President's Message & Press release

Hi PMI Buffalo members, volunteers, and subscribers!

I hope you have all been enjoying this amazing fall weather and soaking up as much outdoor time as possible before we all bundle up for the winter.   This month has been action packed, and I can’t believe that Halloween is right around the corner!

I am feeling energized after attending the North American Leadership Institute Meeting (NA LIM) in sunny Los Angeles, CA last month and wanted to share some of the exciting takeaways with you all.  It was amazing to meet so many passionate chapter volunteers and get the opportunity to share ideas and learn about what other chapters are up to. 

One of the highlights for me was getting the chance to meet the President of PMI Global Pierre Le Manh during an interactive townhall with all the other chapter presidents that attended.  I took the opportunity to ask him a question about how PMI planned to expand upon our Agile certification trainings to further establish PMI within the Agile community of practitioners.  His response delved into one of PMI’s three 2025 regional priorities, which is to grow their core certifications along with leveraging us all as PMI ambassadors to ensure that companies understand the Agile focus in the PMP and ACP, and what makes these certifications stand apart from scrum and kanban training offerings.  The panel also discussed the recent addition of the new construction certification (PMI-CP) as an example of how they have been responsive to the needs of the PM community.

Here are the 2025 PMI Regional Priorities for reference:

• Increase Brand Awareness 
• Grow Core Certifications (PMP, CAPM, ACP)
• Strengthen the Community

Another exciting reveal during the conference was the launch of PMI’s new Marketing portal and branding refresh.  The long overdue upgrade of the Marketing portal is fantastic and much more intuitive to use.  The “light the way” themes and templates really add a layer of dimension to the existing color schema, logos, and characters.  Keep an eye out for these updated elements in our marketing and communications and let us know what you think. 

Finally, I want to share the links for the 2 amazing keynote speakers that helped energize the conference, and at times evoked an emotional response from the audience (including myself). 

• We were inspired by US Air Force Thunderbird pilot Nicole Malachowski, who shared her story about harnessing headwinds and overcoming self-doubt and impostor syndrome that she experienced on her journey finding success in a male dominated culture. Check her out here to learn more: https://nicolemalachowski.com/

• Then, we were challenged to take action and use our collective strengths and skillsets to make a positive difference in the world. Mick Ebeling shared his personal stories about rallying all his resources and doing whatever he could to help people in need, while along the way (unintentionally) becoming the world’s only 3x recipient of Time magazine’s Best Invention of the Year award, along with many other recognitions!  Check out Mick and the amazing work that Not Impossible Labs has done here: https://www.notimpossible.com/

Thanks for reading, and I look forward to seeing you at our upcoming events!

Regards,

Dan Augustynek