SIM Portland Reinvention - 5/30/2020

Dear Chapter members, 

Virtual Board meeting

The COVID-19 response continues to evolve. We are starting to see Phase 1 reopening in many Oregon counties, though it looks like Multnomah County will be the last to do so. We are still a long way away from in person SIM Chapter events. Hopefully if we reach Phase 2 and there is no relapse, we will be be able to safely hold in person events with the start of next year's programs in September.

I have begun to see a re-opening of my waist line, or my "Quarantine Pounds" as I like to call them. So I am desperately waiting for more tennis and squash to be available. I also started a new job as CIO for the Oregon State Police. I am very excited about this, and inspired by the mission of the agency as well as the talented team of IT professionals that I am now leading.

The new Board has now met in April and May. We have been wrestling with adjusting this year's events and are looking to plan for next year. The Board will be having it’s Annual Retreat in July/August where we will be able to do some long and short term planning for our Chapter. Good to have great people and

Portland CIO Community Roundtable

good energy on the team. We still have plenty of volunteer opportunities on the Board with various Deputy Director positions open, as well as a number of committees that are always looking for new ideas and participants.

In May, John Washburn gave a great presentation and discussion around Information Security considerations during COVID-19. I was also excited to announce that Jon was awarded SIM Portland's 2020 CISO of the Year. We recorded the event on Zoom and members can view both this, and April's event via the SIM Portland website, https://chapter.simnet.org/portland/events/event-materials (you will need an active membership and login with your SIM credentials). We recognize that members want to be able to interact and network at our events and we are looking at how to build this into future online events.

We are excited to be having a half-day CIO Community Roundtable on June 10th. We are able to do this in a short timeframe through a partnership with Premier Connects. As we had to cancel this year's Portland Technology Leadership Summit in March, it is wonderful that we are still be able to have "virtual" conference. There is still time to register. The event is open to all qualified IT professionals and not just SIM members. So invited your friends and colleagues!

Finally SIM members should have seen invitations to the Annual SIM IT Trends Study survey (more info/FAQ). This is a collaboration between SIM and MIS academics (headed by Leon Kappelman) and it is in it's 40th year!

SIM IT Survey Chapter Challenge as of 5/30

By participating in the survey, you can also have access to the results ($995 to non-SIM), including a report comparing your responses to all provided. All SIM members, active professionals, those in transition and retirees, are encouraged to respond. In addition, there is a IT Trends Chapter Challenge Contest for several SIM Chapter size categories as to who achieves the largest response rate. Currently Portland is 14th, and we are down to the last couple of weeks. I think we can do better!!!

As always, feel free to reach out to me at richard@simpdx.org, @appleyar and LinkedIN with your feedback and concerns. And I look forward to seeing you online at our June event!

Richard Appleyard, PhD
SIM Portland Chapter President 2020