SIMposium 2010 October 3-5
Atlanta, GA
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About SIM
Established in 1968, the Society for Information Management (SIM) is the premier network for IT leaders. SIM is comprised of more than 3,600 members including CIOs, senior IT executives, prominent academicians, and foremost consultants. Through its 31 chapters, SIM provides resources and programs inspired by IT leaders for IT leaders that enable CIOs to further develop their leadership capabilities and those of the emerging leaders in their organizations. SIM provides the premiere collective voice to advocate policy and legislation on behalf of the IT profession.
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Have SIM Memphis News to Share for the Next Quarterly Newsletter?
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SIM MEMPHIS
Board of Directors
PRESIDENT
Dick Vandenberg
VICE-PRESIDENT
Rick San Roman
SECRETARY/TREASURER
John Lewis
MEMBERSHIP CO-CHAIRS
Susan Caldwell
John Oglesby
PROGRAM CHAIR
Jana Markowitz
COMMUNITY LIAISON CHAIR
Dennis Norton
MARKETING CHAIR
Christi Daigre
STRATEGY CHAIR
Steve Schaefgen
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT
Rick Pride
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| Newsletter
Contributors
Jana Branham
Susan Caldwell
Ed Charbonnet
Rick Pride
Steve Schaefgen
Judy Simon
Donnie Steward
Dick Vandenberg
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February 4, 2010
Tamara Payne- FedEx
iRise Success Story
Date to be Announced
Ted Raynor - Attorney with Mediator Burch, Porter & Johnson
Legal aspects of IT
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Twenty Aught One Zero is a Nice Round Number
by Dick Vandenberg
Already, I've put the wrong year on two documents. I know everyone does this. At least I hope so. I can't be the only one who forgets what year it is, can I?
Believe me, if I could forget 2009, I would. Like everyone, my investments shrank, my home dropped in value, and businesses stopped expanding.
But SIM Memphis, on the other hand, had a very good year.
Strategy Series
Steve Schaefgen steered our chapter to a successful Strategy Series with speakers from FedEx (Dr. Gene Huang, Mark Columbo, and David Zanca), ACH (Ed Charbonnet and John Oglesby), several CIO retained search firms, IBM's CIO, SIM's Regional Leadership Forum (Bob Rouse), and Cary Booker from Stax Music Academy. And. the unflappable Jerry Luftman from Stevens Institute as our MC. Steve had help from many members, including Jana Branham, Susan Caldwell, Sue Conklin, Diane Coons, Christi Daigre, Mark Gillenson, Rebecca Jones, John Lewis, Jana Markowitz, John Oglesby, Tamara Payne, Mario Simmons and Donnie Steward.
Community Outreach
Our Outreach Committee is supported by the proceeds from the Strategy Series. In 2009, Jana Branham and her committee increased our value to our outreach organizations, including the University of Memphis, Gary Lasko Scholarship, our relationship with Stax Music Academy, the James Robinson Memorial Scholarship at LeMoyne-Owen College, and Teen Tech Camp, which was also the beneficiary of a donation of two new laptop computers from NET(net). In addition, Career Day at the University of Memphis was sponsored by SIM and several of our member companies.
Due to the efforts of the Strategy Series Committee and the Outreach Committee, we donated $20,000 to Stax Academy for the purchase of a new digital mixing board year before last. This is what SIM Memphis is about.
Due to the efforts of the Strategy Series Committee and the Outreach Committee, we donated $20,000 to Stax Academy for the purchase of a new digital mixing board year before last. Promoting our profession in our community is one of the things that makes SIM Memphis unique.
Jana had stellar help from Rick San Roman, Dennis Norton, Christi Daigre, Kevin Morgan, Judy Brown, Jana Markowitz, Judy Simon, Sue Conklin, Mario Simmons, John Oglesby, Ed Charbonnet, Jack Beglinger, and Rick Pride.
