March 2010 Issue

APICS Update

New Criteria for Student Membership Processing
The APICS Board of Directors has approved new student membership criteria. Membership now is available only to those enrolled as full-time students—according to their educational institution’s policy—at an accredited college or university. To ensure proper processing of student membership, student applicants must submit a current course curriculum or schedule with their application or have their professor verify student status. Access the new APICS student membership application in C-BOX here.

Reminder: The APICS Payment Lockbox Has Changed—Update Your Records
The APICS lockbox for payments (membership applications and renewals, product sales, and conference registration) in Baltimore, Maryland, is closed and no longer being used. Any correspondence sent to the old lockbox will be returned to the sender.

Please be sure to tell your members that they must update their records to reflect that the new APICS lockbox is:

      APICS
      P.O. BOX 4050
      Carol Stream, IL 60197-4050

For your convenience, this downloadable flier may be used at your upcoming chapter or district meetings to help spread the word.

New APICS Career Center Resource: Ask the Career Coach
APICS members now can have their career-related questions answered by career expert Gary Capone of Palladian International LLC by accessing the APICS Career Center. Two questions will be featured each month, and all archived postings will be available online for easy viewing. Encourage your members to check out the featured question or visit apics.org/careercoach.

We need your ideas: What questions would you like to ask our career coach? Click here to let us know.

Best Practices

This is part one in a series of two articles.

The Keys to Successful Leadership (Part One)
Dissect any of the most progressive, high-performing APICS chapters, and you will find  effective leaders. A strong commitment, in concert with a healthy leadership style, is the common thread.

In their own words, the APICS District Managers share their lessons learned in this two-part series on successful leadership.

Ione M. Dykstra, CPIM
Heartland District Manager
“It is all about working well with the volunteers. APICS is an organization founded and sustained by the passion of its volunteers. Understanding the volunteer and knowing how to motivate them is key.”

Robert K. Kasserman, CPIM, CIRM, CSCP
Southeast District Manager
“Leadership can be defined in many different words. I have learned that there are a few critical paths for successful leadership: 

• Initiative—step up and do something. If it is wrong, learn from it, and improve.
• Attitude—a negative attitude will kill almost anything. A positive attitude can lead to unlimited possibilities.
• Understanding—know the situation through listening, observing, sharing, and doing.”
  

Barry McBurney
Mid-Atlantic District Manager
“Colleagues will have confidence in your decisions because they know that you have explored the subject thoroughly. Leadership is when people believe in your judgment and have faith in its outcome.”

John Newlyn, CSCP, CFPIM, CIRM
Pacific Western District Manager
“Trust is essential to leadership success. It needs to be a two-way street between leaders and followers. Relationships built on trust create an environment where learning is always a positive outcome from a situation whether it is a huge success, dismal failure, or something in between. Trust is the key.”

For questions or comments or to share your best practices, send your ideas to chaprel@apics.org.

Chapter Development

Promote Your Chapter’s Courses and Generate More Revenue
APICS launched the Chapter Course Listings Ad Campaign to effectively promote your chapter offerings throughout your area. With more than 30 keywords purchased for each district’s campaign, the chapter course listings have made more than 2.5 million impressions and sent more than 700 qualified leads for channel partner courses across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.

Ensure your chapter’s courses are listed in order to generate additional revenue. Complete the form now, or visit apics.org/sitefiles/forms/chapter_course_listing.html.

Information About the Proposed Distance Learning Program
In response to increasing interest from APICS channel partners in providing APICS certification review courses in an e-learning format, the APICS board of directors is considering offering distance learning to APICS channel partners.

APICS channel partners were invited to attend one of two Webinars that outlined program details and provided an opportunity for feedback from channel partners.

Additionally, Fox Valley Technical College hosted two Webinar demos for APICS channel partners to learn more about the proposed blended learning format.

Learn more about the program, view recordings of the informational and demo Webinars, and review a Q&A document on C-BOX. Click to learn more.

Important Reminder: The APICS CSCP Exam Deadline Is Approaching
The March/April APICS CSCP CBT exam window is March 13 to April 10, 2010. Encourage your members to find out more about the application, registration processes, testing locations, and exam dates. More information can be found at apics.org/cscp.

Use the APICS CSCP brochure for your chapter recruiting efforts as handouts at chapter meetings and educational events and as leave-behinds for corporate meetings. Order the 2010 APICS CSCP Brochure from the APICS bookstore (stock #04036V2010).

Q&A

Q. Our chapter orders materials from APICS Corporate and charges the materials to the chapter account. When can the treasurer expect to receive a copy of the chapter invoice?

A: When a chapter places an order and charges it to their chapter account, the invoice is mailed via USPS to the designated billing address on the chapter profile. (Invoices for Canadian chapters are e-mailed to the chapter designee.) An invoice is not generated until the order is shipped. Invoices are mailed each Friday for all orders shipped the previous six days. APICS payment terms are net 30 days from order ship date for all orders; however, as a chapter you are granted extended payment terms. The chapter’s credit status will not be affected if payment is received prior to the 61-day period.

Contact APICS District and Chapter Services at chaprel@apics.org or (800) 444-2742 x 5436 if you require invoice assistance.

Tools of the Trade

Volunteer Resources Makes Room for C-BOX
The Volunteer Resources section of the APICS Web site has officially been replaced by C-BOX The Collaboration Toolbox for APICS Partners. This robust site will help you find best practices, templates, and guidelines for developing and maintaining successful APICS districts, chapters and International Associates. C-BOX provides shared resources and news for APICS channel partners to support delivery of APICS programs and services locally.

C-BOX can still help you find:

• chapter marketing materials
• chapter management tools
• past issues of Leadership Central
• access to My Chapter

Check what C-BOX has to offer at cbox.apics.org. If you need any assistance, contact Chapter Relations at chaprel@apics.org or call (773) 867-1778, ext. 5436.

Reminder: 2010 APICS International Conference & Expo Marketing Tool Kits Are Available
Promote APICS 2010 to your members with a variety of online and printed materials. From online and print ads to fliers, postcards, and more, the APICS 2010 Marketing Tool Kit can help you get started.

This just in! The APICS 2010 promotional PowerPoint presentation is available.

Reminder: 2010 APICS International Conference & Expo Marketing Tool Kits Are Available.

Newly Posted Resources on C-BOX
Take advantage of online tools, services, programs, and information for your chapter or district through C-BOX, the partner collaboration toolbox, at http://cbox.apics.org/Pages/default.aspx.

See this month’s resources below.

International, Marketing section
International Representatives Map

Membership, Program/Administration section
February Membership Summary Count Report
(Membership count reports also are found in the Chapter Leaders, Resources section.)

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