PRESIDENTS VIEW

In August, the "Early Bird" flier for the Chapter's annual conference was issued to our mailing list. The theme for this year's conference is "Transform : Change is the only constant".

One of my personal goals this year as President is to deliver events to provide facility managers with something a little bit extra, something aside from the standard technical seminars and visits we have previously offered. Whilst these events are invaluable and core to what we do, they do not always enable FM- ers to distinguish themselves. The conference and workshops we have lined up in November aim to change this.

We are surrounded by change in the companies we work for, or who we offer FM services to. Yet how well prepared is the FM to deal with this? Leading local and international speakers, experienced in leading and managing change, have been assembled to help prepare you for the changes and uncertainties that lie ahead both from an FM and general perspective.

To add greater value to the conference event, we have also arranged two half day seminars which will be worth attending in their own right.

Our conference brochure will be landing on your desks shortly but the date for your diary is Wednesday 2nd November, with two half day workshops to be held on the following day, Thursday 3rd November.

Both the conference and the workshops will be held at Hong Kong Cyberport.

The conference is bound to be popular and I would draw your attention to the fact that the early bird registration will end in early October, so be sure to register this month to secure your seat, together with the attractive discounts.

On the subject of conferences, I will be making the long haul over to Philadelphia next month to attend World Workplace. This exciting event will also be celebrating IFMA's 25th anniversary and is sure to be the global FM event of the year.

In this column last month, I reported on the Board's Vision and Mission Statements and the outcome of the Membership Survey. One of our Goals is to provide effective networking opportunities to all FM stakeholders and the Membership Survey also revealed some desire for the Hong Kong Chapter of IFMA to work closer with the other local FM institutions.