• Leaders meet to form new Region 15 for South East Asia.
• Virtual Communities Project (VCP) frequently asked question.
• Find what you need in the toolkit on the Component Leadership Online Community.
• Component dues changes reminder.

• Showcase your component at PMI Global Congresses in North America and Latin America.
• Have you registered for the 2007 North America Leadership Institute Meeting in Atlanta?

Component leaders from Region 10 assembled last month in a landmark meeting. They met because their chapters will form the new Region 15, which will cover South East Asia, in 2008.

Hosted by the PMI Malaysia Chapter, the meeting gave Asia Pacific leaders a forum to discuss current issues and challenges.

Meeting highlights included a presentation on the new strategic alignment of PMI components initiative, and discussions on membership retention and branding.

Guest speakers who addressed the component leaders were Iain Fraser, FPMINZ, PMP, Director-at-Large, PMI Board of Directors; Mark Lurch, PMP, and Petra Goltz, PMP, from the PMI IT SIG; and representatives from PMI’s examination administration partner Prometric.

“Gordon Bartlett, PMP, did a fantastic job to get this meeting organized. Getting leaders to assemble on their own time for this meeting was a great achievement…” said Asia Pacific Regional Service Centre Manager David Goh. “Special thanks to the Malaysia Chapter for the logistics and the behind the scenes support to make this meeting possible.”

In 2008, Mr. Bartlett will continue to guide chapters in Australia and New Zealand as part of Region 10. A new component mentor for Region 15 will continue to facilitate the collaboration started at this meeting.

What are local interest groups (LIGs) and how is PMI community development addressing them?

Some PMI chapters have created LIGs to facilitate networking opportunities for members who share a common interest, industry or project focus.

To deliver LIG services, PMI chapters work together with the related PMI specific interest groups (SIGs) or PMI colleges that focus on the LIG’s area. Many PMI chapter members participating in LIG activities are also members of the respective SIG or college.

PMI recommends that chapters apply the chapter with branches community model to transform its LIGs into branches, when appropriate, for meeting diverse member needs and delivering value.

PMI has significantly improved and modified the resources on the Component Leadership Online Community to provide component leaders with information and tools to help run their component organizations.

The Component Officers’ ToolKit features new files including Component Awards and presentations from Leadership Institute Meetings given in Hong Kong and Budapest during 2007. You will see these new resources identified by their dates.

Have you explored the toolkit? Sections within it include:

• Basic tools
• Communications
• Component mentor program
• Component management
• Finance
• Marketing
• Membership
• Outreach
• Performance Management Framework
• Professional development and education
• Strategic planning
• Volunteer program

The toolkit will be continually improved and expanded as new resources are developed and made available. PMI volunteer leaders are encouraged to engage in thoughtful and open discussions about the toolkit with their Boards and identify additional needs. Please contribute your thoughts about the toolkit via e-mail to Component Relations Coordinator Anne Jenemann.

All PMI component dues changes must be submitted to PMI by Saturday, 1 September 2007 in order for the new dues changes to take effect on 1 January 2008. Please forward all dues changes to Component Relations Associate Philomena Aiuto.

Take advantage of high-visibility opportunities to promote your organization, membership, programs, products and services at PMI Global Congress 2007—North America, 6–9 October, in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, and PMI Global Congress 2007—Latin America , 12–14 November, in Cancun, Mexico.

To learn how other project management practitioners benefit from attending the global congress, watch the two-minute video on PMI.org.

Located in the congress exhibit hall, Components Central will display information from participating chartered components.

To participate, simply submit complete, current information by using the Microsoft^® Word flyer template in the Component Leadership Online Community, Current News section. Your information and materials must be submitted via the template so that PMI can mount a uniform, attractive and high-quality display. One flyer per component, please! E-mail your completed template on or before Friday, 20 September to Gil Marder.

Advance registration is open until Friday, 14 September for the next PMI Leadership Institute Meeting, in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, 4–6 October. The two and a half day event will feature regionally-focused leadership education on component organization and administration.

The meeting is an outstanding opportunity for professional development and skills improvement. It also gives attendees the chance to network with members of the PMI Board of Directors, PMI staff and fellow colleagues.

Along with many exciting events such as the Leadership Institute Masters Class Graduation Ceremony on Thursday, 4 October, and the Leadership Showcase and Silent Auction on Friday, 5 October , the PMI Bookstore also will be on site at the Leadership Institute Meeting during both days.

Attendees who purchase books for their component organization are eligible for a 40 percent discount off the nonmember list price of most books published by PMI. Many components use the discount to supply support materials for their professional development events, conferences or tradeshows. Commercial titles that PMI resells from other publishers are not eligible for discount and component leaders who purchase books for their personal use do not qualify for the 40 percent discount.

For more information about the Leadership Institute Meeting, please visit the meeting website. If you have questions, please contact Leadership Institute Administrator Gil Marder.

Friday Facts is a weekly report on PMI events and opportunities. Information contained herein may be reprinted in PMI component newsletters.

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