Welcome,

March 2008 President’s Corner

So long Winter, hello Spring! Time to prepare lawns, plant flowerbeds, wipe down the barbecue grill and dust off the golf clubs! We began the year with our annual Member Appreciation event at Tonic, a Times Square establishment. Members and non-members turned out for an evening of networking in a relaxed, social environment. Thanks to KPMG for their support and sponsorship of this event; kudos to Darryl Harris and the staff at Tonic for hosting this event.

In February, we returned to the Flatotel for our Educational Workshop. With over 135 attendees, it was our largest turnout in several years. Our keynote speaker was former United States Magistrate Ronald J. Hedges, published expert on E-discovery, digital discovery and complex case management. The remaining sessions covered topics ranging from “Electronic Records Management” to “Warehouse Wars”. Our sponsors included Iron Mountain, JP Morgan Chase, GRM, Belfor, Nova, Infocurrent, Recommind, KPMG, Complinet, & Redwallet. Thanks to Frank LaSorsa, Lauren Barnes, Melissa Dederer, George Ruthauser, Carol Trapano and Darryl Harris for all their hard work putting together this event. Thank you to all of our presenters and to all who attended.

In March, we welcomed Julie Gable to the Harvard Club as our guest speaker. In addition to being President of her company, Gable Consulting LLC, Ms. Gable is also the Associate Executive Editor of ARMA’s Information Management Journal. She delivered a detailed discussion on Strategic Decisions in E-Discovery. Galina Datskovsky also spoke and provided insight on ARMA International’s Strategic Planning Initiative. Thank you to CA for sponsoring this meeting. Our first in a series of CRM Workshops hosted by Frank LaSorsa, CRM, was held at the offices Kelly Drye & Warren and over 20 members attended. Good luck to all CRM candidates.

Upcoming events include ARMA International presents “E-Discovery and Beyond: Managing Your Electronic Data Risk” at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Times Square (March 31-April 1). Our next Chapter meeting is April 16^th; Jim Booth will discuss “Networking – Expanding Your Business Opportunities”. GRM Information Management Service is the sponsor for this meeting. On April 17^th, another CRM Workshop will be held at Kelly Drye & Warren LLP; this session will cover Parts 3-5 of the exam.

Also in April, you will receive an email asking you to approve the Chapter By-Laws, (which will be posted on the Chapter website). We will also start accepting nominations for the following Board positions: President, Vice President/President-Elect, Vice President/Secretary, Vice President/Treasurer and Vice President/Membership. Please contact me if you are interested in serving on the board and would like more information on the roles and responsibilities for any of the above-mentioned positions. This is a great opportunity to get involved and chart the future course of the chapter, so please volunteer! It’s a great way to give back to the chapter and profession. Election ballots will be sent out May 1^st via e-mail and the results will be announced at the May meeting.

In May, Don Oppenheimer will be our guest speaker. Don will discuss successful Collaboration strategies; so don’t miss this important presentation. The sponsors for this meeting are Naremco and Metafile. The May meeting will also close out the educational year for the Chapter. The June meeting is cancelled in order to provide our members the opportunity to attend the Region Conference.

The 2008 Northeast Region Educational and Leadership Development Conference will be held in beautiful Saratoga Springs, NY on June 7-10. Special events are being planned and early registration will be ending soon, so register now at www.armanortheast.org to take advantage of the discounted rates.

In the coming weeks we will be holding elections, so if you are interested in joining, or would like to nominate someone for the Board of Directors of the MetroNYC Chapter, please contact me at Marcel.Rodriguez@nbcuni.com.

The Chapter By-Laws were recently revised and now must be ratified by the Membership, so check your mailboxes for more information and cast your vote.

In Memoriam

Carol Burgess, former Records Manager at Kramer Levin passed away in March. Carol was a long-standing member of ARMA and the Legal Records Managers Guild and I had the honor of working with her early on in my career. Our thoughts and prayers are with the Burgess family. Information on sending condolences to the Burgess family can be found on our website.

Get Well Soon

Our best wishes for a speedy recover go out to Thomas Wilds, CRM, who recently suffered a stroke and is recuperating. Mr. Wilds, President of Thomas Wilds Associates, Inc., a management-consulting firm and his wife were frequent guests at our chapter meetings.

Regards,

Marcel Rodriguez

Chapter President