IT News and Events
AWS re:Invent Updates & Connect Path CX
Apr 19th, 2021 — Apr 25th, 2021 Generate the Custom HTML Email for this Issue
IT News and Events IT News and Events
Volume 277, Issue 3 << Previous Issue | Next Issue >>
IT - Email
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A Decade Of Email Security
MFA and encryption are becoming a top priority
"Flaws in email security are a leading cause of cybersecurity attacks for many organizations. Whether it's ransomware, business email compromise (BEC) attacks, or a phishing email that leads to cybercriminals gaining access to sensitive data, email is the common denominator.

According to Google, the average phishing campaign lasts only 12 minutes, making traditional tracing or blocking specific servers less effective and stopping attacks more challenging than ever. Stopping phishing attacks during the global pandemic is even more vital, as we've seen email use increase coupled with work from home, creating an even bigger attack surface..."

techradar.pro, April 21st, 2021
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IT - Marketing
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Here's How To Get Your Customers To Say, 'I'll Be Back!'
Many companies think they have to compare themselves to their competition. They want to know what the competition is doing that they are not. And when they figure it out, you know what they do? They copy them.
"It's not a bad idea to do that, but it's not the best idea either. If all you do is compare yourself to your competitors, you may be missing your best opportunities to create the best experience for your customers.

In my newest book, I'll Be Back: How to Get Customers to Come Back Again and Again, I cover a six-step process to getting your customers to say, 'I'll be back.' I'm going to summarize the process here. It's not complicated. It's actually pretty simple, but that doesn't mean it's easy. So let's jump right into it..."

Business 2 Community, April 19th, 2021
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17 Of The Best Marketing Automation Software Platforms And Tools For 2021
Marketing can be a time-consuming activity. Yes, marketing is vital to almost every business, but if you're the person responsible for marketing (you may even be the business owner), then you are probably a bit short on time.
"What is the solution to this problem? I'm pretty sure you have read the headline of this article, so you can probably guess. It is marketing automation.

In essence, marketing automation is simply the process of using software to automate marketing activities. While it might be nice to dream of the day you can press a button, sit back and watch all of the customers you would ever want to appear out of nowhere, in truth marketing automation will still require your input. For example, there may be creative input. Perhaps you need to make a strategic decision based on data, or perhaps there isn't a tool out there that offers what you currently need. Despite this, marketing automation can significantly improve your efficiency when it comes to marketing, and save you a lot of time..."

Business 2 Community, April 22nd, 2021
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6 Tricks To Make Your Inbound Marketing Explode
Social selling and inbound marketing go hand-in-hand. Building a social presence plays a large role in any inbound marketing plan
"Combining social selling with broader social media marketing tactics can help facilitate alignment between your sales and marketing teams.

An inbound marketing plan should have a few basic components to ensure that your plan is well-rounded, positions your company for success, and allows you to ensure that you begin your inbound marketing efforts with a solid understanding of what steps that you need to take next..."

Business 2 Community, April 23rd, 2021
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7 Highly Effective Ways To Increase Leads For Your Ecommerce Business
Building a successful eCommerce store, requires a steady and increasing flow of customers, which makes lead generation necessary for your eCommerce business to succeed
"Generating leads for your eCommerce business can be challenging and the market is quite competitive. As such, your business needs a strong strategy to stand out from the crowd.

With a competitive strategy, you can attract thousands of new visitors to your eCommerce store and move them through to your sales funnel until they make a purchase.

To help you generate more leads (and thus more business) for your eCommerce store, we'll go over 7 tips aimed at helping you generate more leads for your eCommerce business.

Let's start with some qualifying basics..."

Business 2 Community, April 20th, 2021
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How To Upgrade Your B2B Customer Testimonials In 2021
If you were to ask any marketing expert today what is, hands down, the oldest-but-still-the-most-tremendously-useful-tactic-you-need-to-take-right-now for closing a sale, the answer is use customer testimonials
"I mean, this blog has also shared its merits.

In fact, Heinz Marketing partnered with G2 Crowd in 2017 on the topic. They conducted a study to determine how both B2B buyers and sellers use consumer reviews.

B2B folks were asked:

'Are you more likely to purchase a product or service if you have been able to read a trusted review about it?' A strong showing of 92.4% of the respondents answered yes. Pretty good validation on how valuable this social proof is for conversions..."

