For those who attended last Wednesday's forum, it was an extremely informative session. Hiring executives from ING, Erikson and Grady Health Systems answered questions on how, why and when they hired consultants. They produced a list of "to do's" as well as "not to do's".

When asked about how can a consultant get noticed, all three enforced the importance of learning about the organization and their current problems first. "Too many consultants come in and tell us of all the wonderful things they can do. The problem is that none of their skills are directly related to our current problems," stated Doug Matheson, VP of Marketing & Business Development at Erikson. "Consultants should know precisely how they can help us with a current problem."

"Send in a white paper the addresses how you've solved a similar problem also works," added Mark Kirby, Head of Corporate Advertising and Brand Strategy at ING. "Be patient, keep getting your name in front of us, and continue to send us stuff. As a consultant, you need to build your brand individually to get known," he added.

In addition to the panelists, about twenty people were in attendance.  

Please check chapter events for details. Cost will be $175 and ongoing sessions will most likely be on a Tuesday or Thursday from 4pm until 6pm. Location is to be determined.

I would really like to hear from Georgia Chapter members on what they would like to see on the Georgia portion of the IMC site. Take a look at some of the other chapter sites, particularly PNW and NJ.

The workshop has been postponed until later in the year. Stay tuned for details, and please join us for our next dinner event scheduled for May 20: How Organizational Development Can Help You Acheive Client Success.

The Institute of Management Consultants Georgia Chapter accepted thirty new members on February 20, 2009. Seventy-five members and guests were present to hear Mr. Jim Rodgers, CMC on the topic “How to succeed in these times of economic distress.” Dr. Drumm McNaughton, CMC, and CEO and Chairman of IMC USA, reviewed the benefits enjoyed by IMC members.

After the event, Dr. McNaughton said ~ “I have never seen an event such as this with so much enthusiasm (except perhaps the last one Georgia had), but I think this one really ROCKED!”

The chapter new members are: Audrey Dorsey, Amarian Hirschkorn, Charene Clowney, Hope Cheeks, Jacqueline Grant, Al Simon, Charles E Feder, Esq., Art Campbell, Michael D. Haberman, Scott Whitacker, Eric Flamm, Terry Frazier, Janet Sanders, James R. Schulz, Grace Zhao, Jeffrey A. Lebow, Traci L Morgan, Tarsha Calloway, Vicki Gordon, Vernon S. Thomas, John H Richardson, James R. Crow, John Felkins, PE, Christopher Carson, Robert Donaldson, Steven Wakefield and Brian Higgins.

The IMC Georgia chapter now has 114 members and is the fastest growing chapter nationally.