• As the storm hit, emergency responders, medical personnel and neighbors helped those in trouble.
• During the power outage and water shortage, the spirit of community pride rose up where neighbors banded together for communal feeding, shared generator usage and a general feeling of brotherhood.
• After the storm, diligent workers and volunteers swung into action cutting trees, fixing power lines, nailing roofs, feeding the legions of people in need, helping neighbors and directing traffic.
• Picking up the pieces, we gathered our grit and worked together to find a sense of normalcy.

I truly hope and trust that each reader has been able to find that point of normalcy in their lives, family, work and community. I am also certain that each of us has stories to share. It is my hope that that the words from our lips are those of Thanksgiving, Gratitude and Pride.

• Thankful to have survived the storm and slow recovery.
• Grateful for the blessings we continue to encounter.
• Pride in the Spirit of Tenacity that propels us onward.

In the next issue, I will highlight the ARMA International Conference and EXPO 2008, “from the eye of your chapter president”. I have attended every international conference since 1996, except one; and I have drawn a wealth of educational content and professional networking from each one. Our Chapter will be recognized as the international winner in the Very Large Chapter category for the “new membership contest” held in mid 2008.

Our ARMA Pride will continue to manifest itself as we press on with Professionalism; show Responsibility one for another; and act with Integrity and Determination that in spite of setbacks, we will Excel.

ARMA Houston Chapter

2008-2009 Board of Directors

ARMA PRIDE!

Tad is currently the Director of Corporate Records and Information with CenterPoint Energy, a position he began on May 1, 2008. Prior positions have been Records Manager for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and Director of Records and Information Services with the Lower Colorado River Authority in Austin. Each of these positions involved the development and implementation of enterprise-wide Records and Information Management Programs for multi-faceted utility organizations. He began his career in local government records as Records Manager for the City of Irving and then on to Director of Records Services with Tarrant County (Fort Worth).

In his time, Tad has experienced a variety of cities. “I was born at a very early age. Actually, I was a resident of the North Carolina Children’s Home and adopted into a wonderful family at the age of nine months. Having their hands full with a very outgoing and rambunctious child, my parents decided one was enough and I was raised as an only child. Until the age of 11, we lived in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains in western North Carolina. We then moved cross country to Albuquerque, New Mexico. Talk about a real cultural change! I graduated high school longer than I care to remember in Albuquerque. I received a BA in History and English from the University of New Mexico. I went on to receive a MA in History and Archival Administration from the University of Texas at Arlington and a MS in Library Science from the University of North Texas. I am currently an Adjunct Instructor in the Graduate School of Information at the University of Texas at Austin.

Tad joined ARMA as a member of the Fort Worth Chapter in 1984. Aside from some of the most outstanding educational and professional networking experiences imaginable, Tad says that he has met so many wonderful, caring people throughout his ARMA life. Some of his best friends are from ARMA. There have been so many people that he has relied upon throughout the years.

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To this day, he says that he is still able to call upon numerous folks throughout ARMA for advice, ideas and encouragement. No matter what the problem or issue has been in his professional life, he knew that he was not alone. All of the people that he is proud to have as ARMA friends have always been more than willing to share their experiences, knowledge and unique skills.

In addition to his work at CenterPoint and in ARMA, Tad keeps a very busy schedule. “I do seem to keep busy and out of trouble for the most part. Thanks to the many great stories told by my maternal grandmother, I became interested in history and family genealogy at a very early age. I was very fortunate to be able to conduct a lengthy oral history with her before she passed away at age 100 in 1991. She related detailed stories she heard from HER grandparents of life and war in the South during the Civil War. I am currently using that oral history to write a memoir of her life….complete with her fabulous recipes handed down through generations! In addition, I have a small eBay store I manage where I sell assorted china and houseware replacement items. When I moved to Houston, I kept my 103 year old home in the Austin area. Old homes are very demanding and expensive mistresses, so I go back to Austin a couple times a month to visit the old girl and continue ongoing projects.”

