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Greetings!
Change
is always present, but it seems that the pace of change
just kicked up a notch with the expanding economy. Even
if you think you know your industry, it is about to
change, and you need to keep up. Consider emerging
trends such as the advent of "eBay drop off stores,"
retailer WalMart's diving head first into RFID and what
that means for consumers and inventory management,
uncertainty about the next wave of customers and
employees (the "millennials," those born after 1982),
the surprising flip from leasing to buying as a result
of the Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003,
seemingly minor social changes that dramatically affect
markets (witness the impact of the low carb craze on
Krispy Kreme's stock price), and even broad
demographic/technological trends, such as health care
consuming over 15%, and rising, of all expenditures in
our economy. Each of these trends is a challenge to your
clients and it is likely they expect you to know about
them as well. That's part of what IMC NCR is about,
helping our members to "Get Smart, Get Friends, and
Get Business."
What's New This Month
- 4 new IMC NCR members
- 2004 North American Conference for Management
Consultants judged one of the best IMC conferences
- Mentoring and Certification services for members
in full swing
- Baltimore Network Group of IMC meets the CEO of
Howard County Economic Development Authority at the
Howard County Business Resource Center - NeoTech
Incubator
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June - Appreciative Inquiry |
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Appreciative Inquiry: A Strengths-Based Approach
to Change.Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is an
approach to change that enables individuals and
organizations to achieve leaps in satisfaction and
productivity by focusing on successes. AI is based
on the principle that change happens more quickly
and effectively when you identify and build on what
is working right, rather than focusing on what's
wrong. This approach generates commitment and
creative solutions to organizational challenges by
identifying and amplifying successes and best
practices.
Are you looking to create positive change in your organization? Your
client's organizations?
Would you benefit from an innovative and
powerful way to address organizational challenges?
Would you like to develop and sustain abundant
business opportunities?
Join us for this interactive session where you will
learn about AI and apply it to generating new
business opportunities for yourself and your
organization. You will experience the AI process,
learn about the research that supports its success,
and identify ways for you to apply AI in your work.
Our speakers are Mike Feinson and Tony Silbert.
Mike is principal consultant of Engaged Strategies.
He coaches and consults to individuals and
organizations in areas that include leadership and
team development, recruitment and selection, and the
design and implementation of change initiatives.
Tony is President of T3 Consulting, an
organizational development practice that focuses on
Transformation, Talent, and Teaming. Tony and Mike
are Partners and Co-owners of Appreciative Inquiry
Consulting, LLC-a virtual global consultancy
promoting positive change.
More details about the program and speakers can
be found on the
IMC NCR website.
Summary of Last Month's Program. In May,
Dr. Joan Cassidy talked about how you can showcase
your expertise through speaking. She described
specific strategies to find out what types of
speaking styles and topics might best fit you, how
to develop a steady stream of relevant and
interesting topics, how you can most effectively
market yourself, and what steps you should follow to
develop good platform mechanics.
Register online now for this month's program »
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Professional Development |
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Upcoming Monthly Chapter Programs
July 8 - CEO Roundtable: Why and How We Use Consultants
August 12 - Selling Professional Services:
Developing Your Own Strategy
September 9 - How to Develop Strategic Alliances
That Bring in Business (by Alan Weiss, who will
present a full-day professional development workshop
on
Friday, September 10 on Increasing Revenue
Through Value-Based Fees)
IMC Competency Framework. IMCs (both US
and in other countries) have identified six core
behaviors for competency in management consulting.
These are:
- Professionalism and Ethics
- Complexity and Responsibility
- Personal Growth
- Analytical and Pro-active Thinking
- Interpersonal Interaction, and
- Delivery Effectiveness
These professional behaviors, in addition
to sector specialization and technical discipline,
are the basis of a professional. This is what the
Certified Management Consultant (CMC) designation is
intended to provide. IMC NCR has a program to help
members develop these competencies and support your
pursuit of the CMC designation. Contact IMC NCR
Certification Chair
Harry Feely
CMC (at harry.feely@verizon.net) for more
information.
Ethics Watch. The Gallup Organization has
confirmed what you suspected, that American values
are not what they could be. A
recent poll revealed that 4 of 5 adults think
American morals are fair or poor, and are likely to
get worse. Negative attitudes are best for younger
adults, who have less experience with better morals
of the past. Lest you think this is a political
issue, these results do not differ between Democrats
and Republicans. For consultants, this presents a
problem, in that clients and colleagues need
tangible evidence that your values are better than
average. Reread the IMC Code of Ethics, include it
in your proposals, and follow it.
I'd like some more information on IMC NCR workshops
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Membership/Member Services |
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New Chapter Members. Please welcome 4 new
chapter members: Alicia Rodriguez, Sophia Associates
(Annapolis, MD); Kevin Gooch, Booz Allen Hamilton
(McLean, VA); Olajubu Adepeju (Arlington, VA); Molly
Wilmer, Vision Strategic Marketing & Communications
(Annapolis, MD).
Baltimore Network Group. At our May
meeting, we reviewed a sales model for consulting
services as a precursor to the August IMC NCR
program on developing competencies in selling
(intangible) professional services. We reviewed the
buying cycle, how to bypass resistance, and some
unconventional strategies to find common ground with
your prospect.
The Baltimore Network Group of IMC will have its
next meeting on Friday, June 18, from 8:00-9:30am,
at the Howard County Business Incubator. Our hosts
will be Mr. Richard W. Story (CEO of Howard County
Economic Development Authority) and Ms. Cynetta
Cardwell (Manager of the Howard County Business
Resource Center). The
Howard County Economic Development Authority,
Center for Business & Technology Development,
Business Resource Center -
NeoTech Incubator, is at 9250 Bendix Road, North
Columbia, MD 21045-1800. Phone is (410) 313-6550.