MIT
Those of us in (or about to be in) transition received skilled training from Susan Caldwell, Jana Markowitz, and Mary Jo Greil on networking, using LinkedIn, recruiters, marketing ourselves, behavioral interviews, and more. In addition, Rick Pride presented a thought provoking session on striking out on your own. Since then, we've had a reunion (with adult refreshments) and plan to keep in touch as each lands a new career.
Programs
Tony Rooney lined up excellent speakers for our meetings. We learned what "Bricks Without Straw" means and brainstormed for IT in a recession (Bob Johnson, CIO, Rhodes), heard about Negotiation Best Practices (Steve Zolman, President, NET(net)), realized that we need to know more about Social Networking in Corporate Environments and the Millennial Generation (Jana Markowitz, The Collective Mind and Jimmy Johnson, Small Planet Works), and were scared stiff by Emerging Trends in Cyber Security (Scott Aiugenbaum, FBI).
If that wasn't enough, we covered Agile Development Methodology - A FedEx Success Story (Celika Caldwell), heard the sobering news of The Lingering Effects of The Economic Crisis on IT Demand (Jaime Capella, Corporate Executive Board), watched a great game at the Redbirds, Laid the Foundation for Master Data Management (Michael Destein, Informatica), and weighed the risks and benefits of Cloud Computing (Richard Jones, The Burton Group). Then we topped it off with a wonderful holiday party.
Marketing
Telling all of these great stories, Diane Coons created the first newsletter for our chapter. Diane did a masterful job of writing and pulling stories from committee heads and added pictures from Dennis Norton and others to make an entertaining quarterly newsletter. Catch up on them on our web site under Newsletters. Diane also wrote press releases that were run in the Commercial Appeal and other local news outlets, implemented Constant Contact for meeting invitations, newsletters, and surveys, and established SIM Memphis on LinkedIn.
Thanks also to HP Chatham, Mary Jo Greil and Dennis Norton for serving on the Marketing Team and for additional support from Susan Caldwell and Jana Markowitz throughout the year.
Membership
Given the economic climate in early 2009 we expected that local firms might have budget problems and stop defraying the cost of professional organizations like SIM. And, frankly, that did happen. While we lost some members, we added some new faces as well. Thanks to Judy Simon and Susan Caldwell, we have 61 members. We also have a trove of material for marketing SIM to prospective members and conducting our chapter business.
Et Cetera
Behind the scenes, John Lewis handled the chapter finances for the umpteenth straight year in a professional and transparent manner. And Rick Pride went national, accepting responsibility for reworking the SIM vision, realigning the national committee, and representing the medium sized chapters interests to the national organization. With Rick's help, SIM International will refocus on the needs of the local chapters to serve us better.
Right now, the chapter board is working on the strategy and plans for 2010. We expect to attract new members with stimulating speakers and we are planning for extended outreach efforts and the return of the Strategy Series. With the help of the 2009 board, the 2010 board is planning for an outstanding year. Please pitch in where you can.
2010 should indeed be a nice round number. |
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2010 Strategy Series for Executives
The 2010 Strategy Series for Executives will be held in September 2010. Your Strategy Series committee members are working to finalize the date and location over their next few meetings. The 2010 event marks the second renewal since the chapter's extremely successful hosting of SIMposium in 2007, and continues a tradition that dates back to the earliest years of Memphis SIM.
As you can see from the list below, this year's committee is a strong one, but it still has room for you to join and make the 2010 edition the most successful yet.
Contact Steve Schaefgen at stephen@schaefgen.com to become part of the fun.
Program
Tony Rooney, chair
John Oglesby
Rick Brown
Jim Dutkosky
Sponsorship
Jana Branham, chair
Rick San Roman
Venue/Logistics
Steve Green, chair
Christi Daigre
Dennis Norton
Michael Bartz
Lloyd Brooks
Marketing/Communications
Rebecca Jones
Andy Fields |
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Introducing the 2010 SIM Memphis Board
 President - Dick Vandenberg
Dick returns for a second term as President. He is a senior IT leader with experience in distribution, manufacturing, and banking and was most recently CIO of Transaction Graphics. He has also served as VP, Systems Manager at First Tennessee, International Resource Manager at Hogan/CSC, and at Leader Federal and Orgill Brothers. He is currently in transition and is a participating partner with CIO Services Group. He has been a member of SIM since 2005 and served on the SIMposium 2007 program committee.
