AITP Region 5

March 2003 Newsletter

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Ken Adams, CDP
2003-2004 Region 5 President

It is the middle of March already. It is time to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day and root for your favorite college basketball team to go to the NCAA Tournament. It should be fun for Region 5 basketball fans. Wisconsin lucked out a last second win over my Fighting Illini to win the Big Ten Championship. The Big Ten Tournament starts today with Wisconsin the number 1 seed and Illinois the number two seed. Hopefully Sunday we will see these two fine teams play for the tournament championship and see which is the better team on a neutral floor.

Spring Region 5 Board Meeting

The Racine/Kenosha chapter has volunteered to host the Region 5 Spring Board meeting. It is scheduled for May 16, 2003. The Racine/Kenosha chapter board is currently working out the details. Tentative plans are that their local chapter monthly meeting will be the evening of May 15 and the Region 5 Board meeting will be the morning of May 16. A Leadership workshop will be conducted the afternoon of May 16. Make your plans now to attend this meeting. Details of the location and hotel rates etc. will be sent to all chapter liaisons and chapter presidents when details are finalized.

Region Assistance for Student Chapters to Attend NCC

Gary Keller, Bill Reaugh, and I have had a busy time this past month or so in getting applications from student chapters throughout the region for financial assistance to attend the National Collegiate Conference. We ended up getting applications from eleven student chapters with registrations for 82 students to participate in 51 competitions. Bill and Gary are hard a work this week with the difficult job of having to choose the most deserving seven of the eleven chapters to receive the $300 assistance to attend the conference. I want to thank all of the student chapters that applied. Region 5 will be well represented at the NCC and I wish all of the competitors the best. I will give a report in the next newsletter on the results of the chapters at the NCC.

Webcast of National AITP Conference Tracks

Has your chapter signed up for the Web cast yet? I have been working with my chapter, Capitol, to determine if we can host a web cast. We think we will be able to do it and provide an excellent educational opportunity for the IT population in the Springfield area. Our biggest concern was to find a place with the facilities to be able to handle it. We have contacted the University of Illinois-Springfield and they have the facilities and the UIS Student chapter is willing to co-host the event. There is a lot of enthusiasm within the Capitol Chapter Board and the UIS Student Chapter to pull this off. I seriously recommend that every Region 5 chapter explore the possibility of hosting this web cast. This is an excellent opportunity for your chapter to attract the IT professionals in your area to an event with the possibility of getting new members. It is an excellent opportunity to create some enthusiasm within your chapter, which will do wonders for your retention. It is an excellent opportunity to make some money for your chapter. The cost for the web cast is only $150 if you sign up before May 31. The place and facilities can possibly be gotten for free from some place like a local college. You can charge a reasonable registration fee in the range of $50.00 for three days of education. If you can get 50 people to register, that’s $2500.00.

I talked to Chris Leja, who is the co-chair of the conference, yesterday. She informed me that the conference is shaping up nicely. They are keeping their chapter web site updated with the latest information on the conference. Check the St. Louis Chapter website www.AITPStLouis.org for details.

AITP Region 5/Association Conference

Attendance at a web cast of the conference should only be done if you can’t attend in person. I know that all of the Region 5 Chapter Liaisons will be attending the St. Louis conference in person. And I recommend that everyone attend in person if at all possible. My personal opinion is that attendance at the national conference is the most rewarding experiences of being an AITP member. I have attended probably 15 national conferences in my many years as an AITP member. The network of friends I have built though these conferences are invaluable. When people ask me what do I get for my $90.00 a year dues in AITP. I tell them, if you become involved in AITP and attend the region and national conferences, the network of IT professionals you build is worth more than you can measure. I have friends in the IT field from all over the country. The things I learned from informal discussions at conferences were invaluable to my career.

The AITP Region5/National conference is one of the biggest educational bargains anywhere. Where can you attend a three-day conference with excellent sessions in a variety of topics, for a $245.00 registration fee? Please promote this conference at your place of employment. Without the support of the AITP members of Region 5 the National AITP conference may become a thing of the past and I for one would hate to see this happen.

AITP National Elections

Nita Adams is the chairperson of the AITP Nominating Committee this year. I am the chair for the Central District Nominating Committee. We both are working hard to build our respective committees. Mike Welch from Capitol Chapter has agreed to serve on the Central District and I am trying to get a volunteer from Wisconsin. The Central District, which is Region 5 and Region 9, will be electing an Association Director to a two-year term to replace Rick Puinti whose term expires. Minimum requirements for all candidates include membership in good standing for two consecutive years, minimum of one year’s experience as a chapter or region officer, and e-mail capability. Association officer candidates must have served at least one year on a Region or Association Board of Directors.

Candidates can declare for only one position. Each candidate will be expected to submit the following material directly to HQ (Nomination Committee):

  1. Nomination Data Sheet and vision statement, submitted electronically to AITP_HQ@aitp.org. This document will be available on the AITP web site. The vision statement is not to exceed 450 words. Any additional words will be truncated.
  2. 5x7 black and white photo, letter of recommendation from appropriate chapter/region, and letter of support from employer. This material may be submitted by surface mail to HQ, Attn: Nomination Committee, to include all three elements (photo and two letters) in a single mailing.

Both components (items 1 and 2 above) must be received not later than June 06, 2003. The Nomination Data Sheet, vision statement and photo will be placed in the Information Executive (August/September issue) and on the AITP web site after verification by the appropriate Nominating Committee. This package will be published exactly as submitted by the candidate.

Get this information to all Region 5 members. This is an opportunity for all present and past chapter officers to step up and make a difference at the AITP Association level.

AITP Web Portal

Mark Gilfand, last years Region 5 President and a current Central District Association Director from Twin City Chapter, is the chairman of the committee in charge of the development of the AITP Web Portal. Be sure and read Mark’s article in the January issue of the Information Executive on this subject. The latest word is that the Portal will be in acceptance testing March 14 – March 23. As I recall from my days as a project manager, production status can’t be far behind. We all are looking forward to this important new addition to AITP. No one is looking more forward to it’s completion; however than Mark.

AITP Operating Procedures Committee

Karen Smith is chair of the AITP Operating Procedures Committee. This committee is reviewing and updating all operating procedures for the Association. The result of this committee’s work is a great benefit to all chapters. All of the operating procedures are available at AITP.org. I recommend that all chapters go to this area of the AITP web site and look at the information available. Listed below is a summary of the latest work of the committee.

Board Actions Requested

Approval of new Policy Statements:

Approval of revised Bylaws:

Approval of new Operating Procedures including COBs:

Approval of revised Operating Procedures including COBs:

Briefing Reports

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