FMCC President’s BLOG – April 2019 by David Reynolds

Thursday, April 11th, 2019

Welcome to the April blog. The blog this month is about what is going on in FMCC to promote the business of FM consulting as practiced by FMCC members. The theme this year is to think of consultants as a regular business resource to be used conveniently and economically. What especially distinguishes FM consulting from other services and products available to FMs is that consultants are accustomed to introducing viewpoints not previously held in the client organization, and equipped to follow up with innovations. FM consultants are, first and last, FMs. They must be able to implement innovations and obtain results, or to support the client in doing so.

Recently at FMCC – An ad hoc group of FMCC volunteers joined together in Q4 of 2018 to work toward a fresh, interesting, website with current information and to generate a newsletter directly from the website. We are well along with that work. This newsletter is a milestone. We intend that the website be the communications and reference hub about FM consulting for FMCC members, IFMA at large, and expanding into the FM world beyond IFMA. We welcome comments, suggestions, and reports of error or malfunction. We keep a to-do list and rework it often. Contact webmaster-fmcc@fmcc-ifma.org or editor-newsletter@fmcc-ifma.org. To contribute material to the website, see Contributing to FMCC.ifma.org below.

FMCC Goals and their background – FMCC came together in the first place for consultant networking in IFMA, then enlarged and strengthened as a center for FM knowledge and skills. Members (and almost all are still members) who brought these accomplishments are too many to credit here. The two themes, networking and knowledge/skills, are ongoing. Focus now is on consulting as an FM business resource, to be viewed and experienced by FMs everywhere as uniquely valuable, convenient, responsive, versatile, capable, and affordable. 

FMCC Strategies and Current Initiatives – Consultants and clients need to find one another then work well together. Two current initiatives are the the Consultants Directory in Engage and the Need a Consultant; Here’s How section of the website (or navigate to the top two links under Resources. 

FMCC Volunteers – 5 officers and 6 Regional Directors comprise the Board. All are volunteers. Eight volunteers produced the first version of the Here’s How guide, now the anchor for supplements and other materials devoted to finding and working with a consultant – an initiative adopted by volunteer Karla Reid, editor-heres-how@fmcc-ifma.org . Another volunteer group established an interactive consultant directory in Engage. At this point a new volunteer would be welcome to keep that directory current, expanding, and to promote its use by consultants and clients. Success breeds success. Get in touch? editor-heres-how@fmcc-ifma.org

FMCC Board members and program leaders, themselves volunteers, welcome members to take part in activities already underway or that they have in mind, or that a volunteer might propose. FMCC does not at present have a managed and promoted system for offering scopes of work for volunteers. That would be a good volunteer opportunity. Get in touch? secretary-fmcc@fmcc-ifma.org
Members interested in volunteering in their global region, please get in touch with your regional director (https://fmcc.ifma.org/about-fmcc/board-of-directors/ and scroll down to Regional Directors)

FMCC Value Proposition for Sponsors –  Sponsorship can be an attractive opportunity for businesses and organizations connected with FM. Our brochure contains details and contacts, or you can go directly to https://fmcc.ifma.org/about-fmcc/sponsors/ 

Sponsorship can be and do more than financial help in exchange for frequent mention at events, on the website, and in publications. FMCC members take interest in sponsors who step in to take part in FMCC activities. In global regions, sponsors may contribute in kind, with a venue, or a social for FMs and FMCC consultants to get acquainted, or with FM internships. Consulting projects can come out of acquaintanceships. Marketing FMCC and networking to potential sponsors will figure strongly in conversations of the FMCC Board in the upcoming months. Please feel free to join in. Contact past-president-fmcc@fmcc-ifma.org or your FMCC  Regional Director. 

Contributing news, articles, letters, photos…   Send us something? Doing so is not complicated. The editors welcome contributions of all kinds, from a white paper to a bit of news or a captioned photo or brief anecdote or opinion. You don’t even have to be nice, but do be informative and constructive.  Most pieces sent should be about current activities, news, and events – where you, the original writer, have taken interest or part. Here is a general guide to contributing to the website and what to expect in editing and publication. The interest of FMCC members is, of course, consulting – its methods, milieu, experiences, growth, and change. 

Alternatives to the FMCC website – IFMA Engage is better suited as a forum. Professional journals are better for widely applicable articles and reports long in research and preparation.

For getting into and staying in touch in the business of FM consulting, the FMCC website is a good choice. Our editors like to hear from you. They enjoy the material and make it convenient for you to contribute. 

FMCC BLOG, April 2019
David Reynolds
president-fmcc@fmcc-ifma.org
c: +1 504 481 2627