Digging Deep

I finally changed my ICRM password. I had been holding on to that damn password with lots of hope. Hope doesn’t get you anywhere though, focus does. I’m going to pass test #1 soon. I needed to change that password even though it hurt. I need to get back to work and remain unstoppable.

Rolling Up Your Records Management Sleeves!

Amazing post Rafael! Loved it! So true. Great to see the perspective of a CRM/IG Professional who is well-rounded. I am not afraid to roll up my sleeves and to sweat. I am a bureau chief and I still move boxes. I’m a hard worker and it’s great to read the story of another like me! I added your site to my follows. I am a CDIM who qualified to sit for the CRM recently. Sadly…I failed my first test with almost two decades of experience in records and archives. At the ARMA Live Conference in San Diego last week, I attended the ICRM Business Meeting and Reception. I was glad I went. I met so many smart people who have failed tests. It made me feel better. If you have a chance, check out “San Diego” in my category cloud. This was a great read!! Smart, tough people rock!!! Roll those sleeves up!! 🙂
~~~F

The Bastards Blog

We all know that labor intense records management projects, those in which repetitive, mundane grunt work is required, are avoided like the plague by employees and management alike.

Even when a project does happen to spark interest and garner support, once it moves past the planning stages it can begin to feel like nobody on the team wants to be bothered with the actual logistics. Suddenly everybody is a “thought leader” and “focused on strategy” and that’s okay… but maybe that’s also where some of our productivity issues originate. 

 

Nonetheless, what can emerge from these situations, albeit rarely, are new leaders, because these are also opportunities for individuals willing to actually roll up their sleeves. These are people who drive initiatives and projects forward because they’re more interested in getting the job done and learning something than getting (or taking) the credit.

It’s amazing what you can accomplish with…

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ICRM Business Meeting and Reception: ARMA Live 2014

Institute of Certified Records Managers- Annual Business Meeting and Reception at the Hilton Bayfront in San Diego, CA

The first woman I met before the ICRM business was a blonde, beautiful Asian woman named Angeline Tan. She is a private consultant and CRM. Tan had a wonderful personality and is also a CH-SPRM (Certificate Holder- SharePoint Records Manager). She is a personable force holding a CRM since 1994. I had a great visit with she and Tony Leino, a CRM with IBM. Tan recommended that I check out the records management writings of Dr. Mark Langemo. She said he is awesome!

When the business meeting started, the board discussed the 2014 benchmarks, which included a plan for celebrating the 40th Anniversary of ICRM. 40 years? Wow! I discovered that as of October 2014, the institute added 44 new CRMs. There are 978 active CRMs, 178 retired CRMs, 998 active CRM candidates, and there were 143 approved CRM candidates in 2014 (hey!! There I am). I was under the impression that the CRM is being killed off by the IG certification, but low and behold…it is alive and well and rare and hard to pass. It made me feel good to meet so many smart people who had failed some tests. It turns out ICRM has revamped the exams due to “hate mail” from failures. Really?

I learned that the average salary minimum in the Southwest for a CRM is 88,000+ per year!!! Money isn’t everything, but learning that there are under 1,000 CRMs out there, means it is hard to earn and rare to have. I want it!!! Looks like they are changing exams from a 60/40 to a 50/50. There is now a 65% pass rate, so people do fail. Questions have been rewritten through part 5 and the question writers were introduced tonight. I was like agggghhhh “part 1” lady. What was that!?! Hahaaa… Turns out many people fail part 1 and 5. Go figure. I think every person I talked to said they had failed exams before they passed. I’m so glad to learn that. People way smarter than I failed.

~Selfie at the Sweet Bar~

~Custom Salad Bar~

After the meeting, there was a beautiful reception. I had so much fun, met so many smart people, and had great conversation. I love people who love networking and learning. I paid $30 out of my own pocket to attend the reception on the terrace, but I am so glad I did. I kept it clean eating a light salad even though there was food everywhere and a seriously awesome cake and chocolate covered strawberry pop bar. I did have a good margarita though. Just one because I’m working out super early tomorrow. It’s back day.

