10 Career-Killers For IT Pros To Avoid

John M. McKee, president of BusinessSuccessCoach.net, gave an interview to Compuware about his suggestions to help IT professionals become more aware of potential career blunders.

McKee is the author of author of Career Wisdom: 101 Proven Strategies to Ensure Workplace Success. I encourage you to take a moment to read the full article with the 10 career-killers, as well as McKee's advice about how to recognize and avoid them.

1. Failing to have a life plan
2. Not keeping your skills current
3. Failing to deliver results
4. Confusing efficiency with effectiveness
5. Believing that you are irreplaceable
6. Knowing all the answers
7. Surrounding yourself with "brown-nosers
8. Forgetting to give credit to others
9. Failing to self-promote
10. Losing perspective

Do any of these career-killers hit home with you?

BDPA Legacy: Lauren Pemberton

Lauren Pemberton is a member of the defending national HSCC championship team from Southern Minnesota.

She joins 156 graduating seniors from Lourdes High School in Rochester MN. The local paper honored her as one of the top ten students in her graduating class. The article provides the following information:

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Lauren Pemberton, daughter of John and Elise Pemberton, participated in Math League, RYSA soccer, choir, Lourdes theater productions, the Youth Computer Training Program by BDPA Southern Minnesota chapter, mentored at Mayo Clinic Bioimaging Resource Lab and was an editor for the school newspaper. She was a National Merit Finalist, National Honor Society member and placed first nationally at the BDPA High School Computer Competition in 2005 and 2007. She volunteered at Quarry Hill. She plans to attend Rice University in Texas and study engineering.

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The BDPA Foundation is proud to note that Lauren will be one of the most honored Bemley Scholars in our 15-year history! Take a moment to share your COMMENTS for posterity and for Lauren if you have time or inclination!

BDPA Scholarships Sponsored by Bank of America

Deadline Extended Until June 30, 2008 for applications!

Do you know any BDPA student members graduating from high school this year in need of a $2,500 scholarship??
The BDPA Education & Technology Foundation joins with Bank of America to award up to six BDPA scholars with a one-time $2,500 scholarship that may be used to pursue an information technology related degree at an accredited school of your choice.

The purpose of the BDPA Scholarship sponsored by Bank of America is to recognize outstanding high school senior students of color who have an interest in information technology. We are looking for high school seniors that make significant contributions to society, excel academically, show exceptional leadership potential and make an impact through service to their communities.

The $2,500 scholarship may be used to supplement benefits from the academic institution a student plans to attend and fellowships from other foundations or organizations. Students may use the scholarship to cover the cost of tuition, fees, books, room and board and other college-related expenses.

Scholarship winners will be selected based on application, essay, and letters of recommendation. BDPA Scholars will be notified no later than June 16, 2008.

What are you waiting for? Share this information with any BDPA student how is graduating from high school this year!

Grant Proposal: Key Foundation

Key Foundation, through its corporate contributions and volunteerism supports organizations that foster economic self-sufficiency. Grants from the Key Foundation fund programs that enhance economic self-sufficiency in priority areas of financial education, workforce development and diversity.

BDPA Foundation joined with BDPA Cleveland chapter to submit a $21,145 grant proposal to Key Foundation today. The president and founder of our BDPA Cleveland chapter met with Key Foundation executives earlier this month. Hopefully, that face-to-face session improved our chances for success with this grant proposal.

Coram Rimes (Prudential) * BDPA Epsilon Award for Community Service

Coram Rimes recently won the BDPA Epsilon Award for Community Service.

Coram gives of himself to help others in many ways. For example, he assisted two high school students gain full scholarships to the New Jersey Institute of Technology. As BDPA New Jersey chapter education department director, he provided seminars to students and their parents on college admissions and the financial aid process. Coram currently serves as a member of the Orange (NJ) City Council ... a position the citizens of Orange have trusted him with since 2000.

