Message from National BDPA President

Pamela Mathews

Hello everyone! Can you believe that we are already in the month of February? Time flies when you work with a controlled sense of urgency! This phrase best summarizes how your national and regional leadership performed in the month of January -- accelerating efforts around the following key activities:

• Appointed Coram Rimes as Vice President of Finance;
• Brand rejuvenation focused on visual optics and updating programming that will increase our member value proposition for current and prospective members, corporate partners, sponsors and students;
•  Registration or training opened for the High School Computer Competition, Mobile Application and IT Showcase programs. I encourage all students, trainers and sponsors to engage in one of these signature programs;
• Reviewed and confirmed organizational finances, including evaluation of 2014 Conference expenses and our plan of action to retire this debt; and
• The 2015 Technology Conference and Career Fair planning is underway and the team is positioned to deliver our best Conference ever. The discount conference registration rate of $300 has been extended until February 28th.

As you can tell, we are not just planning or talking about the tactics that bring our strategy to life, but we are EXECUTING. 2015 is most definitely all about execution and I hope that this energy transcends the entire organization, especially as we celebrate our 40th Anniversary.

In that same spirit, February is also the month we celebrate Black History. Our legacy is one that we can all be proud of and commemorate every day, but especially over the next twenty-six days. In addition, I am encouraging everyone to participate in local Black Family Technology Awareness Week activities.

Furthermore, please remember to renew your membership, register for the Conference and get busy with your local chapter. As a reminder, your local, regional and national leadership stand ready to listen, learn and lead based on your feedback and participation. Thank you in advance for your continued support and collaboration.

In closing, I want to THANK YOU again for the opportunity to serve our great organization as President and please feel free to contact me at info@bdpa.org if you have any questions, comments or concerns.

Sincerely,
Pamela L. Mathews, president
National BDPA