Society for Information Management
Society for Information Management is a professional organization of over 5,000 senior information technology executives, Chief Information Officers, prominent academicians, selected consultants, and others.
History
The idea of SIM began during a break session at the Association for Computing Machinery conference held in Las Vegas in August 1968. A conversation between Robert Head with the Software Resource Group and Herb Schwartz with the United States Atomic Energy Commission ensued on how current professional societies did not emphasize the managerial aspects of computing enough nor did they serve as a good communication mechanism between data processing managers and executive managers.That conversation was the basis for the formation of The Society for Management Information Systems which in 1982 became the Society for Information Management.
A founding committee was formed and the first meeting was held on November 22, 1968, at the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission in Washington D.C. The founders included Joseph P. Cunningham, Richard E. Dooley, Dr. James C. Emory, Robert B. Forest, Robert V. Head, Dr. Alan J. Rowe, James G. Rude, M.H. Schwartz, Robert G. Stevens, W. Robert Widener and Robert K. Wilmouth.
The first conference titled "Bridging the Gap Between the Management Function and Information Technology" with 250 attendees was held at the University of Minnesota on September 8–9, 1969.
Current and Past Presidents or Chairs
1969 Robert V. Head 1970 Robert V. Head 1971 M.H Schwartz 1972 Dr. James C. Emery 1973 Richard E. Dooley 1974 Gerald M. Hoffman 1975 James G. Rude 1976 Dr. Daniel Teichroew 1977 Herbert Z. Halbrecht 1978 Reed Phillips | 1979 Richard E. Mahin 1980 Dr. C.W. Getz 1981 Robert J. Jirout 1982 Frederick S. Haines 1983 Darwin A. John 1984 Dr. Robert A. Rouse 1985 Carl C. Williams 1986 Peter W.C. Mather 1987 Thomas E. Morin 1988 Paul Berger | 1989 John M. Hammitt 1990 Larry Burdin 1991 John Owens 1992 Patricia Wallington 1993 Robert Rubin 1994 Warren Harkness 1995 Harvey Shrednick 1996 James Kinney 1998 John Stevenson | 1999 June Drewry 2000 June Drewry 2001 Raymond Hoving 2002 Steve Finnerty 2003 Ed Trainor 2004 Nancy Markle 2005 Dave Luce 2006 Stephen Pickett 2007 Jim Noble 2008 Bob Keefe | 2009 Peter Whatnell 2010 Patricia Coffey 2011 Patricia Coffey 2012 Jim Knight 2013 Jim Knight 2014 Eric Gorham 2015 Eric Gorham 2016 Kevin More 2017 Kevin More 2018 Caren Shiozaki 2019 Caren Shiozaki 2020 Joel Schwalbe |
Membership
Criteria
SIM’s wealth of information and outreach capacity is a direct result of its diverse membership. In addition to being IT leadership-focused, SIM membership spans across industries, concentrations and professions. To continue fostering a valuable membership experience, ensuring a quality exchange, and representative influence, SIM's four member categories are:Practitioner:
A senior-level IT professional in either a public or private sector organization meeting the following criteria:
Corporate/divisional head of a corporate or divisional IS organization.
Member of an IS management staff supporting corporate/divisional IS heads with key management roles, as certified by the head of the organization.
Academic:
A full-time university or college faculty member making a significant contribution to the IS field.
Consultant:
Leaders at the partner/principal level who influence the direction of their own company or their clients’ companies, and who directly contribute to the IS profession.
Other leader:
A non-IT executive such as vendor, recruiter or leader from another profession who has a major role in matters impacting strategic IT direction.
SIM adheres to a strict policy against marketing or commercial activity
Governance
Organization Leadership
Strategic direction for SIM is provided by the Society’s member-elected Board of Directors.Programs
Advanced Practices Council
Advanced Practices Council is a forum for senior IT executives who commission exclusive research and share cross-industry perspectives. APC was founded in 1991 by Warren McFarlan of the Harvard Business School.SIM's Annual Conference
From 1995 to 2002, the conference was called SIM Interchange Annual Conference.From 2003 to 2016, the conference was called SIMposium.
From 2017 to present, the conference is called SIM Connect Live.
Host Cities
1969 Minneapolis, MN 1970 Washington, D.C. 1971 Denver, CO 1972 Montreal, Quebec 1973 Chicago, IL 1974 San Francisco, CA 1975 New York, NY 1976 Chicago, IL 1977 Los Angeles, CA 1978 Washington, D.C | 1979 Minneapolis, MN 1980 Philadelphia, PA 1981 Denver, CO 1982 Chicago, IL 1983 San Diego, CA 1984 Chicago, IL 1985 Boston, MA 1986 Dallas, TX 1987 Seattle, WA 1988 Minneapolis, MN | 1989 Atlanta, GA 1990 New York, NY 1991 Chicago, IL 1992 Los Angeles, CA 1993 Washington, D.C. 1994 Salt Lake City, UT 1995 Boston, MA* 1996 San Francisco, CA 1997 Boston, MA 1998 Seattle, WA | 1999 Atlanta, GA 2000 San Diego, CA 2001 Philadelphia, PA 2002 Salt Lake City, UT 2003 New York, NY 2004 Chicago, IL 2005 Boston, MA 2006 Dallas, TX 2007 Memphis, TN 2008 Orlando, FL | 2009 Seattle, WA 2010 Atlanta, GA 2011 Orlando, FL 2012 Dallas, TX 2013 Boston, MA 2014 Denver, CO 2015 Charlotte, NC 2016 Mohegan Sun, CT 2018 Dallas, TX 2019 Orlando, FL 2020 Austin, TX |
- 1995 Hosted by the Boston Chapter at Disney World, Orlando, FL
SIM Women
In January 2007 SIM Women began with the New Jersey, NY Metro and Fairfield-Westchester chapters. In April 2007 the ladies of Philadelphia were added, and in February 2008 the ladies of Boston joined SIM Women as well. There was great participation from each new chapter. In May 2008 the ladies from Central CT and the DC/Capital area were added. In August 2008 the ladies of the Toronto and Raleigh chapters joined. In September 2008 the ladies of Tennessee, Central and South Florida chapters were asked to participate, and Atlanta and Alabama joined in October. In December 2008 the Wisconsin, Minnesota, St. Louis, and Northeast Ohio chapters were welcomed. In January 2009 ladies of Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, and Indianapolis joined the ranks. Chicago and Detroit ladies joined in the Spring of 2009. SIM women continued to add chapters every month and covered every SIMI chapter by June 2009.