Heinz Marketing, April 20th, 2021
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Why Marketers Should Get Back On Board With Email Newsletters
For marketers, it's easy to get caught up in the latest tactics and technology. We want to try everything, and in 2021, there's a seemingly endless list of social media platforms, ad platforms, and other ways for businesses to reach prospective customers
"But in doing this, we risk overlooking valuable tactics that may have started collecting dust. While they may not live on the cutting edge with your machine learning and augmented reality, things like email newsletters can still provide value today.

Newsletters are the baggy pants of digital marketing. They were cool about 20 years and now they've come back into style. I'm not some marketing hipster, either. If anything, the growing popularity of Substack, Ghost, and other newsletter platforms suggests I'm late to the party. In fact, I just finished an amazing 5-week content course that dedicated a full week to newsletters - shout out David Perell and Write of Passage..."

Business 2 Community, April 20th, 2021
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IT - Sales
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5 Reasons Why Your Remote Sales Team Should Be Using VoIP
Excellent communication is crucial for the success of your team. For a remote team, it's ten times more important
"Whether it's customers interacting with sales representatives or internal communication between team members, effective communication can make or break your business.

Thanks to advances in the digital world, remote work is fast becoming the norm. With internet access, your sales team can now do their work from anywhere in the world. In fact, a recent International Workplace Group survey discovered that up to 70% of employees work from home at least once every week..."

Business 2 Community, April 19th, 2021
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5 Simple Ways To Consistently Fill Your Sales Funnel
Marketing your business is a task that should never have an end date
"You should always have a steady stream of prospects in your sales funnel inquiring about your services, opting into your email list, or purchasing your products. When you stop having that steady flow, it's time to re-evaluate your marketing efforts.

Your sales funnel is simply the path your prospects take from first introduction to your products and services toward your highest price service. The offers you make along this funnel path are completely up to you and they normally follow a gradual price increase..."

Business 2 Community, April 20th, 2021
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Rethinking The Sales Process
It's always dangerous to preface an article with a warning. This is a long article. In some ways, I'm writing it to help clarify my own thinking. We are seeing a profound shift in buying, with customers preferring digital engagement channels to sales engagement
"Buying is changing profoundly, accelerated in part by adapting to business changes forced on us by the pandemic.

For many years, we've seen the increased importance of digital channels in the customer buying journey. Years ago, we thought of customers leveraging digital channels primarily early in their buying journey, relying on sales people once they were serious about looking at new solutions. Over the past 5-7 years, we are seeing customers leveraging digital channels, heavily, through the entire buying process..."

Business 2 Community, April 23rd, 2021
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IT - CRM
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How To Set Up Your CRM To Improve Sales Performance
Nowadays, a customer relationship management (CRM) system is all but indispensable for keeping your relationship with existing customers strong.
"And maximizing your opportunities to develop relationships with new customers. Of course, the big question when it comes to any CRM solution is: Is it working?

If it isn't working, you'll probably notice warning signs such as:

  • Complaints from your sales team that they don't have the tools needed to convert leads or close deals

  • Bottlenecks in the buyer's journey (prospects don't convert to leads, leads don't convert to customers, etc.)

..."

Business 2 Community, April 22nd, 2021
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SF IT Sales
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Virtual Monthly Meetup of IT Sales and Marketing Professionals - South Florida
online

This is a group for IT Sales and Marketing Professionals to meet with their peers, learn from each other and share referrals.

In-person meetups are suspended until the COVID-19 threat is diminished and public gathering are again allowed, we will run the next meetup (or two) as Zoom video conferences.

We may have a guest speaker/demo.

We should start planning for in-person events resuming in June or July!

Hosted by John J. McLaughlin

Monday, April 26th, 2021: 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM
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CyberFunnels - Build a Better Business
CyberFunnels will will give a 15 minute overview of their solution at the Monthly Meetup of IT Sales and Marketing Professionals - South Florida
CyberFunnels will deliver a 15 minute presentation at the next "IT Sales and Marketing Professionals - South Florida" meetup.

About CyberFunnels

Whether you are looking for help generating qualified leads or undergoing a digital transformation of your business, our team of experts support you every step of the way.

What We Do

  • Lead Generation: fully managed multi-channel marketing experience for your prospective customers.

  • Appointment Setting: Automation influences your prospects to learn more and schedule an appointment.

  • Sales Enablement: A informative content series increases your lead conversion rates and accelerates sales.

  • Referrals & Reviews: A rewards system provides engaging offers for video testimonials, referrals, and reviews.