 Vice President - Rick San Roman
New to the board, Rick is the Manager of Business Systems for Buckeye Technologies, Inc. He holds a Chemical Engineering degree from the University of Florida and has been a SIM member since 2006. He served as co-organizer of the 2009 Teen Tech Camp.
 Treasurer - John Lewis
Our long-time Treasurer, John returns for another term. He is Administrator & CEO of the Semmes-Murphey Neurologic & Spine Institute and is a CPA with 20+ years experience in manufacturing, distribution and healthcare. He has served as an auditor at Price Waterhouse, controller at Burns Philp (Fleischmann's), and in a senior financial role at Jostens before advancing to IT Project Manager then IT Manager. He has been a member of SIM since 2002 and has served as Treasurer for 7 years.
 Strategy Series Chair - Steve Schaefgen
Steve returns as our Strategy Series Chair and plans to build on the successful 2009 event. He has over 30 years of experience in IT, finance, internal audit and risk management. He has served as a partner and chief internal auditor for a public accounting firm, CFO for a manufacturing and IT system integrator, and VP of Enterprise Risk Management for a Fortune 250 enterprise. He currently provides financial, technology and risk consulting services through Crossroads Solutions, and assists businesses and homeowners with property inventories through Invaluable, LLC. He has been a SIM member since 2003, and a member of the Board since 2008.
 Program Chair - Jana Markowitz
Jana returns to the board in 2010. She is a technology consulting and management development professional focused on helping IT organizations with staffing, training, professional development and relationship management issues. She spent 15 years at IBM as a systems engineer in technical support, systems implementation, project management, IT strategic planning, and electronic meeting facilitation and holds a B.S. in Computer Science and Mathematics from Vanderbilt University and an M.S. in Organizational Psychology from the University of Memphis. She joined SIM in 2001 and has been Program Chair (2001 -2005), a committee member for Teen Tech Camp, U of M Career Day and the Strategy Series. She also helped establish the University of Memphis MIS Scholarship in memory of SIM member Gary Lasko.
 Membership Co-Chair - Susan Caldwell
Susan returns to the board in 2010. She is a Sr. Partner with Corner Office Consultants, a professional services organization headquartered in Memphis and Atlanta which specializes in staffing solutions for the IT industry and in HR solutions for small businesses. She has 30 years experience in customer service-focused positions with Oracle, Data General/EMC, Compaq/HP, and Hilton Hotels. She holds a B.S, Business Administration, from Christian Brothers University, an A.S., Information Technology, from Tennessee State Technical Institute. She is a National Certified Personnel Consultant and a National Certified Temporary-Staffing Specialist, plus is a member of the Memphis Regional Chamber Technology Council, the Project Management Institute (PMI), the Data Management Association (DAMA), and the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM). She has been a SIM member since 1994 and has served on the board as Strategy Series Co-Chair, Vice President, President, and Membership Chair plus on multiple Strategy Series committees as well as the Co-Chair of the Host & Venue committee for SIMposium 2007.
 Membership Co-Chair - John Oglesby
John returns to the board in 2010. He is Director, IT Strategy and Governance at Buckman Laboratories, is founder and principal partner of the CIO Services Group, a Memphis-based IT consultancy, and has served in numerous senior leadership roles at ACH Foods, International Paper, First Tennessee Bank, First Union National Bank and several consultancies. He is the creator of the IT Technology Performance Rating™ system as well as PlanIT™, a highly successful IT strategic planning methodology. He holds an MBA and a bachelor's degree in Aerospace Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology plus currently serves on the University of Memphis MIS Department Advisory Council and as an Executive in Residence at the university. He helped found the SIM Memphis chapter in 1986 and has held all board positions multiple times, including three stints as President. He also helped found the summer Teen Tech Camp program, which SIM sponsors in conjunction with the Memphis Library, and has been active in the program's ongoing development. As SIM Memphis President, he led the chapter in electing to host SIMposium 2007 and served as program chair for the event.
