One of AHRMA’s initiatives for 2009 is to launch a pilot BLOG starting this month. I will be providing you with tidbits of information on your board’s activities and other items that may be of interest to you, our readers. Look forward to hearing from you with your feedback as we go forward with this pilot program.
The 2009 AHRMA Executive Committee had their first meeting on January 5th and continued the work they started at the EC Orientation and Strategic Workshop on December 5th. They are in the process of formalizing goals for the year and will continue strategizing with their committee members this month.
I had the great pleasure of attending the installation of a new SHRM Chapter, the Hill Country Human Resource Management Association (HCHRMA) on January 8th. Michelle Friesenhahn, AHRMA Past President and current Texas State Council District Director officiated. Terry Jordan was sworn in as President, together with her board members, at a luncheon in San Marcos. Congratulations to HCHRMA, the thirty-sixth SHRM-chapter in Texas! I have invited Terry to be our guest at one of AHRMA’s luncheons. The guest speaker, Dr. Beverly Chiodo of Texas State University was phenomenal and, yes, our VP Programs, will be considering her for an AHRMA event. You can learn more about Dr. Chiodo at http://www.speakingofcharacter.com/ and more about her topic, “Character First,” at http://www.characterfirst.com/.
AHRMA’s first meeting of 2009 was held on January 15th at the Austin Country Club. The morning professional development session presented by Gregg Kronenberger covered new regs for ADA and FMLA and attracted an audience of over 80 – standing room only – GREAT information to keep HR professionals current on changing employment laws. Paul Baffes’ luncheon presentation on work-life balance was well received by the attendees and Tom Daly’s afternoon workshop on social networking sites definitely “de-mystified” such services as LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter.
As announced at our December meeting, AHRMA’s theme for 2009 is “The Gift of Giving: to the membership, the profession, and the community.” In keeping with this theme, we are reaching out to the community to identify opportunities where we can potentially partner to create mutually beneficial relationships. In this spirit, we were pleased to have as our guest at the AHRMA Meeting, Andrew Martinez, President and CEO of the Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. Thanks to Juanita Baldwin, AHRMA Volunteer, for making the introduction. In addition, we were very fortunate to be able to coordinate through Mary Daigle, a team of representatives from Workforce Solutions to attend our meeting and make a presentation. Donna Crenshaw, Business Development Manager, and her team consisting of Steven Bridges, Tina Solis, and Richard Green, provided a presentation on services provided by Workforce Solutions and hosted a booth.
Thanks to all the AHRMA volunteers, Chairs, Executive Committee, and the AHRMA Office, for coordinating the day’s activities for such a successful outcome!
More later…
Ramona Rohrer
President@austinhumanresource.org
Filed under: From the President's Podium