To date, SIM Women has held monthly conference calls and multiple successful networking events. SIM Women’s conference calls are typically the last Wednesday of the month at 3:00 pm EST. Executive coaches, successful CIOs, and networking gurus are brought in to facilitate the calls and meetings. Topics covered included: Personal Branding, Peer Communication, Defining Your Personal Success, Internal Networking, Personal Accountability, Industry Visibility, and Mentoring Defined. SIM Women also rotates face-to-face networking events around the country.
Regional Leadership Forum (RLF)
Regional Leadership Forum is an intensive, ten-month leadership development program focused on creating authentic leaders. Since 1992 over 3000 graduates and more than 300 sponsors have found RLF the key to developing leadership effectiveness. RLF offers a curriculum of intense reading, open exchanges on leadership practices, and interactive learning focusing on team-building, creative thinking and listening skills.Founded by Richard Dooley, the first Regional Leadership Forum was held in Chicago in 1992 and was originally called the "SIM Chapter-Hosted Learning Forum".
Local Chapters and Leadership
The strength of the SIM Organization is built around local its local Chapters. There are currently 42 local chapters throughout the United States and Canada: https://chapter.simnet.org/homeBoston Chapter
The geographic area of Boston Chapter members consists of Eastern and Central Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and Rhode Island. The Boston Chapter of SIM was formed through the efforts of Dick Harris, John Dacey and Edgar Canty. In the Fall of 1976 Mr. Harris, who was then ClO at Colonial Gas, was at a meeting in Chicago at which SIM National was encouraging chapter formation. Harris obtained a listing of SIM members in the Boston area, and called Canty and Dacey to arrange an organizing meeting. The organizing meetings were held at Babson College through the Fall of 1976 and into the Spring of 1977 and, in addition to Harris, Canty and Dacey, involved Don Brown, Les Ball, Chris Bullen and Charles Hewitt.The first Boston SIM meetings began in the Fall of 1977 with the meeting locations alternated between Babson College and the MIT Faculty Club. Dick Harris was the first Chapter Chairman, and Jerry Kanter was the first speaker. The Articles of Organization were submitted to the Massachusetts Secretary of State’s office in May 1981, signed by Edgar Canty. The officers were Les Ball, President; Dave Callahan, Clerk; and Arthur Sarazini, Treasurer. Chapter Directors were Bill Synnott, John Dacey, Dick Harris and Dave Callahan. The Charter of Incorporation was received from national SMIS on June 18, 1981.
The Boston Chapter's programs include the MIT Sloan School of Management CIO Symposium, The Leadership Development Roundtable, SIM Silver, Sharpen the Leadership Saw, CIO Roundtables in both the Providence, RI and greater Boston areas, a Practitioner's Roundtable, a Consultants Roundtable, a Help Desk Roundtable and two all-day CIO Summits/Forums. It currently supports the following Outreach programs: Year Up, Teen Voices, Common Impact and Tech Boston.
Past and Current Presidents (Chair) of the Boston Chapter
Portland Chapter
The Portland Chapter of SIM was initially formed as a satellite of the Seattle SIM Chapter in 1996 through the efforts of Bill Harrison, Norm Alexander, Liz Alexander, Bill Henderson and Fred Pond. Independent since 1999, the Portland Chapter primarily draws members from the Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington areas but also has many active members from the Salem and Corvallis regions. As of mid-2012, the chapter boasts more than 170 active members. The region is home to 1.3 million people, over 20 colleges and universities, two professional sports teams and is a center for the apparel industry, especially footwear with such names as Nike, Keen, LaCrosse/Danner, and Adidas.Past and Current Presidents of the Portland Chapter
St. Louis Chapter
The St. Louis Chapter of SIM was formed in 2004 through the efforts of Bob Rouse, Eric Gorham, Judy Winkler, David Kocs, Terry Werner and many RLF graduates. The first meeting was held at Southwestern Bell in May 2004 with Darwin John as the speaker. Geographically, the chapter includes the metropolitan St. Louis region, including surrounding counties in Missouri and Illinois; the region is home to 2.9 million people, 16 colleges and universities, and 9 Fortune 500 companies.The St. Louis SIM Charter was received at the New York SIMposium in the fall of 2004. Since then many chapter members have served on national SIM boards and committees.
From its beginning the Chapter concentrated on leadership programs at monthly meetings. In 2006 it established the annual Leadership Workshop, a 2.5-day event featuring CIO leaders and networking opportunities. In 2007 Paul Klover organized the first Charity Golf Tournament; it annually provides scholarships for undergraduate students in greater St. Louis.
The Chapter is also the primary organizer of a large annual technology conference, Gateway to Innovation, which includes biotech, healthcare, government, and information technology. Drawing 1,400 participants, high-tech start-ups, 50 vendors and leading speakers, the conference provides a forum for the community to meet and highlight progress and developments. The conference also gives back into the local community, donating more than $825,00 since the first year.