Doug Allen wrote:
>In the case in question here, it has become clear that the trade group
wishes only to engage so that they can use those offering education as
though they had approved of that "blue milk"..... merely because they
spoke with us.

I can't tell you how many times in the past decades that IT in
particular has "talked to us", only to find out later they were using
our discussion as an "endorsement" of a particular initiative. On the
one hand, I'm gratified that they feel our endorsement is valuable. On
the other hand, I don't particularly like being used in this manner (and
get particularly incensed when I find one of my staff used this way). 

When I find out about such manipulation, I have always made it a point
to publicly and rather loudly point out that we had not endorsed
anything - in fact, in a number of instances we had actually strongly
opposed what was happening. In one instance, I invited myself to
training, budget, and management sessions regarding a particular
technology that was being promoted as the county's "electronic records
management solution", just so I could stand up at each meeting and state
to all that Records did not, in fact, endorse the proposed solution as
it had virtually no identifiable records management capabilities, and
would politely ask that the IT folks involved please stop promoting the
solution as such. At the time, the IT folks involved would roll their
eyes, politely dismiss me - "ha ha, isn't Dwight funny" - and move on.
Guess what, the attendees at those meetings now remember us as it turns
out our analysis was right - it usually is. Because of instances like
this, which have happened repeatedly over the years, we now get
regularly invited to the table, and actually have developed a very
positive relationship with our IT partners.

I guess my point is that if some group is willfully misrepresenting what
ARMA or RIM in general has stated, it needs to be publicly corrected,
preferably in a venue accessible to the same target audience.

Dwight Wallis, CRM
Records Administrator
Multnomah County Fleet, Records, Electronics, Distribution and Stores
(FREDS)
1620 S.E. 190th Avenue
Portland, OR 97233
Phone: (503)988-3741
Fax: (503)988-3754
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