Florida Society of Certified Public Managers®

By Jerry O’Cathey, CPM
Ocathey-Jerry@monroecounty-FL.gov

On February 13-14, 2007, our Florida Society of Certified Public Managers® (FSCPM) proudly presented the 17th Annual FSCPM Symposium and Awards Banquet. Appropriately, and in keeping with our CPM mission and objectives, this year’s theme was that of “Team Building.” After much negotiation and bargaining, the Embassy Suites Hotel Orlando-North was selected as our 2007 symposium “destination resort.” I would be remiss if I did not, at this point, thank the team which made this event, within an extremely compressed time frame, possible. Karl Goodwin and his committee of John Taylor, Jerry McCarthy, and Meloney Lung took ownership of this project and proceeded “full steam ahead.” As always, assisting in the navigation through these rough seas were our perennial FSCPM first mates, Jan Wright and Dottie Gough. These are certainly not the only members of this crew deserving of recognition, and it is only due to space limitations that a host of others are not mentioned. Thanks to all!

The Embassy Suites accommodations, food, and service were excellent. Far surpassing our anticipated numbers, approximately 57 “CPMers” took time out of their daily work schedules and personal lives to attend this year’s Symposium.

The speakers at this year’s Symposium were outstanding, with many of our old friends volunteering their time to contribute their wisdom to our group.

Lori VanNess, Director of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, Human Resources, and VanNess Consulting, CEO, enthusiastically presented an insightful discourse on “How to Turn Dysfunctional Groups into Dynamic Teams.” Chris Warren, Deputy Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer of the Florida “Less Stressway” Turnpike Enterprise, made a presentation appropriately entitled “Teaching Elephants to Fly.” In my humble opinion, this was one of the most revealing and educational Power Point presentations I have had the privilege of viewing. Chris effortlessly condensed the history of the 460 mile Florida Turnpike System and it’s evolution to that of private sector management and organizational management style. The mission, vision and goals were well illustrated through discussion of the continuous training and education of the organization’s 4,600 employees, and its commensurately high customer service rating. We certainly hope to see Chris at our future Symposiums.

Valerie Tutor next addressed the most pertinent subject of “Team Relationships: Creativity, Communication and Contribution.” I am surprised Valerie had any voice left after this enthusiastic and instructive interactive presentation. Through the tool “Icebreaker Squares,” we now know how to find out if someone has a “tattoo they are willing to show” or “can sing the first two lines of the Gilligan’s Island theme song.”

Bob Preziosi, of the NSU Huizenga School for CPM, invited us to join him in a review of the “buy in” of the various “stages” of leader and member behaviors and the corollary “energy build up” as they apply to member behaviors and priority issues. Academic and enlightening, Bob’s contributions provided much food for thought.

Last but not least was our own Teresa Wood, CPA, CPM. Teresa promoted an intellectually challenging interactive exercise entitled, “There is no I in TEAM, but there are I’s in TEAMBUILDING.” Through the distribution of T-Shirts and other tools appropriate for this exercise, Teresa explored the challenge of teambuilding through an analysis ranging from “purpose,” in this case a “community project” to “membership mix,” culminating in the inevitable “finale” of closure. Teresa did indeed encounter challenges to “TEAMBUILDING” in this exercise with some participants refusing to don the participant identification shirts and others so impressed and proud of what they accomplished in their 45 minutes of fame, that they were reluctant to part with them!

The Symposium excitement didn’t end with Teresa! The day ended with our annual FSCPM “Box Lunch” Board Meeting. Here we had an opportunity to discuss issues, concerns, and suggested remedies Vis a Vis with our fellow FSCPM brethren. A new Board of Directors was sworn in, new Committee Chairpersons appointed, Bob Daymon, “Acting Point of Contact” for the coalescing new “Tampa Chapter,” discussed his progress and obstacles, culminating in a report by our tireless 2009 AACPM Chairperson, Ms. Joanne Robertson. Joanne discussed the ongoing review of three potential AACPM Conference meeting locations (Tampa, Orlando, and Miami) as well as her conversations with Shawn Baldwin of FCPM regarding the possibility of coordinating the 2009 Level VIII graduation with that of the 2009 AACPM Conference. In ending, Joanne once again reminded me to remind our fellow CPM readers that she continues to accept applications for the 2009 AACPM Conference Committee and may be reached at joanner@leetc.com. Joanne assured me that all inquiries will most gratefully be accepted and acknowledged!

© Copyright 2007, American Association of Certified Public Managers®