Your customers will love CyberFunnels! Our end-to-end system provides each customer a more pleasurable buying experience that demonstrates to them that your company is truly different and unique. Plus, it will save them hours of time by eliminating fragmented Internet research and the hassle of sitting through multiple sales pitches at their home from different companies.

Our system uses automation to ensure every prospect gets exactly the right information, at exactly the right time based on where they are in your buying cycle. This keeps prospects engaged because you are providing them the guidance and insight they are craving and will need to make an informed decision.

Monday, April 26th, 2021: 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM
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DEMOFEST 2021 Sales Engineering Virtual Conference (May 12-13)
Presales-focused Presales-driven Virtual Conference
We can't wait to show you all of the fantastic thought leadership, practical training, and fresh research we've put together for you this year.

Keynote: Todd Janzen, Global Vice President of Q Branch, Salesforce

Todd Janzen serves as the Global Vice President of Q Branch at Salesforce. In terms of sales, Q Branch is where sales teams come for deal closing stories, prototypes, visionary demos, jaw-dropping presentations, and videos. Over the past decade at Salesforce, he's built Q Branch from a napkin idea into 10 unique teams and 180+ employees around the world.

Wednesday, May 12th, 2021 8 AM to 12 PM Thursday, May 13th
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SF IT vBeers Broward
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vBeers South Florida - Weekly Virtual Meetups via Zoom April 28th 2021
Online - Zoom
vBeers meetups are informal networking events for South Florida Tech professionals.

In-person vBeers are suspended until the COVID-19 thread is diminished and public gathering are again allowed. I will host a Virtual vBeers every Wednesday until in-person events resume.

After the intros, the rest of meeting will be an informal hangout!

Please join the live meeting at 6:00PM EST with this Zoom link:

You can also join by phone:

  • Meeting ID: 792 850 274
  • 646 558 8656 US
  • +16465588656,,792850274# US (New York)

vBeers@Boca is sponsored by TechLauderdale:

  • "TechLauderdale promotes the growth, connectivity, and awareness of the thriving technology ecosystem in Greater Fort Lauderdale"

Hosted by John J. McLaughlin

Wednesday, April 28th, 2021: 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
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vBeers South Florida - Weekly Virtual Meetups via Zoom May 5th 2021
Online - Zoom
vBeers meetups are informal networking events for South Florida Tech professionals.

In-person vBeers are suspended until the COVID-19 thread is diminished and public gathering are again allowed. I will host a Virtual vBeers every Wednesday until in-person events resume.

After the intros, the rest of meeting will be an informal hangout!

Please join the live meeting at 6:00PM EST with this Zoom link:

You can also join by phone:

  • Meeting ID: 792 850 274
  • 646 558 8656 US
  • +16465588656,,792850274# US (New York)

vBeers@Boca is sponsored by TechLauderdale:

  • "TechLauderdale promotes the growth, connectivity, and awareness of the thriving technology ecosystem in Greater Fort Lauderdale"

Hosted by John J. McLaughlin

Wednesday, May 5th, 2021: 6:00 PM to 8:00 PM
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PeopleTek News
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Tips For Virtual Meetings
Some of you may have already seen Executive Coach Marilyn Brown's outstanding tips for conducting meetings virtually, but they are worth sharing again. We hope you find them helpful!
Not everyone understands the basic etiquette of on-line meetings - so here are some guidelines that you can use with your teams to ensure a more effective meeting.

For the Meeting Facilitator/Sponsor:

  • Create a clear Agenda prior to the meeting - send it out to the other participants at least 24 hours
  • Make sure the Agenda includes the call in number and link for the meeting
  • Ask everyone who has video to please turn their camera
  • In some cases, voice over IP creates static and background noise. It might be better if people call in on the dial in number vs voice over IP (especially for large groups)
  • Identify a clear objective/outcome for the meeting - What do you want to accomplish as a result of the meeting? Make sure you state this at the top of the agenda and then again at the beginning of the meeting. This way if people have been invited who do not need to be present, they can decline the invite or drop off the call
  • Start the virtual meeting 5 minutes prior to the start time to make sure that you are ready to go and your technology and call in number work. Test all technology (including camera/video, Wi-Fi, and screen sharing) before the meeting
  • Conduct a roll call and make sure the critical attendees are present. (if the call is looking for a decision to be made, and the decision maker is not in attendance, it is probably a waste of time to go forward with the meeting)
  • Ask everyone to introduce themselves (another way of taking roll call)

Read on....

