President’s Message Continued…

All of the Board Members are very anxious to undertake the work for 2007. To that end, the Board has a very aggressive agenda planned for its upcoming meeting in Arizona, including continuing work on the Academy’s Strategic Business Plan. Discussion and consideration will take place regarding immediate and ongoing Academy issues, as well as consideration of new initiatives. A joint Meeting with the National CPM Consortium’s Executive Board is also scheduled.

The tag line on my E-Mail messages is a quote from Lord Baden Powell, the founder of the Boy Scouts. The message is “Train Them. Trust Them. Let Them Lead.” My first exposure to being a leader came in the Scouting Program, and I firmly believe Baden Powell had it absolutely correct. I adopted his concept as a cornerstone of my leadership philosophy and will practice it while I serve as your President. To that end, the expanded involvement of Academy Members on the AACPM Leadership Team initiated last year will continue this year, offering more members the opportunity to get to know and work with other CPM colleagues and lead on Academy issues and business. The Board will be approving the Chairs and Members of these Committees at their meeting next week and confirmation letters will go out shortly thereafter.

Elsewhere in this Newsletter, you will find articles describing various projects, events, and initiatives now underway. One goal for this year is to update and expand the Resource Catalog originally developed and distributed to each Member Society in 2002. We have a number of new Member Societies join the Academy since then and Becky Bryant will chair the Committee to oversee the updating and distribution of new Resource Catalogs. The CPM Consortium continues to grow and new programs are being established. These new programs offer the opportunity for Academy growth as they graduate their first classes and new CPM Societies are founded. The Mentoring Committee will be working with those new programs (and all the existing Societies) during this upcoming year. This year marks a new partnership with The Public Manager magazine. (See related article by Harry Featherstone, Publisher)  As Academy Members, you will have access to electronic copies of the magazine. This new partnership resulted in large part due to the efforts by Danny Weiss, CPM, and Past President of the DC CPM Society. My thanks to Danny and the others involved in making this happen and adding a new Academy Member Benefit!

Another major factor in my decision to run for Academy President was the unique opportunity to serve as President when the Wisconsin Society hosts the 19th Annual AACPM Professional Development Conference in Madison next September. You saw the enthusiasm and excitement of the Wisconsin CPM’s in Louisville as we promoted the Conference and encouraged everyone to attend. If you have not already done so, you need to make your hotel reservations and complete your Conference Registration now. We began reserving hotel rooms during the Conference in Louisville last September and more than 60% of the block of rooms is already taken. Act now!! The Online Conference Registration System is now posted on the Academy Web Site and you can make your hotel reservations from there as well. I can guarantee you that the Wisconsin CPM’s are doing everything they can to make the 2007 Conference the best and most memorable yet!

© Copyright 2007, American Association of Certified Public Managers®