 Community Outreach - Dennis Norton
New to the board, Dennis is the Manager of Business Services for Kraft Food Ingredients where he is responsible for business optimization of IT and facility investments. His areas of focus include SAP implementation, eCommerce, business continuity, business intelligence, IT outsourcing, and facility management. Prior to Kraft, Dennis served in technical leadership roles for Ernst & Young, First Tennessee Bank, and other accounting, commercial real estate, distribution and engineering companies. Dennis holds BSEE and MBA degrees from University of Memphis and has been a SIM member since 2002. He has served as a member of the SIMposium 2007 program committee, a co-organizer of the 2009 Teen Tech Camp, and is currently a member 2010 Strategy Series venue committee.
 Marketing- Christi Daigre
New to the board, Christi is Information Technology manager for International Paper's Commercial Printing business. She has worked for International Paper for 15 years, holding a variety of assignments including Enterprise reporting, SAP BW, SAP Basis, messaging, and Local Area Networking. In prior roles she has been responsible for IT management, business analysis and project management for the Pulp, Export Papers, and Commercial Printing businesses. She holds an MBA and a BA in Management Information Systems from the University of Memphis as well as certification as a PMP from the Project Management Institute. She is also a graduate of the SIM Regional Leadership Forum. She's been an active participant in the SIM Memphis chapter since 2007 and has helped to assist with various marketing and other chapter committee activities, including mostly recently as the liaison for the University of Memphis and Lemoyne Owen College endowed scholarship.
 Immediate Past President - Rick Pride
Rick continues in his current board role for another year. He is CEO of CIO Services Group, and is president and founder of ImpactIT. He has experience in healthcare, medical devices, pharmaceuticals, consumer products, government and non-profits. Prior to his consulting activities, Rick was CIO of Smith & Nephew. He has also served as VP & CIO of Maybelline, a divisional leader for Clairol, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and as an IT leader for Mead Johnson. He is a computer science graduate of Purdue University with an MBA from the University of Evansville. He serves on the Boards of the Mid-South American Red Cross, the Collierville Community Fund and the U of M MIS Advisory Council, and is an Executive-in-Residence for the MIS Department. He has been a member of SIM for over 15 years and currently serves on the Executive Board of SIM International as a Chapter Representative. He has served the Memphis chapter in a variety of roles including president, vice-president, program chair and strategy series chair.
You can find more detailed bios on all of these individuals, plus a wealth of information about SIM Memphis at www.simnet.org. Click on Chapters, Southeast, Memphis, and Chapter leaders. Or just follow the shortcut. |
IT Career Day 2009 at the University of Memphis
This annual event is produced to stimulate students' interest in a career in Information Technology and features speakers and interactive discussions about potential careers in the field of Information Technology in general and Information Technology Management.
According to Jana Branham, former SIM Memphis Community Outreach Chair, "This year's event was better than in years past because there were many more topics presented in shorter segments. The presentations were from practitioners and vendors and included how IT is used in public works, legal, hospitality and medical fields. Vendors also presented on how technology improves IT. Career Builder and a recruiter provided information on how to market yourself as well as some very interesting statistics about the job market and futures."
IT Career Day 2009 may have been held at the University of Memphis, but students from other universities and colleges were invited to attend. Dr. Judy Simon, former SIM Memphis Co-Membership Chair and University of Memphis professor shared, "Registrations encompassed a wide range of University of Memphis students in majors that included Business but also many other majors from other parts of the campus. In addition, students registered from all the other schools targeted which included Christian Brothers University, LeMoyne-Owen, Rhodes, and Southwest Tennessee Community College."
Jana added, "I was very proud of the line-up and delivery from the presenters. The attendance was the greatest we have had before and they stayed for the duration of speakers. Many students stayed around after the event to speak to speakers and exchange business cards."