PeopleTek News, April 21st, 2021
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Sponsor - TechLauderdale
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TechLauderdale
Become a Member of the Ecosystem, Join TechLauderdale Today
Membership benefits for TechLauderdale were designed to provide individuals and organizations with the choice on how to best utilize member benefits, with a great deal of flexibility and exclusivity. Key benefits of this structure include new ways for members to support the Greater Fort Lauderdale tech ecosystem, while at the same time taking advantage of ongoing tech education and training, exclusive networking and learning opportunities, and making valuable connections.

Corporate Membership Levels

  • Bronze - $500 (1 to 3 Employees)
  • Silver - $1,500 - (4 to 25 Employees)
  • Gold - $2,500 - (25 to 50 Employees)
  • Platinum - $3,500 - (over 50 Employees)

Individual Memberships

  • Individual - $100/year or $10/month

TechLauderdale has recently updated its membership levels with increased benefits for each level to better align the value we have to offer with the mission of the organization and our value pillars of: Learn, Connect, and Grow. Read the full membership letter here that explains the changes to the program in greater detail.

Promoting the Growth, Connectivity, and Awareness of the Thriving technology ecosystem in Greater Fort Lauderdale
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Sponsor - SIM
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Society for Information Management (SIM) - South Florida Chapter
Joining SIM connects you with top IT leaders in the industry, including: CIOs, senior IT executives, prominent academicians, consultants, and other top IT professionals
The Chapter strives to strengthen professional communications among members who direct the application of information technology in private and public organizations. Chapter activities include:

  • Meeting to share innovative ideas and real-world experiences which address enterprise information needs. We have excellent speakers from our membership and bring in industry executives or subject matter experts from many sources.
  • Providing presentations by leading national information-management professionals and executives who benefit from management-information systems.
  • Challenging our comfort levels by exchanging ideas with peers and business counterparts.
  • Being a resource for each other, and personal networking.

The geographical scope of the South Florida Chapter is Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach County. Subscribe to receive emails from the chapter to get notified of all relevant events in the area. If you are already subscribed, you will be sent a link to update your preferences.

Connects the Area's Premier IT leaders - for Business Solution Exchange, Professional Development, and Timely Education
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Sponsor - ISACA
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ISACA South Florida Chapter
A diverse group of innovative thought leaders partnering with the community to serve as the first choice for professional development and a global role model for ISACA Chapters by 2024
SPONSORSHIP PROGRAM

  • ISACA South Florida Chapter outreach to more than 1,000 professionals, and partner organizations which represent a range of Corporate IT Audit, IT Compliance, IT Governance & IT Security responsibilities in a cross section of industries and business sizes
  • Extensive networking opportunities, face-to-face contact and one-on-one meetings
  • Display of your latest products and services to all attendees
  • Traffic flow throughout the exhibition area
  • Display of your logo and link to your home page on our ISACA South Florida Chapter web site

Find out more! Contact us at president@isacasfl.org

Corporate IT Audit, IT Compliance, IT Governance & IT Security Professionals
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Sponsor - ISSA
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South Florida Chapter of the ISSA
The ISSA South Florida Chapter (SFISSA) is a not-for-profit organization of information security professionals and practitioners
ISSA provides educational forums and peer interaction opportunities that enhance the knowledge, skill and professional growth of its members. Members include practitioners at all levels of the security field in a broad range of industries, such as communications, education, healthcare, manufacturing, financial and government. SFISSA is an excellent vehicle for those who need to acquire CPE credits for certification needs. We need your support, so we hope that you will consider becoming a sponsor to support our chapter.

Sponsorship Options: Chapter sponsorship

Platinum sponsors $1,500/meeting benefits include:

  • Non-marketing presentation at one SFISSA meeting (including attendee/sign-in list)
  • Higher priority in speaker selection for SFISSA Annual Conference
  • Logo signage displayed at meetings*
  • Logo, name and company URL on SFISSA website for event
  • Materials distributed at SFISSA meetings*
  • 5 minute presentation at 1 SFISSA meetings per year

Program sponsors $1,000/meeting benefits include:

  • Non-marketing presentation at one SFISSA meeting
  • Logo signage displayed at meetings*
  • Logo, name and company URL on SFISSA website for event
  • Materials distributed at SFISSA meetings*
  • 5 minute presentation at 1 SFISSA meetings per year

Conference sponsorship opportunities coming soon.

