Midland Branch AGM and Starting out on the right foot

The Midland branch held its Annual General Meeting on 23rd May 2011 in the Holiday Inn, Coventry followed by a presentation by John Zachar. The current committee members were presented to the 36 delegates and accepted as branch and chapter representatives for the next twelve months with the exception of Gerry Gough who stood down as the branch chairman.  Gerry was succeeded by Paul Christmas, the current Derby chapter chairman who has now taken on the challenge of the Midland branch with the same spirit and determination he has given to his chapter.  Gerry will be retiring later this year and felt that he needed time to settle into his new lifestyle which is going to be a project and a challenge in itself.  He was afforded a vote of thanks for his dedication and commitment during his tenure and will be sadly missed by those who have worked hard with him to ensure the measurable success of the branch.

Formalities out of the way the guest speaker John Zachar, a well established speaker  introduced his presentation with the challenge of buying a Rolls Royce for 35 which then lead into the main topic of Project initiation and starting out on the right foot.  John interactively engaged the audience with some rather challenging directives which, as usual raised a good and positive level of debate.  As the title suggests, project initiation is all about setting out on the right foot but always remember that there are some hidden minefields to step on if you ignore at your peril some of the potential traps without robust checks and balances being implemented.

Johns presentation resulted in some very positive comments from the delegates attending particularly on the way he grabbed an in-depth topic and brought it to the surface of reality.  Many of the delegates left with food for thought and certainly some new alternatives for when they have run out of ideas.

Johns presentation can be found at the link below.