PRESIDENT'S REPORT
How are your New Year’s resolutions going? Are you still working on them or have you given up or just modified them a little. Experts say New Year’s resolutions are, by in large, not adhered to or in most part given up and many are greatly modified.
We at the chapter are sticking to our promises. We have delivered a new web site, are working on an exciting and informative PDD with Jim Boeheim as keynote, and also have some great chapter meetings planned. We continue to grow and return value to our membership!
PMI Rochester is one of the gems in the PMI branding. We continue to grow while other chapters are losing members. The Rochester Chapter continues to provide educational opportunities and professional growth via our many planned events. PMI Rochester is reaching out to the business, education and government communities to make them aware of the services our members can perform. We are working to educate them on who we are and how the project management profession can assist them to be successful in their day-to- day and planning activities.
I have an “elevator” speech that I am constantly updating, on our Chapter, and I could use your input in developing an even more applicable speech. A speech that all our members can use; especially when they are discussing their profession with their management and peers.
Please assist me in this endeavor by submitting ideas for your elevator speech. If we adopt your speech, there will be an appropriate gift for you.
I look forward to the upcoming Chapter meetings and the PDD which will be held this year in down town Rochester at the Rochester Plaza. Register early for this event as we were sold out early last year. Jim Boehim promises to be a real treat to our members, and his topic
is right on with our profession. Our other key note speaker is Lisa DiTullio, who is back by popular demand, and this PDD will provide you with some real “take away”. Register now at www.pmirochester.org, to assure you have a place reserved for this PDD.
Finally, our elections are coming up shortly so please consider the candidates, and exercise your right to vote. We grow because you support our volunteers. Consider being a volunteer in our chapter and get a hold of a board member and let them know of your interest.
Work on the one resolution that you can keep--getting more involved with your Chapter.
Al Gubiotti PMP
President PMI Rochester
MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
Greetings from your Executive Vice President. I’ve said it several times but I’d like to thank you again for entrusting me in my abilities to serve you as a leader in this Chapter. This past year has been very exciting for me. Driving value into your Chapter membership is of utmost importance to me and I am hoping that I’ve lived up to your expectations.
As part of the responsibility given to me is the opportunity to focus on two very important areas … chapter meetings and the website experience.
First, consider the monthly chapter meetings. Your feedback was unanimous in that we should consider different venues convenient to various areas of our community as well a variation in pricing options. As a result of your feedback we moved the chapter meetings from our standard offering of Locust Hill to other venues around the community (e.g., Champion Hills Golf Course, the RIT Inn & Conference Center, Excellus, Nixon-Peabody and the Burgundy Basin). Our Ithaca branch has also made their meetings more accessible by scheduling them in the early evening and hosting them in downtown Ithaca.
We have also provided a variety of pricing options that were not available in the past. We have offered chapter meetings from $10 to $25 per meeting. We have also offered a discount for Chapter Members thus increasing the value you experience with your PMI Rochester membership. This has been successful in a fiscally-responsible manner.
This strategy has yielded positive feedback and has shown a growth in attendance at this year’s chapter meetings. Rochester’s attendance has ranged from 47-74 attendees this year. Compare that to an average of 35 members in the past and this is very impressive. The Ithaca branch consistently has attendance of 15-30. The hope is that we continue this pattern in the future.
Second, we successfully rolled out our new website on February 12, 2012. I am very impressed and appreciative of the volunteers who made this a reality. Again, this was an opportunity for us, your leadership, to listen and respond to your voice.
There are benefits on many levels. We are able to deliver a clean, easy-to-use experience for the membership while also allowing the Board to streamline communications, registration and member management. It’s a win-win on many levels.
The rollout, for the most part, has been problem-free. However we did have a couple of key issues we’ve had to work through. First, because we now pull member information directly from PMI Global it is requiring some members to update their profiles at www.pmi.org. In some ways this is a plus as it allows us to improve the data we use. Second, we have decided to bring back to PayPal. This caused a brief hiccup in registration for the February Chapter Meeting. On behalf of your Board I appreciate your patience with us while we addressed and resolved these issues.
We also have an engaged set of volunteers who will be supporting your website. A Roles-And-
Responsibility matrix is being developed and we will solicit for volunteers to become editors to ensure the content on our website is professional, accurate and remains current. If you have thoughts and ideas regarding the website (e.g., features, general comments, etc) please contact me.
In closing I want to again thank you for allowing me to serve you in this capacity. I look forward to continuing to drive value into your membership now and into the future. I welcome your thoughts and ideas.
Brian Gregory
Executive Vice President
PMI Rochester
MORE NEWS
PMI Rochester’s Longest Member
It was only recently that we have found some wonderful statistics about our membership of PMI Rochester. With Joyce Ellis becoming our new VP of Membership, she has embraced gathering metrics and acknowledging our members. And in October, Joyce has found that one of our members has a very long standing relationship with our chapter. In fact, he helped create PMI Rochester.