Not-for-profit Organization of Information Security Professionals and Practitioners
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Sponsor - Refresh Miami
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Refresh Miami: Educate, Inspire, Connect and Grow South Florida's Tech and Startup Ecosystem
Be front and center at all our monthly speaker events, get training on the latest technologies, break bread with our distinguished speakers, and find qualified candidates via our sponsored job listings
Be front and center at all our monthly speaker events, get training on the latest technologies, break bread with our distinguished speakers, and find qualified candidates via our sponsored job listings.

Refresh Corporate: $2000/Year

  • Guaranteed ticket to all speaker events
  • Complimentary ticket to three (3) Refresh Miami workshops ($150 value!)
  • 40% discount on all other Refresh Miami workshops ($160 value!)
  • Preferred Access to VIP/Speaker Dinners
  • Discounts on Community Events
  • Partner Discounts
  • Refresh Miami T-Shirt
  • Ability to post relevant events to Community Calendar
  • Ability to post jobs to Refresh Job Board
  • Ability to post business to Refresh Miami Tech Map

$2000/Year

Join today and experience some great benefits, like guaranteed tickets to all Refresh Miami speaker events, access to VIP / Speaker dinners, discounts on Refresh Miami workshops and more!
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Sponsor - Palm Beach Tech
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Tech Hub South Florida
Check our Membership options and help build the Palm Beaches into a Tech Hub!
Our Memberships are based on Exposure, Talent, & Business

  • STARTUP - $500/year
  • Tier 3 - $1,000/year
  • Tier 2 - $2,500/year
  • Tier 1 - $5,000/year

Palm Beach Tech is a nonprofit membership association Building the Palm Beaches into a Tech Hub.

A Nonprofit Membership Association Building the Palm Beaches into a Tech Hub
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Sponsor - SFHIMA
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South Florida Health Information Management Association (SFHIMA)
We are the SMEs in health information! So whether you are a student, a recent graduate, seasoned professional or profession partner, your local chapter is here for you.
South Florida Health Information Management Association.

The theme from FHIMA for this year is 'Smooth Sailing Ahead'.

SFHIMA is ready to set sail with more great informational sessions, networking and continuing education opportunities. Sessions this year will be offered in person and via remote web connections.

Create and Encourage an Environment Conducive to Promoting HIM Practices and Emerging HIM Occupations
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Sponsor - PMI
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PMI: Advance the PM Profession Through the Promotion of Certification Training
To be a conduit of innovation, networking and support for the next evolution of Project Managers through strategic focus, customer centricity and operation agility
Mission

  • Advance the PM profession through the promotion of PMI certification training and project excellence acknowledgement.

  • Provide members and volunteers with networking, leadership roles and superior development and education events and activities,

  • Ensure alignment with PMIs talent triangle, compliance with PMIs core values and contribution to the improvement of the PM body of knowledge.

We are only one of over 270 Chapters serving Project Management Institute (PMI) members and communities in more than 70 countries around the world. These local communities help spread awareness of the profession and PMI by reaching out to local governments and organizations, hosting events or seminars for local practitioners and providing opportunities to learn, network and earn Professional Development Units (PDUs) toward maintaining credentials.

PMI South Florida Chapter
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Sponsor - IIBA
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IIBA: Premier World-Wide Professional Association for Business Analysts
We are the local representative of the International Institution of Business Analysis (IIBA), the premier world-wide professional association for business analyst
Sponsorships are available.

The objectives of the Chapter are to:

  • Promote and advance the profession of Business Analysis
  • Provide opportunities to our members to gain knowledge and network with experienced professionals across various industries and government agencies
  • Provide access for members to a formal "knowledge base" as well as forums for sharing expertise, expressing professional opinions and building a reputation within the industry
  • Provide pathways to learn about business analysis best practices
  • Create corporate support for the IIBA within the local market by superior marketing/awareness programs that demonstrate the value of business analysis and the IIBA
  • Liaise with industry and association partners to increase awareness and benefit of IIBA Chapter members
  • Encourage and provide opportunities for our members to become Business Analysis certified professionals

As our events calendar and past events reflect, we have a mix of day time symposiums for professional development, after work meetings focused on a topic of particular concern to business analysts, and online meetings and webinars to develop your technical skills and analytical competencies, as well as one to two premiere dinner events per year with at least one distinguished guest speaker.

International Institution of Business Analysis (IIBA), March 12th, 2020
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