AIIM NE Celebrates its 41st Year but is as Fresh and Relevant as Ever
Recently I learned from my colleague, fellow board member and AIIMNE historian Ed LoTurco that the AIIM NE chapter celebrated its 41st birthday on February 6, 2010. Being the historian that he is, Ed shared more than just the date, but details on what occurred on that historic day in 1968. (These are included in the sidebar for those, like Ed and me, who are interested.)
For the record, in February of 1969, I was in 7th grade, and quite honestly, not at all thinking about being an ECM professional when I grew up. So, I guess some things have changed over the last 41 years, but fundamentally, AIIMNE is not one of them. Let me explain.
Yesterday, March 23, 2010, AIIMNE held its latest local event, a luncheon with educational presentations entitled “Cloud Computing and Enterprise Content Management.” We kicked off the meeting by announcing the Chapters 41st year, and I guess that made me a bit reflective. As I sat and listened to the speakers I pondered my 20+ year career in ECM, and the history of AIIM and the local chapter. As I noted back in 2008 in a post in my own blog, entitled “ECM – From Here to Eternity” “Over the 20+ years in which I have been a part of the ECM market place, much has changed but much has also remained the same.”, and “… despite its age, ECM is an issue that is still growing – perhaps an eternal issue. “
In kicking off yesterday’s event I noted that while 41 years ago the topic du jour was likely “microfilm and how it is changing corporate record keeping”, – things really haven’t changed that much. Sure, now we are talking about Enterprise and Web 2.0 (the focus off our January 15,2010 event), and cloud-based ECM. But, while our technology focus has changed over the years, the fundamental mission of AIIMNE has not – to promote best practices at the intersection of technology and business in order to provide state-of-the-art best approaches to managing business content.
In deed, the issues discussed at yesterday’s event included balancing access and value with security and protection, scalable and cost effective solutions, deployment alternatives and the utmost importance of strategy. These are timeless issues, and they are core to who we are.
In fact, the need for strategy was particularly re-iterated by yesterday’s speakers, Jim Cuff and Peter Lieberwith. The biggest takeaway for me was, “The Cloud” is not a cloud. While Cloud-based ECM provides many valuable benefits and offerings, YOU, the ECM professional in your organization have to blow away the smoke and look inside that cloud. The responsibility of prudent management of corporate content does not go away – nor can you simply pass it off to the cloud provider. No matter how you deploy ECM, as I noted in the “Here to Eternity” post two years ago “…no matter the format or platform, the criticality of an ECM strategy remains constant.” ECM is serious business. It was for AIIMNE 41 years ago, and it is today.
ORIGINAL NOTES FROM ED LOTURCO REGARDING THE FOUNDING OF AIIMNE
Organizational activity started in 1968. it was spearheaded by George Harmon and Karl Adams, then NMA Vice-Pres and Treasurer. A Steering Committee was formed. The following members were active on the committee:
* Dominick DeAngelo – Raytheon Company
* George Harmon – Informational International
* Ciff Larson – Graphic Microfilm
* Philip Ripley – Sylvania
* H. Smyth – Avco
* Mike Gangemi – John Hancock
* Chet jackman – Foxboro Company
* Leo Paquette – Spaulding Company
* Peter Scott – MIT
The New England Chapter was founded in 1969. Membership ratified the Constitution and By-laws on February 6, 1969. At that time, membership was at 84. The first slate of Officers and Executive Council was nominated by Ramsey Moore of U.S. Microfilm, at the February 6, 1969 meeting – it is isted below:
* President – Dominick DeAngelo Rayteon Company
* Vice President – Cliff larson – Graphic Microfilm of N.E.
* Vice President – Peter Scott – MIT
* Treasurer – Chet Jackman – Foxboro Company
* Secretary – Phil Ripley – Sylvania
The members vote was unnamious in accepting the above slate
Two members were appointed to serve on the Executive Council:
* Mike Gangemi – John Hancock
* Leo paquette – Spaulding Company
So the New England Chapter is celebrating it’s 41st Anniversary this year.
