Appears to be the meme - and not strictly RM related, either, so I have
added OT for off-topic to the subject line. Those of you who don't want to
read messages directly related to the practice of RIM, feel free to either
delete unread or set up a rule to do it for you. 

 

Now then, let me accept the baton for introductions. My name is Jesse
Wilkins, I live in Denver or your local airport, and I have been a member of
the list since about early 2003 I believe. I did a search of the list
archives (http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html) and my first post is
dated July 2003. I haven't been quite as active recently as in the past but
I look forward to resuming my posting frequency as my current project wraps
up. 

 

My background includes a seven-year stint in the United States Marine Corps,
where I served as a cryptologic linguist (Spanish) and drill instructor, and
a BA in political science. I formally entered the industry in 1997 when I
joined Information Management Research (IMR) as a software tester for their
flagship Alchemy document archival and retrieval software. I worked there
for seven years, with stints in software quality assurance, technical
support, and training, and informal roles in sales support and professional
services. As their product developed more functionality, including document
imaging, document management, records management, and email management, I
developed more experience with those tools and processes and decided to make
a career of it. I joined AIIM in September 2001 and ARMA in October 2001 and
went to my first conference for each in 2002. I also served as a subject
matter expert for the CompTIA Certified Document Imaging Architech program
in 2002 as it was updated to the CDIA+, and as a subject matter expert for
The Association for Work Process Improvement (TAWPI)'s Information Capture
Professional certification. (I can admit this now because the CDIA+ program
has since been updated, meaning the questions I wrote are no longer on the
exam, and I no longer teach the ICP program). 

 

I left IMR shortly before their acquisition by Captaris in 2004 to join
IMERGE Consulting, with a focus on imaging and electronic records
management. During my time there I led our efforts to become training
partners with AIIM for the Electronic Records Management and Enterprise
Content Management Certificate Program and delivered a number of public and
private workshops for both programs. 

 

I spent almost three years at IMERGE before accepting a position this year
as a Principal Consultant with Access Sciences, a Houston-based information
management consulting firm. It's a fantastic company, doing a lot of really
interesting work in a number of areas. </end of sales pitch>

 

Since joining AIIM and ARMA in 2001, I have been heavily involved in both
organizations. I have served in a chapter leadership position for the AIIM
Rocky Mountain Chapter my entire tenure including two stints as President. I
served on the AIIM International Board of Directors from 2004-2005 and am
currently in my first year as a Director for ARMA International. I have also
served on a number of working committees, program committees, and standards
efforts for both associations. 

 

I have spoken at every AIIM and ARMA conference since 2003 and am thankful
to have been selected again this year for AIIM 2008 in Boston and ARMA 2008
in Las Vegas. I also speak at about 20 chapters every year including a
couple of ARMA Spring Seminars; I will unfortunately miss Patrick's session
with Chris Ryan of SpringCM next week because I will be en route to my own
presentation for ARMA Tulsa and AIIM Oklahoma on the 16th. 

 

So that's my life story. My industry involvement keeps me off the streets
and has introduced me to some absolutely brilliant people. I cannot
recommend strongly enough the benefits you can get from getting involved -
and it doesn't have to be on the ARMA Board of Directors. Every chapter can
use another set of hands, every committee needs help, and even sharing with
the list can help you, your peers, and the industry and profession as a
whole. 

 

I tend to post most often in three ways. First, I do a lot of
"horizon-scanning" and when I find things I think are either interesting or
important to this community I post links to them. For example, I have posted
links to all the Common Craft videos - "Blogs in Plain English", etc.
Second, too often there is a post to the list along the lines of "IT doesn't
understand RIM because they're too focused on tech and don't know anything
about business". Not everyone posts that, or agrees with it, but it happens
often enough. And when it does, I generally take the original post, replace
"IT" with "records manager", repost it to the list, and am fascinated by how
many people are offended by it. So you'll see a lot of those. Finally, I am
very interested in professional development, certificates, certifications,
training, etc. and am always willing to join an argument about the merits of
various programs - particularly when they are slagged by people who haven't
gone through them. (And of course some of you think the same of me when I
address the CRM program from my non-CRM point of view. )

 

Finally, I echo Patrick's comment and blog post - don't expect the list to
do your work for you. And Peter often responds to posts soliciting easy
solutions with a Google search term, for example
http://www.google.com/search?q=email+archiving+solution. I have always found
the list to be happy to help, but do your basic due diligence first. 

 

And Lurkers are HAPPILY welcomed; so are vendors and consultants, with the
caveat that you have to play nicely. That means don't spam the list with
your services. When I was teaching classes I announced them to the list but
I always tried to both minimize my spamming and sales-pitch-ness and season
it with something RIM-related. Hugh Smith at Firelock is an excellent
example of how vendors can provide exceptional value to the list; Peter's an
evil vendor as well but you wouldn't be able to tell from his posts. 

 

Anyway, enough for a Saturday - I have deadlines to meet for client work as
well as speaker stuff to get done. I am always happy to help - and if you
want help offline feel free to contact me directly at [log in to unmask] 

 

Cheers to all on a gorgeous Colorado morning, 

 

Jesse Wilkins

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