Tad has a wonderful companion to go home to at the end of each day. “I can’t leave out “Carlos”, my bi-lingual dog”, Tad says. “I adopted him from South Texas when he was 6 months old and he had never heard much English until he came to live with me…Spanish is his native tongue. (I named him “Carlos” because of this little fact!). Now that he is three, he is very comfortable with English, but still gets super excited when he hears Spanish!”

You will see Tad at most monthly Chapter meetings these days. So, take time to introduce yourself to this wonderful addition to our Chapter!

Financials

Submitted by: Beverly McMahan, CRM, Houston Chapter

 
ARMA Houston Board of Director Leadership News

Strategic Planning

Submitted by: Louis Buzby, CRM, Houston Chapter

The ARMA International Board of Directors is committed to providing leadership training to the volunteer region and chapter leaders as part of ARMA International’s Leadership Academy. Jim Dixon and I attended the “Strategic Planning: Good to Great” workshop at the 2008 ARMA International Conference at the Las Vegas Hilton Hotel.

This was just one in a series of workshops developed by Alliance Training and Consulting, Inc. and was facilitated by William Kay. Mr. Kay is an experienced consultant, seminar leader, speaker, and business owner with more than 35 years of experience in business and training development. His professional accomplishments include designing, developing and delivering multi-day business literacy workshops for Fortune 500 companies and multi-day accelerated learning training workshops for corporate trainers.

Workshop participants learned that strategic planning is a continuously changing process that helps businesses and not-for-profit organizations make long-term improvements and go from being a good organization to a great one. Strategic planning looks at the “Big Picture” in relation to the organization’s vision, mission and goals and forms the basis for developing an annual operating plan and budget. The strategic plan considers three important long-term questions:

• What is our vision and mission?
• What are our values and goals?
• What does the future look like and how must we change to succeed?

A Vision is a concise statement that clearly describes what the organization wants to be. ARMA International’s vision is to be recognized as the leading worldwide authority and advocate on RIM (Records and Information Management), and a vital resource for RIM professionals.

The Mission is a statement of purpose, why the organization exists. ARMA International’s mission is to educate, advocate, and provide resources that enable professionals to manage information as a critical element of organizational operation and governance.

Values are beliefs and behaviors that are essential to the organizations existence. ARMA has a set of values that govern its decisions:

• Put members first in everything we do
• Make transparent decisions and take transparent actions
• Maintain an information-sharing ethic and culture
• Make education excellence foremost in programming
• Be vigilant about diversity and inclusiveness

Goals and objectives are what the organization wants to accomplish. Goals must be SMART - specific, measurable, attainable, realistic and time-bound. ARMA’s goals include development of programs in line with its vision and actions that accomplish its mission. These goals include:

• Establish information governance standards and best practices
• Advance the profession
• Provide value to members

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ARMA International recognizes how rapidly the world is changing and, to move from being good to great, it must identify and prioritize strategic initiatives. ARMA has identified issues that affect its members, the RIM profession and the way all organizations manage records and information. They also recognize that there are threats and opportunities associated with these issues. Threats are uncontrollable situations that can potentially keep an organization from growing or reaching its goals. Challenges arise that provide organizations opportunities to leverages strengths to create growth and attain its goals. ARMA recognizes its responsibility to develop strategies that focus on the most important challenges and opportunities.

ARMA International’s Strategic Radar Screen has set three goals to strategically respond to the following identified issues.

Goal 1: Establish information governance standards and best practices

• The ability to establish and maintain effective RIM programs requires the timely development of relevant standards and guidelines that establish best practices, policies, and procedures for managing records and information.
• The failure of organizations to embrace the full scope of records and information management practices results in processes that fail to effectively support information access and governance.

Goal 2: Advance the profession

• Changing business realities, including evolving technologies and growing litigation requirements, have created a need for RIM education that meets the needs of diverse audiences.
• The aging demographic of the RIM Profession creates an imperative that we attract younger generations to choose RIM as a recognized and viable career path.

