The Open House, New Member Orientation, Golf Outing and other events are being planned to provide opportunities to learn and earn affordable PDUs. Watch for announcements and continue to monitor the PMI GLC web page: http://www.pmiglc.org/index.html

Your membership in PMI GLC is appreciated!

Don Blouin,
President, PMI Great Lakes Chapter