When asked about IT Career Day, Master of Ceremonies, Ed Charbonnet, said, "One of my thoughts about Career day is how everyone is nervous in this economy but I recently read Ronald Reagan's book and he graduated from college in 1932 with 26% unemployment at that time. He was told by everyone to not even waste his time looking for a job. But he ignored that advice and found an entry level job broadcasting college football games on radio and built that into broadcasting baseball games".
Master of Ceremonies, Ed Charbonnet of ACH Food
Companies
Linda Peppers, VP and CTO MLGW, speaking about
Technology and the Business World
Kevin Morgan, Hilton Worldwide, moderating the panel
discussion with presenters and two students
Intersted in seeing some of the sessions? Podcasts are available!
SIM Memphis extends its sincere thanks to:
Kevin Morgan with Hilton Worldwide for his leadership in producing IT Career Day and for moderating the Panel Discussion with all the presenters and 2 students - Ask questions, get the straight scoop
Ed Charbonnet, Director, Applications Architecture for ACH Food, for serving as Master of Ceremonies
Presenters:
Linda Peppers, Vice President and CTO, Information Services for MLGW - Technology and the business world. How will it impact you? What direction is MLGW and the industry moving towards with IT?
Chad Pyle, National Accounts for Career Builder.com - As the global leader in human capital solutions, we help organizations target and attract their most important asset - their people. IT, the Right Industry (using CareerBuilder's extensive data to substantiate that IT is the career to pursue for job opportunity).
Susan Caldwell, Sr. Partner for Corner Office Consultants, Recruiter - "The Five Top Things You Can Do to Get a Job" - A Recruiter and IT Professional shares what you must do in order to get a job in this, or any economy.
Randy Wurth & James Knight, Cisco System - See how people are using the network to change everything from sports and entertainment to the workplace and beyond.
Ted Raynor, Burch, Porter & Johnson, PLLC - Legal and IT, what? Learn how legal issues have significant impact on Intellectual Property, eDiscovery, and the world of technology.
John Lewis, CEO for Semmes Murphy - Semmes-Murphy Neurologic & Spine Institute has been a leader in the development of technology and procedures that improve the quality of care for patients with neurological and spine disorders.
Sponsors:
ACH Food Companies, Inc.
AT&T
Burch, Porter and Johnson
Careerbuilder.com
Corner Office Consultants
Cisco
Hilton
MLG&W
Semmes-Murphey
SIM Memphis
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 Dr. Lloyd D. Brooks is Interim Chair and Professor, Department of Management Information Systems, The University of Memphis and also serves as advisor for all Master's degree students with concentrations in Management Information Systems. He served as President of the Tennessee Business Education Association, the Southern Business Education Association, and the International Association for Computer Information Systems and was honored as the TBEA Teacher of the Year in Tennessee and as the IACIS National Computer Educator of the Year. He received grants while at the University of Memphis in excess of $1.5 million with the largest one being a $255,000 grant from the United States Postal Service. He has written 23 textbooks and over 30 articles, with his most recent textbook being Integrated Computer Projects, published in 2003 by Paradigm Publishing Company. He was appointed to a Suzanne Downs Palmer Professorship in 2003 by the Fogelman College of Business and Economics at the University of Memphis and was selected for the 2004 Distinguished Advising Award by The University of Memphis. He was appointed as a Senior Technology Fellow in 2005, one of ten persons with this designation across the university.
 Joe Toman is Director IT for WMBarr and Company with responsibilities that include planning, developing and directing the execution of information and communication systems to support the achievement of Barr's sales growth and profit objectives. Special projects include the selection and implementation of a new ERP system, and updating and upgrading the communication infrastructure.
