BDPA Washington DC is currently the 5th largest chapter in the nation. However, I learned last night that the chapter is working hard to move up to the 2nd spot before the end of the month. This is one of the lofty objectives laid out by the DC chapter president, Perry Carter. Perry and I sat down this morning for a couple of hours to discuss BDPA's legacy and its future. I have known Perry for some 15 years. Once upon a time I supported Perry's efforts to publish I-Plus, a BDPA glossy magazine. I was very happy to see Perry take on the challenge of becoming the chapter president in Washington DC. He is a brother with both a visionary mind and the military training to implement his visions in the field. It is no wonder that his chapter was able to successfully host the BDPA Technology Conference in 2007 and is growing its membership to such high levels in 2008.
Anyhow, last night I spoke to Perry's chapter about ways that members can use BDPA to advance their careers. The dialogue that we engaged in with the audience ranged far and wide on issues such as networking, BDPA IT Institute, finding mentors, finding career opportunities, getting your boss to support your BDPA passions, high-performance computing and so much more.
One of the unexpected benefits of the meeting was the opportunity to see some BDPA legends in person. Gerald Peppers (past DC chapter president), Rudy Duke (past DC chapter president) and Dr. Jesse Bemley (HSCC founder) were in attendance. BDPA corporate sponsor representatives from AMARAM Technology (Vinson Palathingal, Breeze Johny), CCPace (Ron Peterson) and EDS (Morris Biggers) were in attendance.
Also, the attendees for this group donated a little over $500 to the BDPA Education & Technology Foundation to support scholarships and DC chapter programs. Suffice to say that it was an energizing evening. Heck, we had enough juice in the room that night to share some with the Washington Wizards ... as they won their NBA playoff game last night as well!
I look forward to visiting with other chapters over the coming weeks and months. We have a powerful organization and we need to work together to get the word out all over the nation. Let me know if you have any questions or wish to discuss ways that BDPA can advance your career by leaving a COMMENT below.
Anyhow, last night I spoke to Perry's chapter about ways that members can use BDPA to advance their careers. The dialogue that we engaged in with the audience ranged far and wide on issues such as networking, BDPA IT Institute, finding mentors, finding career opportunities, getting your boss to support your BDPA passions, high-performance computing and so much more.
One of the unexpected benefits of the meeting was the opportunity to see some BDPA legends in person. Gerald Peppers (past DC chapter president), Rudy Duke (past DC chapter president) and Dr. Jesse Bemley (HSCC founder) were in attendance. BDPA corporate sponsor representatives from AMARAM Technology (Vinson Palathingal, Breeze Johny), CCPace (Ron Peterson) and EDS (Morris Biggers) were in attendance.
Also, the attendees for this group donated a little over $500 to the BDPA Education & Technology Foundation to support scholarships and DC chapter programs. Suffice to say that it was an energizing evening. Heck, we had enough juice in the room that night to share some with the Washington Wizards ... as they won their NBA playoff game last night as well!
I look forward to visiting with other chapters over the coming weeks and months. We have a powerful organization and we need to work together to get the word out all over the nation. Let me know if you have any questions or wish to discuss ways that BDPA can advance your career by leaving a COMMENT below.
No comments:
Post a Comment