Distinguished Service Award Recipient Kit Bright has had a career dedicated to improving records management wherever she has been. Debbie Kinakin, Treasurer of AIIM's Western Canadian Chapter, says, "Kit has been a very dynamic force in the inception and establishment of the Western Canadian Chapter of AIIM. Kit was able to envision the viability of a chapter because she is always in the hub of activity in the ECM community." We congratulate on her award.

A Conversation with Kit follows.

Infonomics: You’ve been a user and a consultant at different times in your career.
Bright: This cross over in the two arenas occured when the oil and gas industry, which I was employed in, went through its 5-year cycle where administration (where Records and Information Management resided) was the first to be "downsized" during the valley - we in RIM (records and information management) were not considered essential services and always were targeted. Keeping the consulting business open throughout the good times and bad times ensured that I had a paycheck no matter how the businesses were faring.

Infonomics: What do you like/dislike about each?
Bright: Full time working and being an ECM user had its definite ups and downs. For my personality type, the full time work was fine except that as an employee, there often was a stereotype that we in RIM did not know enough about ECM products and requirements. I have always been on the learning curve and as needs arose, I would take courses to enhance my knowledge base to be able to understand and work with different business units. I have a Business Analysis course that I took to ensure that I knew how to do project management, so that I could converse with the IT/IS Department to ensure that we were making the best business decisions for the organization.

I personally prefer the consulting end of the business for many reasons:

• I did not have to get involved in the internal politics of the organization.
• I was brought into the organization as a professional and was respected as such - much more than being an employee.
• There was a freedom to really assess and evaluate an organization's requirements without stepping on anyone's perceived territory.
• I loved the diversity of business and the actual people contact - asking what they really saw as a problem and what they'd like to see done to enhance their business responsibility - really great fun.

Infonomics: Do you prefer one over the other?
Bright: This is so easy to explain - I have it all in the consulting position that I hold now - I have developed 5 new business lines using the electronic software that the company is the reseller for. One business is launching May 15 with 4 business lines interlinked.

Infonomics: Your career has been in oil and gas, have you ever been out in the field?
Bright: I have also consulted in the medical, library, unions, mortgage, and banking sectors through my consulting firm. I have also been instrumental in the development and deployment of the professional training for the RIM practitioners here in Calgary. Right now we are launching the Web-based training and I have designed the fundamental course that is being rolled out for both Library and RIM.

Infonomics: At Penn West Energy Trust, you liased with IS and were involved in the IS steering committee as a records manager. Was it hard to get your voice heard there?
Bright: When I first went to Penn West (approx. 7 months), they welcomed my contribution and I had wonderful support and assistance. My voice was respected and recognized. We went through a reverse takeover and that is when I realized that I could no longer work for an organization whose focus in records was going back 10-15 years with no vision and/or focus. I was no longer invited to sit on the Steering Committee and now after a year away, things have not progressed at all, instead they have regressed.

Infonomics: You made the jump from paper to electronic records. Was that a difficult professional jump?
Bright: I am a very lazy person and always thought that the way paper records were being handled was too labour intensive. When electronic systems were being rolled out, we were on that bandwagon and that was in 1988 approximately. As the systems matured and became broader focused, I loved the evolution and looked as how we could "exploit" this mentality organizationally. In the energy sector there is only one major connector and that is the well location. We have designed collaborating systems linking this throught the organization. This has enabled more streamlined operations with comprehensive data management with minimal effort - my kind of business! 

Infonomics: Why be involved in chapters?
Bright: I am a 20 year veteran of ARMA and have served on just about every position both on the Chapter level and have held positions both regionally and internationally. I felt that ARMA was just not moving fast enough for our industries here in Calgary. We are a pivotal point of contact for the IT world here in Calgary and I knew that we could support AIIM and its integration into our ARMA world. I feel that ARMA and AIIM are a perfect marriage for us in the RIM world. We have had an incredible amount of support from AIIM HQ and have a large geographic area to draw from as a chapter. A few of us initiated the process in September of 2007 and have revelled in the success, education, support, etc. from AIIM.

Infonomics: You’ve encouraged others to take the AIIM training courses (as you have yourself). What’s the value of those courses?
Bright: I supervised approx. 13 full time employees at Penn West and it was totally paper-based. My mandate was to bring in a document management program and I felt that the best way for us to have buy in from the staff was training all of us together. We had a study group every Tuesday, supported by Penn West, and we all graduated in March of 2008. It was difficult for some of the old timers - my age group - but they learned so much and were definitely on the right track to encourage and support the product when we would have implemented it. It was an incredible team building experience not only educationally.

I have continued taking the courses and just completed the PDF/A exam today. I now have 4 courses that certainly give me knowledge but credibility. Most other educational initiatives are only recognized within a small industry specific segment but AIIM's is internationally recognized and respected. The next one I will be taking with be the ERM - Masters. Calgary is renowed for its focus on education - statistically we take more training than any other city in Canada. So for us who work here, education is a necessary criteria for us to move forward or even to keep up with the fast pace of industry here.

Infonomics: Favorite part of being a records management professional?
Bright: My most favorite part of the whole profession is the marketing of where we are going. I often am asked to speak on career development and where we are going in the profession. I just did a presentation on April 15 on where we are going - it was the last session of a two day workshop so it gave me an opportunity to be almost an evangelist for the industry. Always in the presentations I stress continuing education and "professionalism." It is so important to address your strengths and ask for help, or mentoring, when we are less than knowledgeable. I love instilling the vision of where our worlds are going - electronically/hard copy; RIM/IT - and stress that we are marketeers for the profession - selling the benefits and the vision for the future. And am I a salesman for the profession - you bet! This is a really exciting time and we need to ensure that we stay on the crest of the wave to ensure that we ride, and stay up on the wave to the last little ripple.

Interview by Bryant Duhon, editor, Infonomics Weekly.