See map. If you plan on attending, please
contact Beth Bloomfield by
email
or (410) 626-6008.
Joining IMC NCR. If you are interested in
finding out more about IMC member services and the
professional and business value of becoming a
member, contact us at
membership@imcdc.org.
I want to join IMC NCR or I know a prospective
member I'd like to introduce to IMC NCR »
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Marketing/Business Devt |
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Board of Trade Program on Rebranding. If you
are thinking about moving into new markets, changing
your approach to providing consulting services, or
just going for a "new look," or if one of your
clients is in the same situation, this calls for one
or more elements of a formal rebranding strategy.
The Marketing and Communications Executive Network
of the Greater Washington Board of Trade is holding
a panel discussion by senior marketing and
communication executives on rebranding. Panelists
will discuss their rebranding experiences - from why
their companies decided to rebrand to results
achieved and lessons learned. The moderator is
Ronald Alsop, Wall Street Journal news editor and
author of The 18 Immutable Laws of Corporate
Reputation: Creating, Protecting and Repairing Your
Most Valuable Asset. The session is on
Wednesday, June 16, from 8:15 - 10:00 am, at the
Coca-Cola Theatre in the MCI Center. See the
BOT website for details.
Prime Office Space and Affiliation Available.
Mallory Starr CMC and his group at the Watergate
Office Building now have two open offices to sublet.
His business includes the USS Sequoia (owned by the
group), a law firm, a distressed asset company and
marketing R & D. The reach of the work is US East
Coast, some Japan, China, and Korea projects. One
office is about 12 x 16, no window. The second one
is about 18 x 20 with a large window. The smaller
office can be rented for $800. per month and the
larger $1,200 per month. Also, the renters can have
joint venture opportunities with Mallory's group if
the fit and interest with the theme of our work and
theirs is right. Contact Mallory at (202) 337-6860
or (202) 333-0011.
Kennedy Consulting Webinars. As a lead in
to our July program on how clients select and use
consultants, Kennedy is offering
Defining Success: An Inside Look at How Clients
Identify Consulting Project Wins on Jun. 11,
2004 from 11am to 12pm. This Webinar answers
critical questions and discusses the implications
for future consulting growth: Who makes the final
hiring decision at the client? How does the client
quantify success in the face of hard-to-measure
consulting impact? Which fee structures are gaining
traction? Spend an hour distance learning from your
desktop.
See additional marketing resources on the IMC NCR
website »
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IMC USA and IMC NCR News |
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Member News. Alicia Rodriguez, a new IMC NCR
member this month, will be presenting a full-day
seminar on June 18 on Your Coaching DNA: A
Workshop on Coaching from "Who You Are" to Achieve a
Full Practice. This is not a coaching skills
workshop, but a coach- specific business oriented
workshop designed to build a foundation for and
support a thriving coaching practice. It is designed
for experienced coaches as well as those who want to
reenergize or redirect their practices. See the
Sophia Associates website for details or
download a
flyer.
IMC USA Website Continues Renovation. If
you haven't seen the
IMC USA
website lately, you are in for a pleasant
surprise. Brooks Hilliard CMC and Bill Stocking (of
websiterevamp.org) have put in tremendous
amounts of volunteer time to clean up and enhance
the site by adding more efficient layout, search
capabilities, and a members only area.
Click here if you have news to share or would like
to be featured in this newsletter »
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IMC NCR Website |
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Who's Looking For What on imcdc.org (updated
monthly)? There has been increasing traffic to
the website in recent months (as a result of
mailings to local consultants, our site traffic has
tripled from last year, to 3,000 unique visitors per
month). See
most searched for terms. We collect data for you
in two ways: (1) search terms visitors used in the
website search engines and (2) based on those
searches, whose consultant directory profiles
visitors clicked through to view.
IMC NCR Website Redesign. We are moving to
1and1 for our hosting, which will allow us to use
forms, set up a chat room, enhance a member database
and directory, and provide other functionality that
will provide more professional development, help us
network better, and improve our referral and
business development services. Your questions and
concerns about the new website are appreciated (send
to
webmaster@imcdc.org).
Web Tools. Convert text to PDF files. If
you want to offer downloadable documents from your
website or create and sell ebooks or reports, you'll
want to convert Word and text documents to PDF.
Adobe Acrobat costs a lot but there are free and low
cost options:
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Member Resources |
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Consultants and Authors. Washington
Independent Writers is having its 25th Annual
Writers Conference on June 4th and 5th at GWU. If
your consulting business could benefit from being a
writer or you are a web content writer, business
writer, magazine or book writer, novelist, poet,
publicist, screenwriter, journalist, etc. then this
is an event for you! There are 50 different
workshops and good networking opportunities. The WIW
Writers Conference brings together leading authors,
aspiring writers, magazine editors, publishers,
journalists, literary agents and other professionals
who help shape the literary and intellectual life of
the nation's capital and beyond. It is packed with
hands-on programs ranging from "How to PR a Book" to
"How to Write a Book Proposal." Novelist and
Pulitzer-winning film critic Stephen Hunter is
Keynoter, Ralph Keyes author of 12 books will serve
as Plenary speaker. For more details, please visit
www.washwriter.org .
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Join IMC-Develop Your Skills |
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IMC USA Mission: To promote excellence and
ethics in management consulting through
certification, education and professional resources.
IMCDC Mission: Get Smart, Get Friends,
and Get Business
Join IMC. If you're satisfied that IMC is
the right professional organization to help you "Get
Smart, Get Friends, and Get Business," then
join
IMC online. You will become a member of IMC
USA and may affiliate with any US chapter at no
additional charge.
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