Goal 3: Provide value to members

• The lack of effective collaboration between ARMA International and its chapters hinders chapter success and, ultimately, that of the association.
• ARMA International’s dependence on one or two revenue streams exposed the association to a high level of risk.

The workshop was valuable to me as an ARMA Board Member and leader but I also learned information that I can take back to my company. This workshop itself was representative of ARMA’s vision, mission and values. As ARMA members we all have opportunities to attend numerous educational events provided by both ARMA International and ARMA Houston. Through volunteering and active participation in the organization a whole new level of learning can be attained.

As an ARMA Houston leader, I encourage all members to join a committee, become a committee manger and get elected to the board. The education and experience you receive through active participation helps develop your career and increases your value to the organization, to your employer and to the community as a whole.

 

Lucky Number Search Each issue of the ARMAdilla features an ARMA Houston member's number. All you need to do is read through the issue and find your member number to become a lucky winner! Winners should contact Nancy Ramirez @ nancy.ramirez@exxonmobil.com to claim their prize. Good luck!

Harris County’s Hidden Treasure

Submitted by: Judy Vasek Sitton, CRM, Houston Chapter

The following quote by Arthur G. Doughty, 1924, is courtesy of the Archivists of the Houston Area, http://houstonarchivists.org/ :

“Each day that passes is a triumph for an archive, for each day some mere scrap of paper permits justice to prevail. As a rule, the papers of a given generation are seldom required after their reception and primary use; but when all personal touch with that period has ceased, then these records assume a startling importance, for they replace hands that have vanished and lips that are sealed.”

Tucked away in downtown Houston on a floor of the Criminal Justice System building, past security scanners, through a video monitor protected door, and under the protective watch of a security guard is a treasure room. And, oh what treasure it holds -- records, maps, manuscripts, and oral histories of the government and the citizens of Harris County dating as far back as the 1840’s – and it’s an amazing place to visit.

Step through its doors (or its website http://www.hctx.net/recordsmanagement/Archives ) as a researcher and history past and present is revealed through the diverse collections of county-created or donated materials. Of particular interest to me were the contents of a time capsule that included 1951 street maps of Houston; the scrapbooks of newspaper clippings compiled by politician E. A. “Squatty” Lyons; and the huge county ledger books from the early 1900s that measure over eight feet when opened; but there is much, much more. Modern day history is revealed through artifacts such as the 2005 Katrina Message Boards created by evacuees from New Orleans in the Houston Astrodome and through records documenting the creation of Mercer Arboretum and the Harris County Toll Road Authority.

It might surprise you to know that the Harris County Archives, under the direction of archivist Sarah Canby Jackson, CA, is the first county archives in Texas to be created specifically as a part of a Records Management program. It might also surprise you to find out how recently the collection was all brought together. After Paul Scott, CRM, CA, Harris County Records Manager doggedly pursued this vision for seventeen years and the archives team spent another two years readying the space and assembling the collection, the archives officially opened to researchers in April 2005.

Aside from the historical aspect, from a purely Records Management perspective, the archive and the archivists also provide a wealth of information.  

Have you ever wondered what type of shelving to use for records of enduring value?
Answer: Enamel baked steel works best to limit acid transfer to records that can occur even through boxes.

What about those acid-free boxes and supplies: does everything historical need to utilize them?
Answer: In an optimal world, maybe, but in the practical world of limited funding, maybe not.

Do you know how to recognize and prevent the spread of red rot?
Answer: If you’ve got it (maybe on the binding of some old ledgers), be sure to separate and contain those records. Red rot is contagious.

In our daily work lives, we may never need the depth of knowledge or resources that an archivist has to employ to preserve artifacts that truly merit a permanent retention time but each of us is in the preservation business, at least for a limited time.

If you have an interest in the history of Harris County, need a better understanding of archival practices as they relate to the records in your custody, or want to commiserate with someone who really understands budget constraints, the Harris County Archives is a treasure you should check out.