Joe's career started in 1979 as a Market Research Analyst with Square D, a multimillion dollar manufacturer of electrical equipment. He was promoted to Manager Market Research and Business Planning and ultimately, Manager Information Systems. Major contributions during this time included the design and implementation of the initial EDI programming including subsequent integration of data into the mainframe ERP environment and the development of a competitive information system to assist in forecasting and strategic planning. Hubbell, Inc. acquired several divisions of Square D and Joe was appointed Manager of Information Technology for the Power Systems Division of Hubbell where he was selected to be a key member of the SAP R/3 project implementation team to facilitate a legacy file conversion for eight disparate databases. In 1998, Joe joined Techsonic Industries, a manufacturer and distributor of consumer electronic devices, as their Manager of Information Systems. In addition to overseeing all aspects of IT planning and implementation, equipment and assets, and technical support, Joe led the MRP system implementation to streamline requirements planning and increase production capacity. In 2000, he joined Cleo, Inc., a manufacturer of seasonal gift wrap, as Director Information Systems. In this position, Joe transformed IT operations into a customer centric support operation and directed a mission-critical project integrating existing ERP systems with custom materials resource planning and master production planning modules. Joe was Manager Information Systems for ABB, Inc., a manufacturer of electrical distribution transformers, before joining WMBarr.
Joe holds a Bachelor's degree in Economics from the University of Pittsburgh. |
___________________________________________________________________________________________ Spotlight on SIM Memphis Members
Donnie Steward, CIO, ACH Food Companies, Inc.
Tell us a little about ACH Food.
ACH Food Companies, Inc. is that company you've likely not heard of, yet your pantry is probably full of our products. Mazola, Karo, Argo, Spice Islands, Durkees, to name a few. We are a 100+ year old company that now refers to itself as the new ACH. This is because we started down a path about six years ago of focusing our direction and efforts on the Consumer Branded Market. With the recent divestiture of our Commercial business we finally have the opportunity to dedicate our efforts to this segment of our business. In fact, this "segment" is our only business, now.
What types of technology and process changes have you implemented at ACH Food?
Honestly, there is little that remains from before I came into ACH. Upon arrival, I laid out a five year strategy. The first phase of the strategy was what I labeled "Stabilization". It was about putting in a secure, scalable, stable infrastructure. Within the first year, we totally replaced the legacy infrastructure. The second phase was called "Enabling Technologies". It was about showing the business that IT could be an enabler to increased productivity and efficiencies. We introduced technologies such as data warehousing, EAI, and VoIP...not new technologies, but new to ACH. The third phase was what I called "realization". It was based on a fundamental principle that said ACH had to move to a "much better integrated suite of applications". I didn't specify whether this should be a homogenous ERP or a best of breed solution, but that it had to be better integrated than the legacy point-to-point interfaces had provided. This whole concept was predicated on the business stepping up to the plate and taking ownership of their destiny. They had to decide and define their needs, and they had to commit the resources, the funding, and the process changes and IT would facilitate a solution.
We are now six years into that five year strategy, which is not bad considering a couple of acquisitions and a major divestiture along the way. We probably are another year from completing this phase and then we will move into the final phase, which is "Innovation".
What other accomplishments would you like to share?
We've trained and cross trained our IT staff. We've embraced processes and disciplines from ITIL. We have steadily moved forward with our strategy and achieved great successes along the way. We've developed our IT resources into a proficient, cohesive, highly skilled team.
I've been very blessed in my career. I've worked in every continental state. I've worked in 16 countries around the world. I've experienced things, been places and had successes that most people will only dream of. Yet, I attribute every success to the people surrounding me. Somewhere along the way, the thing that drives me and that I derive my greatest satisfaction from is in developing my staffs. Not just in technical skills, but in being better individual contributors. I have this philosophy that if you are not happy with the roles you play in life, you will be hard pressed to be a good contributor to your team. Hence, the team can't contribute as well to the department and the department can't contribute as well to the company. So, this development starts with the individual, learning how to create a better balance both at home and at work.
I've been fortunate to have worked with some great contributors. ACH is no exception. We have a great staff of IT resources which makes this journey both fun and rewarding.
What are some of the challenges you are facing?
We are facing a lot of the same challenges everyone is facing in this economy. Probably, the biggest challenge we have at this time is...after the divestiture, being half the size we were, we were forced to scale back about 25% of our resources, yet we are still supporting everything we were prior to the divestiture other than 150 fewer desktops and a few less WAN links. Being so lean is a strain and stressful for everyone at times. The good news is that it has been transparent to the business. The bad news is that it has been transparent to the business. But again, this is a testament to our IT resources. Everyone has stepped up their efforts in order to continue to provide excellent customer support, while continuing to move our strategy forward and achieve new and exciting accomplishments.