For the reception, I spent most of the time carrying a conversation with three people. Tom Corey, a new CRM is also an attorney with Huron Consulting Group. He lives in North Carolina and is a super smart man who failed exams. Dr. Eugenia K. Brumm, CRM, FAI (Fellow of Arma International) and former professor was an awesome woman to meet. She made the cover of Information Week Magazine in 1988 with her article “The Truth About CIOs.” Her dissertation is on this as well. She is from Billerica, MA. I aspire to be like her. She is a very accomplished, and knowledgeable woman. Carol R. Jordan, a CRM in the Office of Finance with Federal Home Loan Banks in Reston, VA was also a knowledge powerhouse. I had a great time chatting with these three. It was a good night.

Professional Networking in San Diego

I received this email today
and I am looking forward to
networking with like-minded
professionals in San Diego in
October for the ARMA Live
Conference. I think that
networking is so important
to any profession. The more
people you know, the better!
I plan on making good,
professional connections
there and I will buy tickets
to this when I get to the
registration table! I gotta
enjoy California because
next year I’m likely headed
nowhere.

Failure: Misadventures of a Hopeful CRM through the Eyes of Deadpool

Nothing can make you feel smaller than failure. Failure can make you feel so small that you forget about those things that make you big. Our success somehow gets lost in the hopelessness. We all fail. It’s part of life. Even though we are all alike in that sense, our individual failures can make us feel alone…left to absorb the pains in solitude. Though it is heart wrenching, without failure we couldn’t appreciate success.

“Failure is the state or condition of not meeting a desirable or intended objective, and may be viewed as the opposite of success.” I guess if becoming a CRM was easy, everyone I know would be one. Like Steve Austin recently said on an episode of Broken Skull Ranch… “you didn’t think this was gonna be easy did ya?” I didn’t think it would be easy, but I felt some confidence after studying really hard. I failed my first exam…but I tried.

There is no excuse for failure. I will own that. I will say that I read every book. I studied every night and took a ton of notes. I have over 15 years of experience and determination. I still failed! It was upsetting. It seemed like the test didn’t cover much of what I read and in all fairness, the educational focus isn’t really what I expected. Ratios, percentages, formulas, budget and management theory likely got me. I haven’t had the heart to really look at the results. 

I went from being sad, to being mad, to feeling sorry for myself and now I’m trying to reclaim the negative energy for positive use. Maybe I’m not as smart as I thought? Maybe I’m just good at lifting things up and putting them down? Maybe the main reason I went into this was the wrong reason? Maybe I should become a professional poet and live off the grid in an Earth friendly home? I did get 45 likes and counting, 3 reblogs and 2 comments on my free verse poem The Dark Horse. I wrote it last night on a creative study break. 

Nothing can make me feel smaller than failure. Failing makes me feel so worthless that I forget about my worth. I somehow felt lost in the hopelessness until my son saw me with tears in my eyes and said… “don’t worry about it. You’re a great mom.” Yes!! I am! Thank you son. We all fail. It is a hard part of life. Though we collectively experience failure, when we are faced with personal or professional failure, it is important to remember how we are successful.

Knowledge and Migraines

Loved these two pages from the project management book I’m reading now. This graphic depiction of knowledge transfer is awesome. I thought the Chapter 2 title was straight comedy…from best practices to migraine headaches or neahhhh?

See the Light

Moving on to book no. 4 tonight. It is a fat project management book. Yeayyyyy! Haha…It is almost time for my first exam. I’m already scheduled to take the test this month. Of course I am working the exams in order. I like planning and a solid order. I have been studying and taking notes for at least an hour every night. Feeling ready for my first CRM Exam. We’ll see how it pans out. I see the Part 1 light!!

Adventures of a Hopeful CRM: Candidacy Approved

I received my official approval email from ICRM today! Exciting…