Coram earned a B.A. from Fordham University, Master Degree in Information System from Polytechnic University and a Master in Public Administration from Rutgers University. He is currently enrolled at New Jersey Institute of Technology working on a Masters in Business Administration.

Coram has over 30 years of professional experience managing data center environments, information technology audits, and corporate physical security areas. He led major projects dealing wih a wide range of IT issues, such as Smart Card Technology, at Prudential Financial. He constantly implements cross-training techniques while automating processes and workflows that lead to improved production processes for his area. Currently, Coram manages the Corporate ID Card Administration area for Prudential Insurance. As such, he is responsible for all physical access to all Prudential Insurance buildings across the nation.

I consider Coram a friend and colleague. He truly deserved this award. Do any of you have any 'Coram-stories' that can be shared with us?

This Week in BDPA (May 26-June 1)

Our foundation seeks to support BDPA programs and services. As such, it is important that our blog readers know about the plethora of BDPA activity all around the country. Here is a weekly preview of upcoming events gathered from the BDPA CollectiveX Calendar and elsewhere:

• May 27: Philadelphia - Lunch'n'Learn, 'A Conversation with Monique Berry'


• May 27: Dallas - Program Meeting, 'Identity Theft: How Secure Is Your Credit Using Today's Technology'


• May 28: Atlanta - Program Meeting, 'Avoiding Flawed Requirements Before They Derail Your Project, Company or Career'


• May 30: College Park, MD - Student Summer Program, 'Passport Program Applications Due Today'

We encourage all BDPA leaders to take advantage of the BDPA CollectiveX Groupsite Calendar to post your upcoming events! Please let us know of other BDPA events that we may have missed. Most importantly, let us know if you plan to attend any BDPA events this week.

Finally, if you like what you are seeing ... please consider making an online donation to the BDPA Foundation so that we can continue to fund these events in the future.

Clifford Clarke is Fort Wayne's CIO

Clifford Clarke is past president of BDPA Ft. Wayne chapter. He serves as the chief information officer for the city of Fort Wayne.

Clifford is often blogged about by the Fort Wayne African American Independent Woman. In fact, it was on her blog that I came across this video interview of Clifford:



Clifford is an example of the talent that exists within BDPA. What did you think of his interview?

2008 BDPA Technology Pre-Conference Brochure

Do you have your 2008 BDPA Technology Pre-Conference Brochure yet? This publication provides you all the details about the conference experience including keynote speaker bios, conference schedule, adult workshop details, registration info, hotel information and much more!

Call (800) 727-2372 if you have questions or wish to discuss further!

Student Training & Scholarships (Washington DC)

This year, BDPA's national High School Computer Competition (HSCC) will be held in Atlanta, GA during the National BDPA Technology Conference, August 6-9, 2008. Final competition teams selected to represent Washington DC and Northern Virginia will be made up of 3-5 students each. However, other students will be eligible to participate in BDPA's annual Youth Technology Camp (YTC). The competition team also will enjoy an all-expense paid trip to the national conference.

All students will be allowed to participate in the YTC and other planned student activities. The competition team will compete with other BDPA chapter teams throughout the United States developed web applications, mastering computer theory, conducting oral presentations and publishing their team's deliverables during written competition.

The top five teams will win college scholarships, computer hardware and software. The BDPA Foundation may extend scholarship awards to the top six teams in 2008. BDPA Washington DC student members and HSCC students will be afforded an opportunity an opportunity to participate or attend this year's TeraGrid Conference and Supercomputing 2008 (SC08) Expo later this year.

BDPA student memberships also are available to area students at a very nominal annual fee of only $15 for full-time students. Join a local BDPA Chapter or start a small Chapter Interest Group within your school today.

Bowie State University will host this year's BDPA Regional HSCC and IT Showcase on Saturday, June 21st.

[NOTE: Reprinted from May 2008 issue of BDPAToday ]

Scholarship Information for Black Students

We seek applicants for BDPA Scholarship sponsored by Bank of America and Eli Lilly Scholarships for BDPA Students.

