Tuesday, August 28, 2012

The World According to GARP

For those of us let's call it seasoned enough to have been watching films when The World According to Garp came out back in 1982, the post title might have conjured up an image of Robin Williams, as seen below. 

John Irving's best-selling novel about, what else?  A novelist.

That is NOT the Garp to which I'm referring. Instead, today's GARP reference is about best practices when it come to record keeping.  That's because Diane Wilkie, Commonwealth's Manager of Data Management, is laser-focused on seeing the the world according to GARP in order to provide our clients with the highest quality service.

Diane Wilkie, ECMP, ERMP


Diane writes:
 
In a few weeks I’ll be attending the annual ARMA conference in Chicago, September 23-25. This is THE annual event for records and data managers. I always look forward to the big glitzy opening, the diverse choices of educational sessions, and, of course, walking the gauntlet through the expo hall and trying not to come home with 20 pounds of pens, pads, stress balls, and assorted other free stuff the vendors are handing out that somehow makes its way into my conference bag.

While this conference doesn’t give me much chance to connect with our clients, it does give me the chance to connect with other records and data management professionals, share some of my experiences, and learn from some of theirs. Most importantly, it provides three days in which to completely immerse myself in learning and gathering information on the latest data management tools, so that I’m better prepared to provide the best possible service to our clients -- a goal to which I'm deeply committed.

This year my focus will be on using GARP® (Generally Accepted Record-Keeping Practices) to build better records retention policies, project strategies, and social media governance. As we all continue to store more and more data, organization, retrieval, and, ultimately, destruction, become more and more difficult to manage. Proper polices and strategies can help every organization better maintain their data and provide peace of mind to records and data managers everywhere.


You can learn more about the services Diane and the Data Management team provide by clicking HERE.

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Monday, August 27, 2012

E-Waste Day 2012


Volunteers getting ready to pack up another load.
 
It’s been another successful E-Waste drive for Commonwealth!  This past Friday, we delivered over 6 loads and 150 items to Recycling Jackson.  That's 150 items, including CPUs, monitors, printers, TVs, VCRs, and other items not destined for a landfill somewhere. 

A big THANK YOU goes out to all who participated either by donating or loading and hauling, especially: Gary Higbee, Tim Weeks, Chuck Walker, Jeff Arnett, Joe Lowden, Dan Heider, Brandon Kroth, and Greg Rupprecht.

Extra kudos go to Gary, Chuck and Dan for providing a truck. 

 

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Latest Happenings

So much has been going on around Commonwealth this past month!

In a nutshell, we've:
  • added staff in multiple offices
  • started a number of exciting new projects
  • been speaking at industry conferences
  • begun planning our Silver Celebration, which will take place on July 26 & 27, 2013
  • organized our upcoming fall Rockin' Roadside Cleanups in our Jackson, MI and Columbus, OH communities
  • exceeded our Commonwealth Cancer Crushers Relay for Life goal 
  • harvested our employee veggie garden to raise money for charity 
  • won a softball championship (see team photo below)

It's been a great summer here and we hope it's been equally terrific for you

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