And now for the question for this issue of the ARMAdilla:
“Is AIIM’s ECM (Enterprise Content Management) course beneficial for ARMA members and how would it benefit me in my job?”

The following are comments from AIIM:
The AIIM ECM Certificate Program will give you a good understanding of how to manage your information assets across your organization. Notice how I said “information assets” and not just “records” or “documents”. Think of ECM as the foundation to a house. You need a solid foundation to support all the other components. Upon completion of the ECM course you will have a better understanding of the strategies, methods and tools to capture, manage, store, preserve and deliver information in support of your business processes. You will also look at your organization with “new eyes” once you are armed with this knowledge. You will be able to see clearer the areas that need improvement, and be able to explain why this improvement is necessary.

The following are comments from folks that have attended the course:

• “A very good learning program to get me familiar with ECM”
• “Never really understood ECM until I took the course”
• “Are very much technology oriented, are well prepared and well taught”
• “Offers very solid training in specific areas of technology”
• “Can help any individual in any circumstance within their organization”
• “Provides up-to-date, real world knowledge that can be put to practical use immediately”
• “Impressed with the delivery, professionalism and structure of the training”

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For my opinion: I’m sure you know what I think about education. One of the reasons I’ve been involved with the Alice L. Haltom Educational Fund for such a long time is that the main purpose of the organization is to provide scholarships for those wanting to further their education (OK, I had to get a plug in for ALHEF). Another reason is that Alice was a very dear friend of mine. Education is one of the most important things you can do for your career, whether it’s courses at a major university or community college, professional conferences/seminars/meetings and other networking opportunities, specific programs offered by ARMA, AIIM and other professional organizations in the records and information management field, professional webinars, and reading the information available to us through our professional organizations and experts in the industry.

Therefore, I do think the ECM course would be beneficial for anyone in the records and information management field because it will: 1) provide a better understanding of our business and 2) provide additional tools to deal with the day to day challenges that we face.

Please send any questions you may have to Allan Heath at allan.heath1@kbr.com or call him at 713-753-4577.

In closing, I have a question for you. Please think back to Saturday morning, 9-13-08, at 2:10 AM, when Hurricane Ike made landfall in Galveston Texas. How many of you, at that very moment, were thinking about the safety of yours and/or your company’s records?

Test Your Professional Knowledge

Submitted by: Lee Pendergraft, CRM, Houston Chapter

(Lee is the ICRM Liaison for the ARMA Houston Chapter)

Organizations manage their Goals and Objectives through different means. Which of the choices below are correct?

Some of the most common means that Organizations manage Goals and Objectives are:

1. Executive Directives
2. Strategic Plans
3. Mission Statements
4. Policies and Procedures
5. Project Management
6. All of the above

The answer to this question will be provided in a companion article in the next ARMAdilla newsletter!

Note: This new series of Test Your Professional Knowledge questions and companion articles is a supplement to the Ask The CRM column authored by Allan Heath, CRM. It is also designed to help CRM candidates prepare for certification and a fun and challenging way for others, including existing CRM’s, to stay informed and up-to-date with the driving principles of the Records and Information Management profession.

For additional information about the ICRM, please contact Lee Pendergraft, CRM at 281-640-1162 or Lpendergraft@Cadence-Group.com.

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ARMA Houston Chapter Receives KUDOS From SW Region!

Submitted by: Jim Dixon, Houston Chapter

Take PRIDE ARMA Houston members because the ARMA Houston Chapter received "Kudos" from the SW Region office and Headquarters for their great recruiting efforts!

In an announcement forwarded to Region offices by Thomas D. Killam, Director of Member Services for ARMA International, Congratulations were extended to the following chapters for winning the new member contest for the period of April 1 through July 31, 2008:

Small Chapter
Jacksonville Chapter
 
Medium Chapter
Northern New Mexico Chapter

Large Chapter
Greater Kansas City Chapter
 
Very Larger Chapter
Houston Chapter

Each chapter will soon be receiving $1,000 as the prize for recruiting the most new members during this time period!