We also want to inform you about BlackStudents.com, an online destination for Black students that provides a streamlined experience when locating and applying for scholarships and internships online. Each week the latest opportunities are posted on the site with links to apply directly to the program.

Some other features on the site include a free student loan calculator, PSAT/SAT secrets, a directory of Black College profiles, and various articles answering student FAQs.

Dante Lee created the website back in 2003. He states, "Having put myself through college on scholarships and financial aid, I know how important it is for students to have access to this information. My personal search would have been that much easier if I had a tool like this when I was in high school."

BlackStudents.com also offers a weekly newsletter with scholarship and internship information that parents and students can get in their email.

Some of you have asked the BDPA Foundation about other scholarship opportunities. Of course, we encourage you to visit our BETF Scholarship webpage for current scholarship information. Have you had a chance to check it out?

Grant Declination: Eli Lilly & Company Foundation

We learned today that our $17,000 grant proposal to Eli Lilly & Company Foundation on behalf of our BDPA Indianapolis chapter has been turned down. Lilly Foundation wrote, "On behalf of the Board of Directors of Eli Lilly and Company Foundation, we regret to inform you that we will not be able to fund the following program or project (High School Computer Competition). Thank you for submitting your request to the Eli Lilly and Company Foundation. We wish you well in finding the resources you need to carry out your important work."

We are working with the chapter on other possible funding sources. However, we could use your support. Please consider making a donation to BDPA Foundation today!

This Week in BDPA (May 19-25)

Our foundation seeks to support BDPA programs and services. As such, it is important that your blog readers know about the plethora of BDPA activity all around the country. Here is a weekly preview of upcoming events gathered from the BDPA CollectiveX Calendar and elsewhere:

• May 20: Charlotte - Program Meeting, 'A Conversation with Vaughn Moore'
• May 21: Philadelphia - Program Meeting, 'SAP: Nothing But Net'
• May 22: Washington DC - Program Meeting, 'Security Clearances'

We encourage all BDPA leaders to take advantage of the BDPA CollectiveX Groupsite Calendar to post your upcoming events! Please let us know of other BDPA events that we may have missed. Most importantly, let us know if you plan to attend any BDPA events this week.

Finally, if you like what you are seeing ... please consider making an online donation to the BDPA Foundation so that we can continue to fund these events in the future.

Agile Methodology (Philadelphia)

BDPA Philadelphia is the 6th largest chapter in the nation. They plan to grow their membership significantly in the coming months by providing program meetings that help advance the careers of African Americans in the IT industry. The June 2008 program meeting will focus on Agile Methodology, an iterative approach to software development. The presenter will be Ramon Davila, who is a senior architect at Siemens Medical Solutions.

Attendees at this program meeting will cover the following agenda topics:

• What is Agile development?
• A bit of History
• Plan Driven Development (Waterfall)
• Iterative Development
• The Agile principles
• Plan driven development vs. Agile development
• Agile Roles
• Agile Methodologies
• The Case in Favor of Agile methods

Attendees are encouraged to bring resumes or business cards. Every program meeting is an opportunity for power networking. There will be IT recruiters in attendance.

The logistics of this meeting are as follows:

Date: Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Time: 6:00 pm
Location: CIGNA, 2 Liberty Place
16th and Chestnut Streets, Phila. PA 19101

Don't procrastinate! You can RSVP online or call (215) 844-3235 to ensure that you have a seat at this program meeting!

Twitter 3rd-Party Applications

I recently made decision to use Twitter. I had the account for over a year, however, I wasn't really a tweeter. I added widgets on my BDPA Foundation and Electronic Village blogs that shares my tweets with interested blog readers. Currently, I follow 50 people on Twitter and there are 56 people that follow me.

