There is a lot of work in and responsibility in running a large organization like the Mass Bay Chapter, but there are many rewards. Sometimes that means we get to travel to meet PMI volunteers from around the world.  Events such as the PMI Region 3 meeting held in Montreal, Canada this year, and the annual leadership meeting-held in Seattle, Washington  in October are good examples.  Both of these events allow you to network with others holding the same office, meet with chapters of similar size, learn better ways to govern, and share your chapter’s successes and lessons learned. 
 
Networking abounds, and an important sidebar is the volume of information you receive from the other chapters after hours.  We often have the same concerns such as member retention, large growth over the past few years, meeting the needs of our diverse membership, etc..-  these events are perfect opportunities to share and learn from each other.
 
As I started to write this article early in the summer, I set it aside and thought it would be much more interesting if you could hear from some of the attendees and what it meant to them, rather than just from me.  I had the wonderful opportunity to sit and talk with April Cox,  VP Marketing, from Ocean State Chapter (Rhode Island).  Since this is my home state, we immediately connected and began talking about “Little Rhody’s” landmarks, the beaches and specialties of living in the smallest state: clam-cakes, Del’s frozen lemonade, the Big Blue Bug, and the concept that everything is soooooo far away…..especially if it is across the border to Connecticut or Massachusetts.  Of course, our chat quickly moved on to PMI related topics and the work that April is currently doing to bring all the NE chapters together by improving communication among all NE chapters with the NE Collaborative.  Since she wrote a wonderful article upon her return, I am including excerpts of it so you have a flavor of what the Region 3 event is like.
 
 
From April Cox:
Project Management Institute (PMI) chapter leaders from all over New England and Canada gathered together in the beautiful city of Montreal on June 2 and 3 for the sixth annual PMI Region 3 meeting where the theme was ‘Regional Leadership’. The meeting was attended by 43 chapter leaders from 16 of the 19 regional PMI chapters represented - equal to about 16,000 members – 55% of which are PMPs.
 
The event was coordinated by many volunteers lead by Project Manager, Cindy Bell and our new Region 3 mentor, Judy Vincent.  What a fabulous job they did down to every detail – even managing to stay on schedule for the entire event. The hotel selected, Hotel Godin, was beautifully decorated in contemporary style and the service provided to our group was second to none. The team building exercises and networking allowed the group to really get to know one another. The hospitality suite was quite a draw, providing libations and plenty of great conversation into the wee hours of the morning!
 

View from the window of the hospitality suite
 
Day one of the event focused on a round table discussion of Region 3 business. There was a consensus that the board of directors should be a strategic group with a need to be more removed from day to day running of the chapter and more focused on the direction of the chapter strategically. Many chapters have appointed or elected Directors to run the day to day, increasing the size of the board to provide that distinction. Some large chapters, having gone through the process commented that boards can become too large, which introduces its own new set of challenges.
 
I now have a real appreciation of the work being done in our region on behalf of our chapters and membership and am leaving with a commitment to working more closely with Region3, attending the monthly teleconference calls and doing my part to help at the regional level. I’ll take this time to encourage anyone who has not been involved in chapter leadership to take the step and volunteer. The people you’ll meet and relationships you build will be priceless. You will increase your management experience and learn what it takes to run an association. The soft skills you learn will also apply to everything you do. For those of you who are volunteering already – I encourage you to attend the next Region 3 meeting. The excitement it will generate is well worth the two days investment in time – all the while earning PDUs and building new relationships. Thank you to Ocean State PMI for the opportunity to attend – we had so much fun!
 

Diana Bishop, VP of Finance and Administration, and Past-President Martin Hatzadorian take a break at the Region 3 meeting.

From Diana Bishop: 

"The leadership conference reminds us that we are part of an large and varied organization and that our contributions as chapter leaders are valued.  The three hours we spent with the Chief Operating Officer of PMI Global, Mark Langley, provided valuable insight into the scope, challenges and opportunities for PMI and for us as project managers.  Plus the networking was great!"
 
From Rita Read:
 
“It was great seeing Region 3 chapter leaders that I have come to know over our six years of annual Region 3 meetings in Montreal.  I have seen the Region 3 Summit continue to evolve each year, and this year was the largest, with about 45 attendees.  A project manager was designated who organized speakers, created binders, and initiated sponsors to help fund the meeting.  The meeting lasted 2 full days, expanded from last year.  There was overall Region 3 administration discussion in the morning, as well as talks by each of the sponsors, and a review/tutorial of our SharePoint web site.  Late morning there was a good update on PMI's Community Transformation Project, which is a major program ongoing for PMI.  In the afternoon, PMI's COO, Mark Langley spoke, and imparted much informative material.  Saturday morning was dedicated to 4 hours of virtual leadership training by an outside trainer. “
 
 
I hope this gives you an idea of what these conferences are like and how much valuable information we learn to better govern the Mass Bay Chapter.  The attendees this year from our chapter were, Rita Read, Diana Bishop, Martin Hatzadourian, Marie Gunnerson, and myself.