Value has many dimensions, opportunities, and stakeholders.

GPSPIN is committed to delivering value.

Value to our members.

Membership in GBSPIN is FREE.  To be on our mailing list and to come to our meetings does not require that you pay anything on a regular basis.  Just because membership is free, doesn't mean members don't deserve value.  The least-recurring resource is TIME.  We deeply appreciate the value of everyone's time.  This is why we want to ensure that any time spent involved with GBSPIN is worthwhile.  While membership is free, our events may not be.  Food and venues (and sometimes speakers or their materials) cost money.  While we hope to off-set these costs with sponsorships, sometimes even sponsorships don't cover all the costs, nor do we want to milk our sponsors dry.

Another aspect of member value is fostering a mutual respect for everyone's time.  Promptly starting and finishing our meetings will actually add value because we plan our timing carefully and, again, every moment of your time is precious and we don't want to consume without giving back.  We plan for time for members to network with one another and expect that the stronger the relationships among the membership, the more value membership will generate.

Value to the community.

Whether people join as members or not, we want our programming to be compelling to the wider audience such that even occaisonal visitors and guests leave having a positive experience.  In time, we'd like to coorperate with local colleges and universities, or even high schools whereby we can share learning and content with students in hopes to enrich their capabilities and maturity prior to entering the workforce. 

Furthermore, there are many professional organizations in the Greater Baltimore region.  These include (but are not limited to) Technology Councils, Quality Societies, Project Management chapters, institutes, trade, certification and engineering societies of every stripe, flavor and color.  We would like them to see us as a partner and a resource for their needs, and hope we can cooperate with them to further our own opportunities.

Value to organizations and businesses.

When employees and associates of organizations and companies attend or are involved in GBSPIN events, we want them to return to work with something they can apply.  Whether it's something they learned, a resource they were turned-onto, or someone they met, organizations and businesses should benefit from their people being involved with us.  If/when organizations and companies give company time to their employees to be involved, the time they donate for these activities should pay off.   

Value to the industry.

We expect to generate new ideas and other valuable insights that can be shared with anyone interested in process improvement, in any industry.  "Famous" for software, the SEI's scope has long since expanded to include "systems" which pretty much can encompass hardware, manufacturing systems, and just about anything that encroaches upon the idea of a "system" that can be improved.

If and when we refer to the "process improvement industry" we don't just mean those folks who are paid to faciliate or appraise processes and their improvement, we mean anyone who needs, wants, or is remotely interested in the benefits of improved processes.  This can (should, and does) appeal to every business, business owner, and executive looking to make more of whatever they're in the business of making (widgets, money, software, etc.) for less resources (time, money, people, etc.), and higher quality (fitness for/ease of use, customer satisfaction, defect free, market share, etc.).

Value to our Sponsors.

Let's face it, sponsors should get some value for their contributions -- whether they contribute directly in funds, resources, meals or facilities, or indirectly in allowing their people the time to take leadership roles.  We wish all sponsors make contributions out of perfect altruism (tax-breaks aside), but that's neither fair nor reasonable.  Whether it's a simple acknowledgement at a meeting, their appearance on this site, the opportunity to make a brief announcement, or the ability to reach out to members, GBSPIN is not a charity, and we don't treat sponsors as money-trees.  We eagerly seek input from sponsors on how to be of more value to them -- while respecting the privacy of our members and not subjecting them to unwanted solicitations and SPAM from *any* member or sponsor.