Long time, no post

I guess I've been a baaaaaad blogger, letting this sit idle for such a long time. Not that I haven't had a lot to say, just been saying it elsewhere and trying to figure out if/how to focus my energies to one source.

So much to say, where to begin? Okay... the ARMA Conference in Las Vegas. I was finally allowed to attend, but the notice came so late the airfare for a 90 minute flight ended up being nearly $400- thankfully I had a round trip coupon, but WHAT a waste of a good R/T coupon that was destined to get me to New Orleans =(

The conference was well attended, 4600 total, about half that many full paid attendees. Lots of sessions both on the paid and free side (those in the exhibit hall from vendors; some with the assistance of RIMs or techxperts). Lots of sessions on e-mail management and compliance issues, many on gaining management support for RIM programs, marketing RIM, and implementing ERMS tools. (Nope, you'll NEVER hear them referred to as 'solutions' here) It sure would be nice if the handouts for the expo floor sessions were ALSO made available to attendees!

Efforts were made to relate the sessions to domains and levels called out in the ARMA RIM Competencies which I stand firmly behind as a great document to provide guidance for where you are and where you may want to go in your RIM career.... obligatory disclaimer here, as I worked to help develop this document for 3+ well spent long years. Unfortunately, I think the efforts fell a bit short of their goals.

Talking to numerous attendees, some of them first-timers, many felt the sessions had the following problems:

1) the description did not accurately match the content
2) the ratings were higher than the content presented
3) the domains were misstated- content didn't stay on track for domains

A number of attendees told me that after the first day, they adjusted their plans and went to higher rated sessions, and still didn't feel they were getting what they expected in all cases. But, as I explained to them, this is a work in progress and it should improve over the coming year... and I STRONGLY SUGGESTED to them that they provide some of their feedback to ARMAs EDC and education department. If no one tells them, nothing will change.

I'm torn between the old "tracks" and the new "competency based" arrangement of sessions- one thing I'd like to see greater consideration given to is adjusting things so sessions of a common nature and differing levels are placed against each other in the same time slots, instead of making attendees choose betweens similar level sessions in multiple domains. Fortunately, almost ALL of the sessions handouts were posted in advance this time, so you did get an opportunity to review them before attending and make some choices of where to spend your time. Too bad a lot of first time attendees weren't aware of this option.

Biggest complaint? MISERABLE DISTANCES to be traveled between the hotel and the conference center, and between the general session and the expo floor/sessions. For those of us who are mobility impaired, it was a real pain (lterally) to walk these distances.

Biggest compliment? Plenty of people in the hall to tell you where things were if you were having trouble finding them.

Biggest disappointment? ARMA is STILL not doing a good job of marketing the Poster Sessions. Having delivered on every year since Long Beach (except this year) many attendees still don't know what they are supposed to be or intended to offer, and where to find them. This year they were in a dimly lit hallway- probably the best layout thus far was in San Antonio, but even then, no one seemed to know what they were.

Major suggestion? Re-instate the prior year's practice of ensuring EVERY first time attendee get a ribbon, and seriously encourage all Leadership and "old-timers" to directly approach and engage these people. I personally tried to approach every one I saw and ask how their experience was going and if they needed help navigating the landscape. Most of them were grateful and said that no one else had spoken to them. =(

Given the non-trivial cost of attending this annual event (registration, airfare, lodging, ground transportation, meals and incidentals) it would be nice to see more done to make the experience an overall win-win. Employers are becoming more reluctant to spend money sending employees to 4-5 day events unless they have an understanding of the take-aways and benefits of attendance. For members, the networking opportunities are excellent and the chance to catch up with friends and colleagues makes it a worthwhile experience. Employers however, are looking for hard benefits to their bottom line... and while you can come away with benchmarking information and suggestions for improvements to practices, sometimes it's hard to show that direct cost-to-benefit ratio.