I'm guessing I may get some flak for this, but my answer is (c)
"whatever RIMs do internationally is irrelevant to you." While in a
general, theoretical sense, I understand that reaching out
internationally is a good thing and probably necessary for the growth of
the RIM profession, my company is small and only operates in the county
where we reside -- so we don't even deal with other states. We are
privately held, and have very little regulation, so even issues like SOX
are not relevant to my day-to-day work. My company hired me because they
needed a dedicated person to organize their records and keep their
filing up. Having secretaries, who often work for two or more people, do
the filing in their "spare time" wasn't working for them.

I became involved in ARMA because I didn't want to re-invent the wheel.
I knew that there had to be a body of knowledge in place about how to do
this stuff -- and I was right. Beyond the basics, however, my interest
in RIM issues are usually strictly educational -- to call myself a RIM
professional, I should know these things even though I don't presently
use much of it. I'm still trying to drag my company (kicking and
screaming) into the 21st century!

I once worked for a very small company -- 2 employees and perhaps 10
independent contractors. The owner of this company, a non-practicing
attorney, literally threw all his accounting records into a big box
(about the size that a 27" TV might come in). When I chided him for not
using a proper filing system, he explained it this way: It is not
cost-effective to spend an hour a day (365 hours a year) filing papers
that he has to keep for tax reasons, but has little likelihood of
actually having to be found again. If he does need to find them, he'll
spend the five or even ten hours it takes. In the long-run, he's saved
355 hours. I'm sure, while not articulated, this is how many small
businesses operate.

I'm not sure of the actual statistic, but I recall that some large
percentage of US businesses are considered "mom-and-pop" or small. Much
of RIM practice deals with publicly-held, highly regulated or
multi-national businesses or government or quasi-government agencies.
What is necessary for them is just plain over-kill for a company with
less than a 100 employees. How many ARMA members are in my boat -- or
should I say dinghy? You may not be getting the feedback you think you
should be getting, because many more than you realize are bobbing along
with me.

Nolene Sherman
Records Manager
CJ Segerstrom & Sons * South Coast Plaza
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