Value

The Council's unique peer advisory service, Connecting Point provides on-demand one on one CIO matches for confidential and candid peer advice. Members tell us their short-term needs and long-term goals, and we find and schedule the best peer connections using our encrypted database of CIO expertise.

Self-identifying affinity groups of Council members meet, share best practices and collaborate on new resources via teleconference and face to face. Groups are based on vertical industries, role, company size and other demographics.

Participants in the Council's Pathways leadership development program form standing mentor groups under the guidance of a veteran CIO mentor. These groups, dedicated to the professional success of all the participants, meet regularly and address a broad range of leadership subjects.

Members host half-day regional CIO meetings at their headquarters, dedicated to sharing insights on topics of particular interest to the CIOs of a region. Council members also serve on advisory boards that develop and host CIO Perspectives one-day conferences for their region, events co-sponsored with CIO magazine.

Council members leverage the editorial resources of Council and CIO magazine staff to create original resources to address common challenges of the profession. Examples include a Sarbanes-Oxley CIO field guide and best practices research on marketing IT's value and obtaining a seat on external boards of directors.
Members also contribute on a regular basis their own internal documents, templates, frameworks and samples to the Council's knowledge repository.

In these monthly magazine columns, Council members provide mentor advice and serve as sounding boards on business leadership and technology management topics, respectively.

Each month, members may register to attend several Web-enabled teleconferences on a broad range of IT and business topics, featuring experienced peer panels, candid CIO presenters and open interaction. Web recordings of these calls are available for later download by all members.

The Council's next-generation leadership development program, Pathways, offers three distinct year-long curricula featuring competencies assessment, seminars, mentoring, workshops, applied technique and strategic visioning. Some of the leading CIOs in the profession act as advisors, mentors and seminar leaders in the program.

This member-developed model defines the future of the CIO role and helps current CIOs and the next generation identify and hone the skills to be a true strategic business leader as well as a consummate IT function head.

In this monthly magazine column, Council members tell their own true tales of leadership lessons learned inside the C-suite.

Twice per month in an interactive teleconference, a Council member CIO uses his or her professional experiences to elucidate an essential executive leadership competency, such as strategic visioning, influence or external customer focus.

Members have the opportunity to lead and influence Council groups and programs dedicated to particular topics, ongoing initiatives, or projects. Examples include mid-market vendor relations, promoting youth in IT and resources for CIOs just starting out.

The Council and our individual members frequently work with and through the uniquely visible and respected platform of CIO magazine to raise issues and share experiences and insights with the professional community and IT industry.

The Council, as co-producer of several national and regional conferences, provides members with direct influence on the agenda, speakers and formats of these high-profile industry events. Members also speak, host or participate in conference sessions and workshops.

A thought-leadership group composed primarily of members from Global 500 and equivalent-sized institutions, the Vanguard meet in small groups at member-hosted sites to challenge, debate and probe the future of the profession and the unique leadership challenges for large global enterprises. Their thought leadership is disseminated to the profession and industry at large through platforms such as CIO magazine, the Wall Street Journal and various events.

Groups of Council members from specific industries or segments, such as health care, higher education or mid-market companies, meet not only to share insight but to discuss ways to influence positive change in their industry. For example, the mid-market group is working on a field guide to improve vendor relations and understanding of the mid-market.