The committees and programs that make up the Professional Development activities of IFMA Atlanta have gotten this year off to a strong start thanks to the efforts of the Committee Chairs and members. We are trying to work hard at establishing collaborative relationships with other Facilities Management organizations and this is aiding in our efforts. We are also experimenting with some other changes to the way we reach out to the IFMA membership. Some of the highlights of the year thus far are:
Well attended and informative PROGRAMS have been presented and planned. We have heard that some of our Professional members are not able to participate in the lunch programs due to the time commitment in the middle of the day. On September 19, we will be meeting for breakfast at 7:30 AM and will be learning about Decommissioning/Commissioning of buildings. We plan to collaborate with local real estate organizations for future programs on that topic.
Our EDUCATION committee has been busy lining up speakers for Atlanta Workplace and additional opportunities to be announced soon. Also due to extra efforts of this group, IFMA Atlanta will be participating in the Georgia Association of State Facility Administrators Conference to speak about IFMA and education opportunities available through IFMA.
The CAREER MANAGEMENT program continues to pair up aspiring Facility Managers with veteran CFM’s for the benefit of both participants in the Mentoring program. Five pairs of Mentors/Mentees are active at this time.
CFM CERTIFICATION continues to provide information to all participants in the CFM preparation group. The really big accomplishment for this group is that IFMA Atlanta’s application for IACET accreditation to offer Continuing Education Units for our qualified events has been completed and sent in after more than a year of preparation.
The SUSTAINABILITY committee is continuing to work to provide a classroom learning experience for the Sustainable Facility Professional Certification. This group is also integrating IFMA Atlanta members into the Atlanta Better Buildings Challenge to make the logical link between good facility management and better building operations.
Our TOURS committee has arranged another fascinating tour of an old building that has been repurposed for the General Services Administration. This tour will be on September 26th at 3:30 PM to try and accommodate more member schedules.
Professional Development has also reached out to Georgia Tech and has established the IFMA Atlanta/ Georgia Tech Liaison Working Group to begin a dialog on how these organizations can help each other. We have also met with the faculty, staff and Construction Industry Advisory Board from Southern Polytechnic State University to discuss how IFMA Atlanta can support this emerging Facility Management Degree Program.
As you can see from the above, we are going in a lot of directions. I am sure that you have a contribution to make in one of these areas and I encourage you to get involved to make IFMA Atlanta an even stronger organization.
Ken Stephenson, CFM
IFMA Atlanta
Vice President – Professional Development
