It is time to catch up on my blogging. Loraine Kasprzak has the patience of Job – a full time marketing consulting business, family with two children, and has to put up with my delays on getting out great information. Thank you, Loraine, for all you do for IMC USA – it and you are greatly appreciated.

We held our annual Chapter Leadership Summit in Chicago May 6-7, and it was attended by representatives of 17 of our 21 chapters!!! The networking and presentations were excellent, and all who attended said that it was well worth their time and money.

We attempted to do something different at this CLS. In past Summits, we have focused on IMC – IMC – IMC.  However, this year we wanted attendees to be able to take away things that would both be beneficial to both their chapters AND to their consulting businesses. We also brought in a couple of outside speakers, experts in their areas, to ensure that the information was useful and relevant to attendees.

We kicked the summit with Tom Rodenhauser of Kennedy Information, who gave us a great report on the state of the consulting industry. This was a reprisal of the "State of the Industry” talk that was given the day before at the Kennedy’s Consulting Magazine’s Consulting Summit (an excellent program– and well attended by IMC members).

Tom was followed by Alex Zabrosky, IMC USA’s Corporate Counsel, who discussed Legal Issues for Chapter Governance. As always, Alex’s presentation was enlightening and thought provoking, and exposed many chapter leaders to some of the issues that we at "national” deal with on a daily basis, e.g., the Duties of Care, Attention, Loyalty, and Informed Decision-Making, as well as Conflict of Interest. His presentation initiated a number of questions, and all walked away with a greater understanding and appreciation of how the Institute works (and should work) to ensure its stability and continued success. Following Alex was Gail McCauley (Executive Director and Chief Operating Officer) who gave a presentation on how IMC is staffed by SmithBucklin..

First up after lunch was Don Scellato who gave us a great presentation on the ISO 17024 certification and its benefits to IMC and our members; followed by Loraine Kasprzak who talked about leveraging the CMC in a consultant’s business. She also discussed social media and how consultants can - and should - include it in their marketing strategy. Wrapping up the day was Sarah Layton, who walked us through a Blue Ocean Strategy session. (Sarah’s Blue Ocean article is our lead story in June’s Connector. Read it: it just may change how you think about your own consulting practice.)

On Day 2, we kicked off with Mark Thorsby from SmithBucklin, who is an expert in governance, leadership development and strategic thinking, and is trained in theory and experienced in guiding leaders of non-profit organizations. Mark spoke on the importance of leadership, and how it is the differentiating factor for chapters. Following him was a lively Q&A session with many of the IMC USA Board members and offices, including yours truly, David Norman, Loraine Huchler, Judith Light, and Gail McCauley. Closing out the program, Judith Light was introduced as the new Chair of the Chapter Presidents Council, and she led the group in a "envisioning the future” exercise which was well received by all.

This CLS also marked the end of an era - Loraine Huchler, the "Queen of the CPC," stepped down after 5 years of dedicated and loyal service. Loraine has done a tremendous job as the Chair – not only has she transformed the Chair position into a very meaningful role, she has helped to transform the CPC into a strong, cohesive group who "have each others’ back.” For her efforts, Loraine was awarded a Distinguished Service Award.

Loraine, thank you for all your work over the years. You have been one of my closest advisors, and I will miss your advice and counsel.

Allow me to introduce Judith Light who is our new Chair of the CPC. For those of you who don’t know Judith, she is a fabulous leader and consultant. She is a Fellow of the Institute; served on the IMC Board in the last ‘90s and early ‘00s; served as Chapter President and Certification Chair (Colorado Chapter), and has led and/or been on multiple committees over the years including Recognition and Awards (Chair), Nominating (Chair), Certification, and Confab. She brings a wealth of experience and ideas to the CPC, and has already connected with all the Chapter Presidents to find out what is on their minds. I know that she will do a great job for us, just as Loraine did. Judith, welcome, and I look forward to working with you.

I left the Chapter Leadership Summit energized for IMC and, based on the feedback I received, Chapter leaders did too.

Yours in consulting,

Drumm McNaughton, Ph.D., CMC

Chair and CEO