I would like to present Mark Graham. Mark has been a PMP since 1985. With many of us having a 5 or 6 digit PMP number, Mark’s number is 0048! I had the opportunity to discuss Mark’s longevity with PMI and PMI Rochester and below is the interview that we had.
Suzy: When did you get your PMP and what was the PMP test like?
Mark: I received my PMP in 1985. It was the second time the exam was offered by PMI. Studying for this exam was not easy because at the time there existed very little in specific materials to help prepare for the test. Also, unlike today where the exam is 4 hours, the exam in 1985 was a full day test from 8 AM to 5 PM. The test was all paper based and I travelled to Washington, DC to take the exam on a Saturday.
Suzy: Who did you work for when you first acquired your PMP and who do you work for now?
Mark: At the time of achieving my PMP, I was working for Niagara Mohawk (which is now called National Grid since they were acquired 10-15 years ago). However, I left Niagara Mohawk in 1986 to join RG&E, which is now owned by Iberdrola, based in Bilbao, Spain.
Suzy: Were you a founding member of the chapter?
Mark: Yes, I started as a founding officer (VP) of the Syracuse chapter of PMI. During that time, both Rochester and Syracuse groups shared a lot of information about project management, and put together a number of common meetings. Shortly after that both groups became chapters.
Suzy: Can you tell me about your family?
Mark: I have been happily married for 32 years. My wife is a college professor at St. John Fisher College in the Consumer Behavior and Marketing areas. While I was working at Niagara Mohawk, she completed her PhD at Syracuse University. We have 3 children who are all grown. Our oldest daughter completed her PhD in Natural Resources at the University of New Hampshire and just started this past fall as an Assistant Professor at Babson College in Boston. Her husband is working on his PhD at Clark University. Our second daughter is working on her PhD at Tufts University in Biology. And our youngest daughter has mechanical and aeronautical engineering degrees from Syracuse University (BS/MS). She is an engineer with General Electric working on the design and performance analysis of jet engines at a GE facility near Boston.
Suzy: What are you doing now and what interests do you have outside of work and project management?
Mark: I am the Director of Facilities Management at Iberdrola USA, which means I have responsibility for all facilities services and maintenance as well as capital improvement projects at all buildings (150+) in New York (New York State Electric and Gas and Rochester Gas and Electric) and in Maine at Central Maine Power Company. Our Facilities Management Group is based in Rochester with facilities spread across New York State from Lake Erie to Plattsburg to near New York City as well as across much of central and southern Maine.
For fun, we enjoy spending time with family and friends and we like to travel. We have traveled all throughout Europe (hiked in the Alps and along the fjords of Norway), Australia (snorkeled with sharks in the Great Barrier Reef) and areas around Shanghai and Beijing, China (hiked on a portion of the Great Wall). We own a great cottage about an hour from Rochester, and I try to waterski at least a few times a week in the summer.
Suzy: What do you remember most about the early days of the PMI Rochester Chapter?
Mark: I remember a number of people early in their career with a passion for project management, a desire to educate others regarding best practices in project management, and great enthusiasm around creating chapters to serve Syracuse and Rochester.
Suzy: Were you ever on the chapter board and if you did, what office did you hold?
Mark: I was on the board twice and held two different offices. I was the VP of Membership and the VP of Finance for two separate terms. I really enjoyed both roles.
Suzy: Did you ever think that PMI would grow to over 300K members and that our chapter has over 630 members?
Mark: I never imagined that PMI would grow to be so big. It was a tremendous achievement for the current and past chapter leaders, and other members, that the Rochester Chapter has grown so much.
Suzy: Do you have any final thoughts you would like to share on your PMI career?
Mark: PMI is a great organization. Clearly, based on the growth the organization has seen, many people are interested in project management and looking to continuously improve their skills and performance. I pursued my PMP early in my career, and that credential opened many doors for me. Thank you.
I want to thank Mark for the opportunity to discuss this great achievement of being a member for so long and to have the same passion as a PMP. If you get a chance to meet Mark, say “hello” and hear about the early PMI Rochester and Syracuse days.
Suzy Ahrens, VP Communications, Marketing and Social Media PMI Rochester
December 2012
WELCOME NEW MEMBERS
December 2012
Michelle Venezia
Mr. Victor Sanchez
Susan Jasak
Mr. Kevin R Hill, PMP
January 2013
Keith Howland, PMP
Linda LaFrance
Mr. David Richard Werner, PMP
Mr. Michael P Cramer
Mr. Dwight Overmoyer
Ms. Kathleen Gansemer, PMP
Charles Holden, PMP
Mr. Steven A Olesen, PMP
Andrew Colaruotolo
Peter Ewanechko
John Guarrera
William Hills
Ms. Kimberly B. Ingram, PMP
Ravi Kasarla
Mr. Timothy Keller
Kim Martin
Tom Race
Mike Sizer, PMP
Total Members Total PMP's
641 474
