A Year Ago Today… Our BRM Institute Community and Giving Back to the BRM Profession

Today, One Year Ago

Today, Business Relationship Management Institute (BRM Institute) celebrates our one year anniversary of opening BRM Institute community membership enrollment;

Today, on behalf of everyone at BRM Institute and the many passionate volunteers, who made it possible, I honor the Business Relationship Management (BRM) pioneers. They are the dedicated men and women, who have known for years what it takes to drive real business value through leadership, strategic business partnership, and innovative solutions. In spite of having felt misunderstood and even ignored, these individuals held on to the BRM principles, beliefs, and values—persistently affecting positive change and improving business partner relationships and maximizing business value one service heartbeat at a time;

Today, I congratulate the 800+ BRM Institute community members, who have been bold enough to believe in the dream of a dedicated professional organization providing the thought-after change catalyst to solidify and expand the rapidly growing ranks of BRM professional community redefining the global business landscape and bringing real credibility to the BRM profession, organizational capability, and role;

Today, I continue to be inspired by the 5500+ members who have joined the Professional Business Relationship Managers Linkedin Group, actively debating the merits of solid Business Relationship Management and helping each other succeed;

Today, I salute the profession’s thought leaders including contributors Al Kuebler, Joe Topinka, and Andrew Sobel; bloggers Vaughan Merlyn, Glenn Remoreras, Alex Skinner, Mark Smalley, and Aleksandr Zhuk; our expert BRM content contributors, Sheila Smith, Steve Plante, Roy Youngman, Ivy Remoreras, Ibrahim Jackson, Pete DeLisi, and Pär Nilsson. You give BRMs confidence to successfully execute their job on a daily basis;

Today, I thank the 40+ BRM Institute volunteer leaders driving for excellence in numerous initiatives within the Institute and beyond. You challenge me and the Institute every day to be the best we can be;

Today, I admire the skills and applaud the accomplishments of our professional instructors and curriculum developers including Vaughan Merlyn, Peter Lijnse, and Mark Edmead. Today, I send my thoughts of gratitude to our partners at APMG-International including Ronn Faigen, Richard Pharro, Gavin Webb, and all the members of the star team of professional certification exam developers and reviewers. You are enabling development of great BRM minds and help to establish, solidify, and promote high-quality professional standards around the globe;

Today, I am grateful for the other BRM champions out there delivering value to their businesses as true BRMs who I have the privilege to interact with, such as Monica Graham, Stephanie Walsh, Arnie Wether, Crystal Roach, Navindra Prem, Emma Smith, John Dellasala, Sharon Van Niekerk, and all the other BRMs delivering business value across the globe;

Today, I ask businesses everywhere, do you have a BRM capability enabled for adding real business value by ensuring your BRMs are BRMP certified; ensuring they are following best practices in the profession;

Today, I thank Aleksandr Zhuk and Vaughan Merlyn, my fellow BRM Institute co-founders and dear friends, for co-imagining and working incredibly hard to realize the shared dream which has become BRM Institute;

Today, we all celebrate a major BRM milestone, a great achievement for BRMs everywhere – we created confidence in the business world and a thriving BRM institute that is well on its way to continued value driving success for businesses and BRMs around the globe and you were all part of it;

Congratulations to you all, congratulations to the BRM community and thank you!

Aaron Barnes co-found and leads the world’s first nonprofit 501(c)(6) professional association, membership,  certification, and professional development in the field of Business Relationship Management. As of April  2014, one year since opening for membership enrollment, Business Relationship Management Institute  connects more than 800 members—senior executives representing leading commercial, government, and  nonprofit organizations as well as leading BRM, IT Service Management (ITSM), and management consultants—from 24 countries around the globe. Through its active social media channels, BRM Institute joins thousands of BRM and ITSM thought leaders and expert practitioners into a vibrant global professional community. Aaron can be reached through www.brm.institute.