I have become much more interested in 3rd party applications as a result of my recent forays into Twitterville. Therefore, I was very intrigued by a recent post from Kim Beasley that shared a short list of great 3rd-party applications for Twitter. Kim wrote,

"If you haven’t started using Twitter yet then you are missing out on a great way to network online. I decided to try out Twitter a couple of month ago but I didn’t do much with it until with the last week. Admittance to being addicted is a mild way to explain how much I love Twitter. Let me share a few details about Twitter, keep in mind that when I say Tweet it means that you have just sent a message via Twitter. A person who uses Twitter is a Tweeter. The entire network or universe of Twitter is called Twitterville. Meeting people offline is called a TweetUp.

OK, enough about my love of Twitter and onto the 3rd-party applications (apps) that you can get that will work well with Twitter. Below is a short list but look for more details about the entire list that will be released soon.

• Twhirl: offline program that will allow you to send tweets from your desktop


• TweetLater: online website that will all you to automatically except followers and to schedule your tweet for future release


• TweetBurner: online website that will allow you to track the activity of links that you post to Twitter


• Twitterfeed: online website that will send RSS feeds to your Twitter account

Are you on Twitter?

Lunch'n'Learn (Philadelphia)

Learn about BDPA, network with your colleagues over a midday meal, share the lessons you've learned and get some new ones during this informal networking lunch with the BDPA Philadelphia president, Monique Berry.


Here are the logistics for the Lunch'n'Learn session:

Date: Tuesday, May 27, 2008
Time: 11:45 AM
Location: Ruby Tuesday,
11 Matthews Rd, Malvern, PA 19355
(610) 651-0203
You can RSVP online or by phone (215.844-3235).

Laptop Raffle and Workshops at 'Families in Technology' Day (New Jersey)

I have to smile when folks ask me what BDPA is all about. I've been a member of the organization for over 20 years. I see what is being accomplished in our 50 chapters on a regular basis. BDPA New Jersey is the 11th largest chapter in the nation. BDPA New Jersey, BDPA Education & Technology Foundation, Merck & Company and Prudential worked together to obtain up to 200 laptop computers to raffle off to students later this month.

The 5th Annual 'Families in Technology Day' hosted by BDPA New Jersey and the New Jersey Institute of Technology takes place on May 31, 2008. The theme for the day is 'Technology Awareness = Community Empowerment'. There will be technology workshops and other activities sponsored by Public Services Enterprise Group, Microsoft and UBS Investment Bank.

Students in grades 3-12, accompanied by their parents are eligible for the FREE LAPTOPS!

Students must submit a paragraph on how they can benefit from the use of a laptop. The paragraph must consist of at least four sentences. Originality, sincerity and good grammar are important. Paragraphs must be emailed to BDPA New Jersey chapter by May 23.

We encourage you to attend this remarkable event if you have time or inclination. Here are the logistics:

Date: Saturday May 31, 2008
Time: 9:00 am - 3:00 pm

Location: New Jersey Institute of Technology
Kupfrian Hall
University Heights
Newark, NJ 07102

There will be technology workshops for everyone 'from the classroom to the boardroom'. Informative lectures, cultural entertainment and other giveaways will fill the day for all attendees. Also, it is worth noting that continental breakfast & lunch is available for all attendees.

You can RSVP or ask any more questions by email or phone (888.203-5073).

A Conversation With Vaughn Moore (Charlotte)

BDPA Charlotte is the 14th largest chapter in the nation. They promote and develop IT professionals in a number of ways, including a very active monthly program meeting schedule. The May 2008 program meeting is entitled, 'A Conversation With Vaughn Moore'. Mr. Moore is a senior vice president with Wachovia. In his current role, Vaughn currently serves as the Senior HR Business Partner for the Finance Division of Wachovia. He is responsible for the delivery of Human Resource solutions to the Chief Financial Officer and other executives across Wachovia Bank.

Attendees are encouraged to bring their current resume. Wachovia Recruiting agreed to provide free technical resume review for all attendees.