What is your background and how did you get into IT?
In what seems like another lifetime, I owned an HVAC company. It was rewarding in that I managed large projects in places like Bermuda, Panama, and Nigeria. However, it wasn't what I wanted to do with the rest of my life, so I went back to school, nights and weekends. After some contract programming engagements through my college years, I actually started my first full-time IT position in a training capacity but quickly moved into the consulting arena. I spent about eleven years in consulting, mainly in the Banking and Financial software market. After about six years of either averaging seven flights per week or driving a thousand miles per week I moved more into the general IT consulting arena with a focus on Accounting and MRP systems. In 1992, I had an offer from one of my clients to step on this side of the desk and become their CIO. I am now in my 4th tenure as CIO. After engagements with Logistics Management Inc., ServiceMaster Diversified Health Services, and Del Monte Fresh, Inc., I returned to Memphis and joined ACH.
How many years have you been a member of SIM?
I became a SIM International member in 1997. After leaving Memphis and moving to Miami, I dropped out, as I was traveling internationally quite extensively at the time. Upon moving back to Memphis and joining ACH in 2003, I joined the Memphis Chapter.
How has being a member of SIM helped you in your career?
The obvious benefit of SIM is the ability to bounce ideas off other members. This can either provide insight and innovation to problem resolution and strategy direction, or at least, provide affirmation that you are thinking about something correctly. Aside from the relationships with other members, it has also afforded introductions to vendors and suppliers which again, have turned into successful relationships.
What is your future focus, as CIO for ACH?
We will continue to implement our strategy and complete our SAP ERP foundation. Along the way, we have stressed the importance of our IT resources becoming Process experts. We are beginning to build the foundation for Business Process Management at ACH. We have an initiative approach from the top down, i.e., companywide Process orientation, Process modeling, continuous improvement, etc. At the same time, we are implementing Business Activity Monitoring technologies to monitor and trend our processes and facilitate the continuous improvement activities of the business. We will continue to develop the IT resources with the skills and mindset to successfully support the business in these initiatives. |
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SIM Holiday Party 2009 - A Good Time was Enjoyed by All!
This year's SIM Holiday Party was held at Davies Plantation Club House and was another fun filled event. Time slowed down as members and their significant others enjoyed an evening of friendship, delicious food arranged by Tony Rooney, and a wine selection that would knock your socks off that was selected by Rick and Connie Pride.
Check out the photos below!
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Member News
Jack Beglinger has accepted a position with Toyota Tsusho, a division of Toyota Tsusho, a supplier for Toyota Motors (they own 20% of Tsusho). He is working as a DBA/Architect for America's data center in Georgetown, KY.
Jana Branham has joined ACH Food Companies, Inc. as the Director of Infrastructure Services reporting to Donnie Steward, CIO, and will be a peer to Ed Charbonnet. Jana shared, "While I have truly enjoyed learning the hospitality industry and working at Hilton, I look forward to working again with SAP".
Christi Daigre has been named IT Manager, Commercial Printing, International Paper, focusing on the Commercial Printing and Bristols businesses. The Commercial Printing business group is responsible for the business management of the functions associated with the production of Commercial Printing Papers. In her new role, Christi will continue serving as a member of the Commercial Printing Lead Team. She has been with International Paper since 1995.
Jim Dutkosky has been named senior IT Manager, Imaging Papers, International Paper, and will server as a member of the Imaging Papers business lead team. Jim joined IP in 1980 and most recently was senior IT manager, Coated Paperboard.
John Oglesby has joined Buckman International in Memphis as Director, IT Planning and Governance. John will be working with Buckman's CIO to upgrade IT capabilities and processes in several key areas. Buckman has a long history of community involvement and is supporting John's continuing work with the University of Memphis MIS Department with their strategic planning effort. |
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SIM International Transformation
Are you interested in Applying to Serve as SIM International President?