These chapters were also recognized at the Sunday Chapter and Region leadership day at Conference!

Congrats ARMA Houston members for making our Chapter so proud!

Monthly Chapter Meeting Highlights

Submitted by: Robin Thompson, Houston Chapter

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Please come out and support our vendor members who make so much possible for us! Without them, our luncheon costs would increase significantly, as would the cost to attend our Spring conference and other events. Let’s show them how much we appreciate what they give back to ARMA Houston!

Happy Holidays to you from our Programs and Workshops Committee!

Judy Vasek Sitton, CRM, VP Chapter Meetings
Robin Thompson, Programs and Workshops Committee Manager
Kathleen Fabra, S&H Committee Co-Manager Manager
Regina Corey, S&H Committee Co-Manager, Programs and Workshops Committee Member
Rhonda Boehm, S&H Committee Member
Allan Heath, CRM, S&H Committee Member

ARMA Houston Chapter Records Management Professionals Attend 2009 ARMA International Conference in Las Vegas

Submitted By: Beverly McMahan, CRM, Houston Chapter

Of the 3000 plus attendees at the 53rd Annual ARMA International Conference held in Las Vegas, Nevada last week, over 100 were from the Houston area. For persons involved in managing records and information, this was the place to go to become educated, inspired and connected!

The Pre-Conference sessions were a great way to get the Conference started. The session on Fundamental Records and Information Management taught by Dr. Mark Langemo, CRM, FAI was a venue for new or inexperienced RIM persons to learn about basic RIM Practices. The sessions that dealt with Advanced Electronic Records issues provided some good information on how to manage this media successfully using basic records management principles.  

ARMA International Awards Banquet

Submitted by: J. Victor Lamas, Houston Chapter

The ARMA Houston Chapter congratulates all of the following recipients that received awards at the ARMA International Conference in Las Vegas!

Chapter of the Year
Small - Greater Chattanooga
Medium - Triangle Raleigh
Large - Puget Sound
Very Large - Calgary
Honorable Mention - Austin

Chapter Website of the Year
Small - Greater Chattanooga
Medium - Gaithersburg Chapter
Large - Orange County
Very Large - Dallas
Honorable Mention - SW Ontario

Region Website of the Year
Pacific Region

Chapter Newsletter of the Year
Small - Fox Valley Green Bay
Medium - Western Michigan
Large - Liberty Bell Chapter of Philadelphia
Very Large - Greater Los Angeles
Honorable Mention - Houston

Special Project Award
Dallas Chapter
Liberty Bell Chapter of Philadelphia

Britt Literary Award
John J. Isaza

Company of Fellows
Cheryl Pederson (Fellow Number 41)

Distinguished Service Award
Giselle Crawford
David McDermott

Please note that the ARMA Houston Chapter received Honorable Mention for Newsletter of the Year! Congratulations to the ARMAdilla Newsletter Committee for demonstrating what PRIDE is all about in Houston!

Professional, Corporate & Marketing
Outreach Highlights

Submitted by: George A. Ramirez, Houston Chapter

The Professional, Corporate & Marketing Outreach Committee has been very busy scheduling activities since July. Some of the Community Outreach activities, coordinated by Nancy Ramirez, CRM, that have been planned to date include:

“Help A Child” School Supply Drive (August-October ’08)
This initiative provided assistance to the Houston Area Women's Center (HAWC). The organization is dedicated to supporting survivors of domestic and sexual violence, as well as providing prevention education to the community. The women who live at this facility have school age children and they needed help with basic school supplies. The ARMA Houston Chapter came through with flying colors and donated over 600 school supply items, including crayons, notebooks, rulers, pencils, pens, binders, backpacks, scissors, glue, etc to HAWC. Thank you ARMA Houston for demonstrating PRIDE throughout our community! For more information about HAWC organization, please visit http://www.hawc.org.