The logistics for this event are as follows:

DATE: Tuesday, May 20, 2008
TIME: Resume Review 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
Program Meeting 7:00pm – 8:00 PM

LOCATION: Sugar Creek Library, Francis Auditorium
4045 North Tryon Street, Charlotte, NC 28206

Admission is Free! We encourage you to come out and gain valuable insight and career advice that will give you the competitive advantage in these challenging economic times. For more information you can reach out to BDPA Charlotte by email or phone (704.654-8114).

HSCC Testimonial: Marcellus Sims (2006-2007)

We are actively reaching out to over 1,000 HSCC alumni from around the nation. We want to ensure that they are still engaged with BDPA. And we love it when they share their stories!

Our latest HSCC testimonial comes from a young man who represented BDPA Philadelphia chapter in the national competition held in Los Angeles (2006) and Washington DC (2007).

Please enjoy his testimonial:

"Hello my name is Marcellus A. Sims and I attend Bodine High School for International Affairs. I have been with BDPA Philadelphia chapter since 2003 and have benefited from them greatly.

BDPA has really given me guidance in what I attend on majoring in while in college, which will be computer science. Without BDPA showing me all the great thing that are out there for computer science graduates I probably would have went in a different directions. The guidance that people showed me in BDPA have made me look at things in a different way then looking at the normal Doctor or lawyer career.

The HSCC program has really given me an opportunity to succeed in life and to do bigger and better things in life. The people in BDPA want us as participants, not to just learn programming but to learn life skills and a passion for the computer industry. BDPA teach us to look at things out of the norm, so that we can stand out of the crowd. This way allows us show people our talents and that we just don’t follow the crowd. BDPA also gives life skills that we will us later in life.

Technology is taking over the world and being used in everyday life and BDPA teaches us everything we need to so when we enter college and eventually our careers, we will already be prepared. Without this program, I would not be the same young man writing you. This program has given me a lot and I plan on giving back to them when I get a chance."

Share some BDPA-Love in the COMMENTS section with young Marcellus!

This Week in BDPA (May 12-18)

Our foundation seeks to support BDPA programs and services. As such, it is important that your blog readers know about the plethora of BDPA activity all around the country. Here is a weekly preview of upcoming events gathered from the BDPA CollectiveX Calendar and elsewhere:

• May 13: Memphis - Program Meeting, 'What Can BDPA Do For You?'
• May 14: Los Angeles - Program Meeting, SDLC Knowledge: Preparing for Recession Times
• May 15: New York - Program Meeting, 'Cybercrime: How to Prevent It'
• May 15: Cincinnati - Program Meeting, 'Why Is Project Quality Important?'
• May 17: Richmond - Fundrasier, 'Mastering the Mix in May'

We encourage all BDPA leaders to take advantage of the BDPA CollectiveX Groupsite Calendar to post your upcoming events! Please let us know of other BDPA events that we may have missed. Most importantly, let us know if you plan to attend any BDPA events this week. Finally, if you like what you are seeing ... please consider making an online donation to the BDPA Foundation so that we can continue to fund these events in the future.

Grant Recipient: National BDPA ($2,975)

The BDPA Foundation approved $2,975 grant funding to National BDPA's member services business area. The funds will be used in two areas:

1. BDPA International IT Corps - BDPA seeks to add a new program to the Student IT Education & Scholarship (SITES) program that would call for summer swaps of HSCC students in American with technology-aware students in Africa. Phase I of the project calls for Norman Mays to attend Sullivan Conference in Tanzania to identify educational institutions for BDPA to partner with on this project. BDPA Foundation provided $2,000 in funding to support this project.
   
2. BDPA IT Institute - We are providing $975 in hardship scholarship funding to support tuition for three students in the Spring 2008 session of BDPA IT Institute. These students will begin their distance learning certification process on May 12, 2008.

Please consider making tax-deductible donation to the BDPA Foundation so that we might continue to fund these programs in the future. We need the funds in order to advance the careers of African Americans in the IT industry from the 'classroom to the boardroom'. What are you waiting for? Make a small donation right now!