You can now apply for the new full-time SIM President position until January 31, 2010. The background and context are described below.
Background - What's Changing?
SIM has changed its Board structure to an eight person Policy Board elected by SIM Members, with the former Board President position now renamed Chair.
Four of the Board members are Chapter representatives. The Chapter representatives and their roles will be highlighted in the next SIM News Extra.
A new full-time, paid SIM President will be engaged as a third party.
A new Management Council/Operations Team is being established in parallel with the selection of the new SIM President.
Selecting a New SIM President:The SIM President is responsible for carrying out strategic plans and policies as established by the Board of Directors. The primary responsibilities of the SIM President are:
Direct and execute all activities of the association, either directly or through delegated authority; oversee operations of the organization; manage and develop internal and external staff.
Provide leadership in the creation of strategic, tactical, and financial plans; develop and measure performance against approved goals.
Act as liaison to the public, government, affiliated organizations, and other stakeholders; develop member services and identify member development opportunities; act as the spokesperson for the association to relevant organizations.
The SIM President reports to the Policy Board through the Board Chair. This role was previously held by an employee of our association management company and is a paid position.
By making this position an independent third party reporting only to the Board, we expect to get better leadership continuity and more direct control of operations balanced with strategy. With greater SIM engagement, we expect improved performance.
We are looking for an individual who is a leader, visionary, strategic thinker, communicator, and decision maker. A desirable candidate also must be a good manager with excellent business operations and management skills, have a strong reputation within the IT industry, and have long-standing relationships with other IT leaders. Nonprofit leadership experience is desirable.
The new President must commit to a minimum of 40 hours per week, provide their own office, and be willing to work as a contract employee and travel.
SIM is looking for continuity in this position, therefore someone between jobs or looking for a temporary position would not be a good fit. The full job description is located on SIMnet. Click here for job description.
The process for selecting the SIM President has been established by Pat Coffey, SIM Chair. The selection committee will be a subset of the SIM Board, headed by Jim Knight, SIM Vice Chair. The steps in the selection process are outlined below.
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Process Steps |
End Dates |
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Announce open position to Board,
Chapter Representatives, and leaders |
January 7 - 10 |
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Announce open position to SIM Members/public |
January 11 |
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Application deadline |
January 31 |
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Finalists interviews |
February 16 - March 3 |
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Board hires President |
March 12 |
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President begins term |
March 26 |
Applying for the Position:
If you are interested in pursuing this position, please submit a bio, resume (high level) and cover letter addressing why you want this job to Jim Knight at jknight@chubb.com. |
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Call for Business Speakers - Have You Volunteered Yet?
Can you find two hours in your work day to make a difference in the life of a Memphis City School Student?
SIM Memphis is helping make it possible for Memphis students at the Stax Music Academy to be educated in the technology of making music by partially funding the renovation of the Stax Music Academy's Recording Studio and Control Room. The Stax Music Academy is one of the major programs of the Soulsville Foundation, a non-profit organization, created to serve the South Memphis neighborhood of Soulsville, USA.
"In Class" at Soulsville Charter School
The mission of the Soulsville Charter School is to produce students who will be able to read, communicate effectively and possess high-order thinking skills through the interconnectedness of academics and music.
What can you do to help with this mission? Be a business luncheon speaker!
The Soulsville Charter School is asking business people to visit the school at lunchtime and talk about their job, the education needed for their profession, and what they like about their job.
There are four lunch sessions - one for each grade, six through nine. You may speak to one, two, three, or all the grades.
The business luncheon exposes their students to various career opportunities that they might not have known about or considered for themselves.
Please contact Lamonn Daniels at (901) 946-2535 ext. 360, identify yourself as a SIM Member, and arrange a time to speak.
Please contact Sue Conklin with any questions. Thanks and you will have a great time!
Special Thanks
Thanks to Sue Conklin for initiating the SIM Business Speaker Program with Stax and for its ongoing development!
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