5th Annual Golf Tournament (November ’08)
The 5th Annual Golf Tournament was held on November 3rd. Many Sponsors
registered early and got recognized on the Golf Tournament Leader Board. The Leader Board is a traditional Score Keeping System that allows golfers and attendees to view the leading golf player’s scores throughout the golf tournament.

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The golf player on top of the leader board is the one with the best score during the normal four day event. Over the course of the game, the players or leaders change on the Leader Board because players step up their game or improve their score to be on the top. Thus, the idea of the Leader Board for recognizing the Top Sponsor(s) for the Golf Tournament. This year, the top sponsor on our Leader Board was IBM (Titanium Sponsor)! We had many returning sponsors and introduced a new Associate Sponsorship for those individuals or companies who did not plan to participate, but wanted to help with expenses. Regardless of the sponsorship level, all sponsors were recognized at ARMA monthly luncheon meetings, on the Leader Board, and are being acknowledged in this issue of the ARMAdilla Newsletter!

Overall, the 5th Annual Golf Tournament was a BIG success! We had beautiful weather and everyone enjoyed the beauty of the exclusive Northgate Country Club golf course. Golfers received a goody bag filled with many vendor and individual donated items (see Golf Tournament Appreciation List in this issue) and enjoyed lunch donated by PacoTech. Once the golfers headed out, beer and beverage carts were loaded up and on headed out to make sure that our golfers stayed “happy” throughout their golf experience!

After the Golf Tournament, all participants enjoyed dinner at the Awards Banquet which included recognition of the top three “Flights” and drawings for the grand prize and numerous great door prizes! The way that the “Flights” system works is if you have 15 teams of 4 players, each Flight consists of five teams. So, the 1st place winner of each Flight who posted the best score of that Flight is declared the winner of that Flight. And, the reason that we handle the golf tournament this way is because it is the most fair and balanced ways to give all golfers and teams an opportunity to place in a competitive golf tournament. Once the winners were identified, they had an opportunity to select any item from all of the door prizes being offered! This also goes over very well with golfers instead of giving them a trophy!

At the end of the day, we realized that there was not an empty chair in the entire banquet hall. Just about every one stayed for the entire event and enjoyed themselves --- many taking home multiple door prizes! So, next time you hear about the ARMA Houston Golf Tournament, be sure you plan to participate. You will never know what it is like until you experience it (see photos)!

“Santas Helper’s” Holiday Gifts Campaign (Nov - Dec ’08)
This initiative will start this month and will run through the Holiday Social in December. It will provide assistance to The Covenant House, a human service organization that provides emergency shelter, crisis intervention, transitional housing and community-based services to homeless, runaway and "at-risk" youths under the age of 21. The facility houses these struggling young adults and their children (often times small infants) and assists them with getting back on their feet, getting a job, etc. So, please help us help The Covenant House provide these youth in our community a special Christmas! It’s feels great to be a Santa’s Helper! For more information about this organization: http://www.covenanthousetx.org.

Holiday Social (December ’08)
The ARMA Houston Holiday Social Event, coordinated by Gayle Page, will take place on Saturday, December 6 at Gayle’s home, 1735 Nina Lee this year. It is just around the corner and we want everyone to participate!
There will be plenty of food and merriment for everyone. This is an event you will not want to miss as we plan to have the traditional Ornament Exchange (if you have never heard Jim Dixon run this game, you are in for a special treat)! We also plan to have other games and a special treat for everyone to take home. The event will be casual, but you can dress in your favorite Holiday attire even if it isn’t casual! Just come and join us for a festive event --- nothing is required other than registering online at www.armahouston.org.

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In Memoriam

 

  Former Chapter Member, Shirley Clay, passed away in October after a lengthy battle with cancer.

 Shirley, employed in Records Management for many years at J.M. Huber Corporation, was a dedicated professional and a delight to know.

Please join us in extending deepest sympathy to her family, friends, and co-workers.