DAMA-Chicago 2026 Q4 Chapter Meeting
At Chicago DAMA Day, you heard three great presentations on strategy, AI privacy, and generative AI. If you plan to move ahead with a new strategy or desire to procure the new pumpkin-spice flavor of a GenAI tool (it is fall season, after all), what does it take to persuade and get buy-in from leadership and colleagues? Our fourth quarter meeting includes a presentation about essential marketing and negotiation skills to achieve those objectives. Further, what does it take to get your data in shape for your new strategy and AI tools? Our second presentation addresses the foundational generally accepted data management principles that all organizations should follow.
The November 18th chapter meeting will be held at Allstate Insurance in Northbrook, IL. It will be a hybrid format with two interactive in-person speaker presentations, continental breakfast, and networking. The meeting will also be broadcast via Zoom to members who wish to join virtually.
Registration now open!
ESSENTIAL MARKETING SKILLS FOR THE DATA PROFESSIONAL
Consider these scenarios:
- You have an idea to improve data management in your organization, but you must convince management to adopt it.
- You’re a data manager implementing a new data strategy that requires buy-in from several areas of business and IT.
- You know that a new tool you found can benefit your team, but it needs the buy-in of your team and approval of your manager to procure it.
- You’re trying to convince business areas to designate a data steward as part of a new Data Governance Council
- You’re attempting to land a new position or consulting engagement and must convince the interviewer that you are the right person for the position.
Any of these scenarios sound familiar? Your technical expertise is important but is most often not enough. You have to know how to sell your ideas, strategies, and yourself no matter what role you currently are in or aspire to obtain. Marketing skills are typically not a core competency of IT professionals. Most training was likely focused on skills related to data management technologies, methodologies, and processes. However, every data management practitioner and leader should also have marketing skills in addition to technical and analytical skills to have a successful career. During his career, the speaker has had many opportunities to learn, hone, and use marketing and negotiation skills in his roles as data architect, manager, director, and consultant. He has experienced all of the five listed scenarios and will share insights and marketing practices that can aid the data professional. And he continues to have to market ideas and approaches in volunteer positions in DAMA-Chicago and DAMA-International.
In this presentation you will learn:
- Creating your message
- Delivering your message
- Handling objections and getting buy-in
Speaker: Frank Cerwin
Frank Cerwin’s 49-year IT career began as a programmer/analyst and progressed through consulting and leadership positions across multiple industries. His responsibilities and experience spanned data architecture, data governance, Master Data Management (MDM), data integration, data network communications, information security, database administration, disaster recovery, and business application development.
Career highlights include:
- Developed one of the first full-motion video conferencing systems in the world at Allstate Insurance in 1982
- Managed Distributed Systems to enable the successful commercial launch of Discover Card in 1985
- Designed, led development, and patented an omni-channel Customer 360 MDM system at First Chicago, NBD, and Bank One
- Led a team of 90 database administrators and data architects responsible for 3500 multi-platform databases as Director of Data Services for Treasury, Commercial Banking, and Worldwide Securities at JPMorgan Chase
- Directed Global Data Services at McDonald’s with responsibility for database architecture, multi-domain MDM, database administration, and data integration
Frank is a Six Sigma Green Belt, ITIL Foundation certified, certified ISO8000 Master Data Quality Manager, and Master Data & Reference Data Management CDMP. He is the instructor of three Dataversity Training Center learning plans. Frank is currently the President of the DAMA-Chicago chapter and a DAMA-International Specialty Editor for the upcoming third edition of the Data Management Body of Knowledge (DMBOK).
GENERALLY ACCEPTABLE PRINCIPLES FOR DATA MANAGEMENT
There are formalized Generally Accepted Principles for Accounting (GAAP) and several other specialties, but none for Data Management. These principles rely on consensus, authority, and practical utility. They cannot be dictated by a single entity but rather forged through a structured collaborative process. In this presentation, Susan Earley will propose a list of principles that we can begin to consider and openly discuss.
Speaker: Susan Earley
With over two decades as a leader in the Data Strategy & Management space coupled with a JD law degree in Information, Tech, and IP Law, Susan brings a nuanced understanding of the interplay between advanced technology and legal considerations.
Susan was an editor for the DAMA DMBOK prior editions. She went to law school during Covid and is now a lawyer. She is currently working at NASA in the CIO office advising on data management and AI policy and practices.