I am writing this letter just after our December 6 meeting. Wow - what an event - and what a crowd!  I want to thank everyone that helped make it happen, especially our Vice President, Erik Friebolin, and our sponsor, Transcendent Group,

represented by Johan Lidros, Richard Sands, Jerry Riddle and Steve Kupersmith.   I love the cool Swedish pens!  Our speaker, Gene Fredriksen, was great and really knows his stuff.  Thank you, Gene, for sharing your knowledge with us and good luck in your new position as Global CISO of Tyco International.

     For those of you who are interested in exploring career opportunities there are several new postings on our chapter web site: http://www.westfloridaisaca.org   You will also see a new look for our chapter web site in the new year as we make the move to updated technology and features to enhance your experience when you visit our site. Thank you to Rich Pifko and Todd Schmiedeke for your evaluation assistance.

     As the year comes to a close, we are working to finalize and publish the event schedule for the upcoming year.  We will be experimenting with different formats, pricing arrangements, times of day, and days of the week.  We have heard good ideas from many of you about how to make our offerings more affordable and relevant.  Please keep the ideas coming.  We know how many other opportunities you have in your life for spending your time and your money.  This is a member-focused association and the board wants to make sure your membership is valuable and worthwhile.

     For those of you who have not renewed your membership please consider doing so as quickly as possible to ensure you continue to receive the many benefits of ISACA and this chapter.  We have lots of fun stuff planned for the spring and would not want you to miss out.  In addition to the upcoming events, have you heard about the new IT Governance certification offered by ISACA?  It is the Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT (CGEIT).  Now is the time to take advantage of the grandfathering provision before it ends on October 31, 2008.  I know that sounds like a long time in the future but you all know how quickly time flies.  I was one of those who missed the CISM grandfathering event and I had to take the test - arrgggghhhh (yes, I did pass, thankfully).

     And last but not least, your vote is needed for a new state of Florida song.  Yes, it is time to listen and vote on the song that you think most represents the state of Florida.  This is for real and the voting ends on January 10, 2008.  I have already cast my vote.  Frankly, I don't really like the orchestral nature of the tunes, I was hoping for something more of a Florida cracker banjo type of tune.   Remember, your kids are going to be learning this in school so pick something you'd want to hear sung by an elementary student.  Check it out at http://www.justsingflorida.org/

     I want to wish all of you a very Happy Holiday season and peace in the New Year.  I look forward to seeing you all at an event soon!

     Every year ISACA holds a regional Presidents' Council Meeting(PCM). Our chapter hosted last year's PCM in Tampa. This year, I had the pleasure of attending the Eastern Region PCM in Quebec City, Canada, hosted by the Quebec City ISACA chapter. The PCM is designed for chapter leaders to get together and discuss various topics and issues, share ideas, and network with other chapter leaders. We also get updates from national on various new things happening at the international level and how we can incorporate them in our chapters. Although this was my first PCM event, it is my second time attending an ISACA leadership event. I can honestly tell you that I have thoroughly enjoyed both events, and I am continuously amazed at the openness and generosity of fellow ISACA members. Not to mention that the events are just plain fun!

     This year's PCM event was especially important to me, as our local chapter is trying to make some significant changes to better serve our members. I wanted to talk with other chapter leaders to find out how their chapter dealt with certain issues and to get more ideas on how we could be doing things better. The events included roundtable discussions on a variety of topics such as marketing, membership, volunteers, and training events. It is always interesting to hear what other chapters are doing, the challenges they face, and their successes. Ana Valdez, one of our board members who also attended the event, gave a wonderful presentation on all the work she is doing to spearhead our marketing campaign. We also received some great information on what other chapters are doing with their marketing efforts. After long days of meetings and presentations, we were able to cut loose a bit and enjoy an evening out. During the evenings, we had dinner in the beautiful old downtown district of Quebec City. It is wonderful to get to know so many other people who are involved in ISACA.

     It is important that we continue to build and change our chapter to meet the needs of our members. PCM events provide a great venue to get and share ideas. As a result of this year's PCM, I plan to modify the format of our training, with more frequent, but shorter training events. I am also looking at ways to reduce the cost of training so that more people can attend. Because of some of the feedback I received from the PCM, we will look at new training formats to include roundtable discussions or webinars. These are all great ideas that are discussed and fostered at the PCM events, then hopefully implemented within each chapter.

      Certified as a CISA, ISACA has helped Pierre professionally by allowing him to pursue the certification, giving him the opportunity to prove to potential employers that he is dedicated to growing and learning. He feels that joining ISACA is one of the best things you can do for your career. "It's a great opportunity to network and know the latest trends with information security and the audit profession."

     Before I share my recent experience with you, I need to let you know that I have been a "paper" member of ISACA since 2000. I say paper because I have been very inactive until I moved to this chapter.

     This year, I decided to learn more about ISACA and decided to get more involved. I am a new board member in our chapter, heading up our marketing efforts. I wanted to better understand ISACA benefits to its members and I am glad I did. Not only has ISACA helped me by providing professional guidance in IT governance, security and assurance, it has also allowed me to know other professionals in the field that I can contact to use as references and have also established many professional relationships.

     Now that you have some background about me, I will move on to my story. As a board member, I had the opportunity to attend the annual regional leadership conference in Quebec City this past October. The experience was incredible! Although ISACA is a not-for-profit organization, it is managed as a business with the same areas you find in a for-profit company, such as customer service (e.g. member relations), marketing (e.g. recruiting new member and retaining existing members), and strategic planning (e.g. making ISACA a networking club worldwide). The leadership conference had participants from ISACA chapters in all over the Eastern US and Canada. Some chapters are larger than others - for example, the Washington DC and Toronto chapters are considered extra large chapters with over 2,000 members each. Each chapter regardless of its size had best practices to share.

     Two great chapter examples immediately come to mind. One chapter focused on academic relations by conducting a "College Night" program where ISACA chapter invited companies that were searching for talent and students who wanted to make contacts with potential employers; the event was a win-win for all. Another chapter conducted round tables for specific topics to leverage the knowledge base of the members. For instance, they had a SAP round table for learning more about SAP auditing, security and risks.

     At the ISACA international level, there is continuous growth as the profession matures and one indicator is the recent demand from IT Governance professionals for a new certification - CGEIT (Certified in the Governance of Enterprise IT). Until October 31, 2008, an experienced professional can be grandfathered in if certain requirements are met.  You can find out more at www.isaca.org and search keyword CGEIT.