July 10, 2020
Dear Everyone:
Friday
July 10, 2020
Dear Everyone:
About 65 years ago, a group of Records Management professionals got
together and formed the American Records Management Association (ARMA).
It was common in those days to form a “society” dedicated to some
business or charitable service or other.
In many cases, it was simply a good excuse to get out of the
house or office once in a while.
In this case, the idea was to bring together a loose collaboration of
individuals looking to incorporate ideas and establish some standards,
along with some sales people looking to sell equipment for managing
records. The idea caught on
and soon additional groups began to form Chapters in various areas.
The purpose of the local Chapters was to provide educational
opportunities and to disseminate information from the managing
organization commonly referred to as “Headquarters”.
One of the earliest local Chapters was the Golden Gate Chapter of San
Francisco. Eventually, the
Organization expanded beyond the United States to include international
Chapters. So they had to
change the name. Not wanting
to lose the well-known acronym, they settled on Association of Records
Managers and Administrators (ARMA), International.
Over time, ARMA held annual International Conferences which were
attended by many, many members.
Quite a few manufacturers also attended to show off their various
products for the use of discerning Records Managers.
One could spend many happy hours viewing the latest in filing
cabinets, manilla folders, color-coded label stock and the like.
Some of these “booths” covered quite a bit of territory.
If you’re showing off the most fashionable of metal filing
cabinets, it takes up a lot of footprint.
In addition, microfilming equipment became the ultimate in status
symbols among various organizations.
Companies like Minolta, Kodak, and Canon, better known in general for
their photographic cameras, erected enormous constructs to attract
attention, and frequently hired currently-out-of-work actors to promote
their microform products. In
time, ARMA complained that only the largest of venues could accommodate
their conferences.
I first heard of ARMA a little over three decades ago, when I had
recently joined what was then known as the Corporate Records Management
group. I was informed by my
new Supervisor that I would “naturally” join ARMA, since the Company
would pay for my membership dues and any and all local meetings that I
might “want” to attend.
Shortly before this happened, a group of Members decided that they would
prefer to meet near the south end of San Francisco Bay in a region that
had recently become known as “Silicon Valley”.
It made sense as this was where they both worked and lived; and
trekking all the way into San Francisco was a bit of a drag.
It was natural that they would dub their new organization the
Silicon Valley Chapter.
About ten years after I joined the Golden Gate Chapter, some people
began to question why they belonged to that particular Chapter.
Many of these people lived on the eastern side of San Francisco
Bay. Many of them also
worked on that side of the Bay.
As one individual said to me:
“Why should I go all the way into the City just to hear something
I already know?”
The answer, of course, was because that was where he could meet with
prospective customers, as he was a purveyor of equipment.
One enterprising individual looked into the matter and called a meeting
to propose a new “East Bay” chapter.
We couldn’t call it the “East Bay” chapter because that would
mean next to nothing to the people in Delaware, where all their bays
faced eastward, or in Chicago for that matter.
Someone suggested naming it after Mount Diablo, which is the highest
geographical point in the East Bay.
We liked it and that was that.
Over time, the membership swelled to around 50 Members.
Over the ensuing years, I voluntarily filled the positions of
Secretary, Treasurer and Vice President.
In the meantime, technology swept in and suddenly people didn’t need
large physical filing cabinets to hold all their information anymore.
Everything was on computers.
Likewise, scanning replaced microfilming for physical documents.
Large companies like Kodak vanished from the scene to be replaced
by software companies who needed far less space to promote their
products. The annual
conferences got a lot smaller.
At the same time, the Internet was replacing the need for costly
advertising for manufacturers.
So they had less reason to frequent conferences, or to sponsor
local Chapters. Membership
began to drop off. Fewer
people showed up for monthly meetings as they could access educational
opportunities far more conveniently from the comfort of their desk.
And now, of course, we have the Global Coronavirus Pandemic that has
neatly chopped off any question of members getting together physically
for any kind of meeting. The
Annual Conference was cancelled along with any plans for a “Spring
Seminar” here among the three Bay Area Chapters.
Back in March, our old friend “Clancy”, who has risen to the exalted
position of “Pacific Region Manager”, and who is finding himself with
less and less to “manage”, suggested merging the three Chapters back
down into one.
One might say that it was inevitable.
For myself, I think it’s a great idea.
Especially if it means less work for me.
Stay tuned for further developments…
Love, as always,
Pete
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