LAMA Lines

LAMA President’s Corner

President's Message - December 2007

Reflections on 2007 and Plans for 2008

As 2007 quickly ends and 2008 is on the horizon, I thought it would be a good time to do brief recap on what we have done this year and what we have planned for 2008.

Thanks to the generous support of many members and ILAM Participants, the LAMA Foundation awarded Two First-Year ILAM Scholarships in 2007 to Maria Lang and Michelle Gillepsie. The Foundation Board (Board members are: Carmine Bianco, Kyrsten Koebach, Howard Mosher, Kim Scamardo and Leo Yanas) has expanded the scholarship opportunities to include other management and professional development opportunities for our members in need of financial assistance.

Our Puerto Rico Meeting was a success and we filled Certified Manager Preparatory II Course. In 2008, we will be expanding our annual meeting from 2 days to 2-1/2 days based on member feedback. The meeting will include a professional array of speakers, holding a Certified Manager Preparatory III Course and starting a new tradition of a golf outing. We also brought back the tradition of tours both in Puerto Rico and in Charlotte, with plans to continue the tradition in Portland during our annual meeting.

The LAMA Review is undergoing change that started in 2007 and will continue into 2008. The Publications Committee are adding new features, providing more organizational information and replacing the journal cover, while still remaining focused on Human Resources Management.

LAMA Representatives (Chris Hart, Cindy Buckmaster, Bill Sherrier, Lisa Brown and Liz Pelletier) to the CMAR Committee have been working on addressing our involvement with the CMAR Program through a number of different focus areas, including a new AALAS Learning Library CMAR Course.

We purchased a full booth display and we are increasing the number of meetings that LAMA will be attending in 2008. Joe Krajicek and Lisa Brown are in the process of linking our involvement with AALAS branches and encouraging more individuals to get involved with LAMA.

At the Charlotte AALAS Meeting, LAMA participated in the Tech Fun Fair allowing newcomers to the field to learn more about LAMA. Also, in Charlotte, we successfully implemented a written agreement with ASLAP regarding the annual social event on the Saturday Night of the AALAS Meeting.

In terms of our organizational structure, Laura Mistretta, Joe Krajicek, Lisa Brown and Cammie Symonowicz, our Board of Directors are now acting as liaisons to our committees to improve communications and assist the committee members with their work. In 2008, we will have our new leaders elected by electronic balloting by the membership.

Thanks for the dedicated work of Rich Farris, our webmaster, the LAMA Website continues to improve, be updated more frequently and offer more useful features for our membership.

Steve Baker lead the survey project on-line for the membership and an impressive 358 members participated in the survey. The data collected has been used to make changes within LAMA and we will continue to be analyzed as we look for ways to improve the organization. In 2008, we are planning to generate a Strategic Plan for determining our goals and objectives for the next five years through involvement of our members.

Regarding membership, we are ending the year with over 860 members, an all time record high number. This year, we had 24 ATA Corporate Partners, another record high number for us. Thank you for your membership and support. Thanks to generosity of Harlan, the LAMA Membership Directory returned and our members overwhelming provided their feedback on how important their membership records are to them. As a result, we have implemented a membership contact correction form and looking at other ways to improve our ability to maintain up-to-date records. In April, 2008, a new membership directory will be available, thanks to the generosity of Harlan. In May, 2008, we will start a new program with awarding graduating ILAM Participants with free half year membership in LAMA.

If you have any ideas or suggestions or want to take an active role in LAMA, please feel free to contact me at anytime.

Happy Holidays!
Kim
Kimberly.Edgar@Dartmouth.edu

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