TAGITM, I Know the Answer to the Secret...

By Fay Young, PMP®, CGCIO™, Information Technology Director, City of Port Arthur

At each conference and summit, I always get the same questions:  Who puts all this together? Who decides what will happen at the conference/summit? How can my company become a sponsor? And how is all this paid for?

Having served on the Education Committee for many years, I could answer some of those questions, but many details still needed to be discovered.  I knew there was a TAGITM board and that CMP Management does a lot to help make things happen.  But there was still a lot that I needed to learn about how TAGITM functioned.

Becoming a committee chair allowed me to participate in board meetings.  Now, I have a much better understanding of how and why TAGITM (we, you, us, y'all) is growing and making great strides toward reaching the goal of becoming "the premier technology organization in Texas." Think about these facts:

• In less than three years, the number of participants at the annual conference increased by almost 100%. 
• The Education Committee had twice as many session proposals as in past years.  That means many more people wanted the opportunity to share with TAGITM members at the annual conference.
• Every conference sponsorship sold out in less than 2.5 hours.   Vendors were lined up for the opportunity to have us as an audience.
• An internationally acclaimed speaker gave the keynote for our conference.
• The moderator for our first "Women In Technology" breakfast was a 3CMA Communicator of the Year recipient.
• Federal and State organizations volunteered to share their time, knowledge, and experience with us.
• All those things didn't just happen. The secret answer to the "How" and "Who" of TAGITM is this:  A group of people like you volunteer their time, knowledge, energy, and heart to make it happen.

If you attended the business meeting at the conference, you saw the TAGITM board members.  Throughout the year, they have business meetings (like real business meetings) where the goals (based on your input), finances, programs, and well-being of TAGITM (the organization and individual members) are created, evaluated, and monitored.  And behind every board member, volunteer committee members work together to plan and implement the organization's goals.

The answer to the secret of what makes TAGITM work is a group of people (like you, us, y'all) with a heart to serve.  If you want to be an active member of the answer, complete a survey,  join a committee, and have fun helping the TAGITM community.