April 5th, From the President

Last week, I received my first vaccine shot. Fortunately, I did not experience any symptoms after the first shot, albeit, a sore arm for a couple of days. What the shot did do was give me hope. Hope that I will be able to return to some type of normalcy in the near future. That I will be able to do some things I haven’t been able to do for over a year now. I expect many of you are beginning to feel the same way. More and more restrictions are being lifted. Vacations are being planned. Kids are returning to schools. Some people are returning to their offices versus working from home. So, while I am hopeful that the worst is behind us, it is no time to throw caution to the wind. It remains a challenging time for leaders of many organizations as we must weigh the benefits of having face-to-face events against the potential risk to the safety of our members. Unfortunately, there are still a lot of unknowns about this virus and the pandemic. What does this mean for the PMI Central Ohio Chapter? Our board has chosen to err on the side of caution and to wait a few more months before holding face-to-face events. We will continue to follow the CDC guidelines and the directives from the state of Ohio. Until we feel we can provide a safe environment for our members, we will continue with our virtual model. Fortunately, last year, the chapter made the necessary adjustments to hold all of our events virtually. Our program team have continued to offer high quality events and training for our members. We recently contracted with a certified education provider to offer PMP and Discipline Agile classes. The feedback we have received from our students has been extremely positive. Personally, I took our Disciplined Agile Scrum Master (DASM) course back in December and found it to be one of the best courses I have taken on this methodology. I encourage each of you to take advantage of our events and training programs. Members receive significant discounts on training. And, as a member, most of our events are free! For more information on our events and training programs, please visit PMICOC.org. And, please enjoy our bi-weekly e-mails and quarterly newsletters. I would be remiss if I didn’t make a plug to you to become involved as a volunteer with our chapter. We have a truly dedicated and enthusiastic volunteer team. Please consider sharing your time and talents to your chapter and to your profession. Speaking of amazing volunteers, congratulations to Jarrod Weeks, our April volunteer of the month! More on Jarrod in this newsletter! As I am writing this article, the sun is shining and beckons me outside. I hope all of you enjoy the spring and the time with your friends and family. Thank you for being a member of PMICOC and for your support. Please be safe! Rich Schmelzer PMICOC President