While my hometown of Denver, Colorado is still experiencing winter weather, RIMS is heating up. In our mission to deliver the best in risk management content and meet our members’ great expectations, already this year, the Society has delivered several new reports that touch on some of the hottest topics. We have taken the temperature of our global community and will soon release our “Trending Now” topics for RIMS 2019 Annual Conference & Exhibition in Boston. On top of many other new initiatives, RIMS is definitely blazing a trail for risk management success.
RIMS committees, and the volunteers who work on them, deserve to be congratulated for their latest efforts. Our External Affairs Committee released a Legislative Review that examined the impact of varying marijuana laws throughout the United States. The Strategic and Enterprise Risk Management Council’s Tom Easthope authored a report titled, “Making Sense of Artificial Intelligence,” one of the hottest trends impacting our work. And, our Student Advisory Council worked in tandem with Spencer to design the “Spencer-RIMS Internship Manual for Organizations,” a step-by-step guide for getting approval for and developing meaningful risk management internships.
The heat wave of new content continued with another report titled, “Active Shooter Preparedness for Your Organization.” Highlighting opportunities for risk professionals and their organizations to identify warning signs of potential attacks, best practices in communication and pre-event training, the report also offers strategies to minimizes injuries, property damage and other uncertainties.
With RIMS 2019 just over a month away, the Society will announce its lineup of Trending Now sessions in the weeks ahead. Our Annual Conference Programming Committee – a team of risk professionals like yourself who are charged with selecting sessions for the conference – has identified 16 additional sessions that address issues we are managing right now. The sessions will include geopolitical risks and other global concerns, data, wearables, employment law, human trafficking and much more. Be sure to register for this can’t miss conference and the sessions you want to attend.
While, you can always count on RIMS Annual Conference to bring together experienced, highly-accomplished thought-leading professionals in this field, it also brings together a group of incredibly smart and dedicated students. We’re grateful to IKEA for providing the Spencer-RIMS Risk Management Challenge case study and excited to announce the nine university teams selected to compete in Boston. Congratulations to the University of Georgia; British Columbia Institute of Technology; Florida State University; St. Mary's University; Temple University; Butler University; Saint Joseph's University; Appalachian State University; and all the way from Beijing, Fudan University. We’re looking forward to introducing this group of future leaders to this amazing conference, our engaged Society and hearing their presentations.
RIMS Chapters continue to bring the heat with fresh, innovative and empowering initiatives that support local members. The RIMS ECHO (Enhancing Chapter Outcomes) program honors chapters that have successfully aligned their programming with RIMS’ strategic priorities to Innovate, Develop, Engage and Advocate for the global risk management community. This year, we proudly honor RIMS Broward County Chapter as our Chapter of the Year; RIMS Ontario Chapter (ORIMS) for innovation; our RIMS Arizona Central Chapter for resource development; our RIMS Central Texas Chapter for engagement; and RIMS Oregon Chapter for advocacy. Chapters are such an important part of this Society and play a big role in delivering value to members at the local level.
Finally, global warming is not the only climate change risk impacting our organizations. My remarks at the RIMS Japan Chapter’s Annual Meeting next week will also review the impact of rising sea levels, natural resource dependency and mounting environmental regulations. I am excited to share strategies to help risk professionals prepare for these dynamic climate risks and meet with professionals in the region.
RIMS remains committed to meeting great expectations by blazing the way for risk professionals with new content that keeps them informed, educated and prepared for whatever might come next. You are integral to our success and we sincerely appreciate your contributions and support.
Sincerely,
Gloria Brosius, RIMS-CRMP
RIMS 2019 President