Professional & Technical Consultants Association - PATCA

 
 
 

WHAT TO EXPECT

We are trying a new work mode for our PATCA marketing tasks.
We will get together and work on individual tasks in the company of our colleagues.

Our agenda is
✔️ 5-15 minutes of welcome and checking in.
✔️ 45 minutes of work, camera on, muted.
✔️ 5 minutes to check out and share wins.

✔️Please bring a project, task, or activity to work on. We encourage you to bring something you’ve been procrastinating, or your important-but-not-exactly-urgent work.

Preferably, these are tasks related to marketing activities for PATCA but all types of tasks are appropriate as we are aiming to create a space to work in.

✔️Please arrive on time as we will go over our work mode and, optionally, share our work plans for the session.

 
 
 

Are you thinking about becoming a consultant? Are you consulting now, and want to reposition your business? Then this is the Meetup for you. Learn how to enter the Consulting Business professionally.

Two seasoned members of PATCA (The Professional and Technical Consultants Association) will be leading a monthly roundtable meeting to discuss ideas of interest to those just starting in Consulting or Independent Contracting.

This will be an online meeting till meetings can be held in person.

The Format is as follows:

1. First, there will be a quick round of introductions by those in attendance.
2. Next, there will be a 15 to 20 minute focused discussion around a specific topic related to starting an independent contractor business.

What are the Economic Realities of Independent Consulting?
A. All businesses require an investment of time and money to start.
B. Can you really make more money as a consultant vs Employee?
C. Are you willing to be very flexible in your ways of earning a living: ie "Rent a body", Employee, Independent Contractor?
D. Can you live with the risk of not getting paid? (ie slow / no pay)
E. Can you pay for your own health care?
F. Can you save part of your earnings for taxes?
G. Are you willing to pay the costs of incorporating? ($2K to $5K per year)

3. After the presentation, there will be a formal discussion on the presentation topic. Then the floor will be open to answering general questions on starting a consulting practice. So bring your questions. We will end promptly at 1:00 PM.

MEETING COST AND SIZE LIMIT

Currently, online meetings are free of cost.

Attendance is limited to 15 persons, so sign up right away if you wish to attend.

The Leader of this Roundtable will be:

Carl Angotti, President of Angotti Product Development, and long-time Sr. Certified Professional Consultant member of PATCA and current Board member. He is also a former Chair and Board Member of the Consultants Network of Silicon Valley (CNSV).

For further information, please contact Carl Angotti at [masked]

 
 
 

Have you ever noticed that the problems we encounter in our work, and even in our lives, seem to be at least vaguely familiar? Do you ever wonder why people make the same mistakes that others have made in the past – or even the same mistakes they themselves have made over and over again? Administrative professionals can’t afford this luxury!

While working as a project manager at HP long ago I noticed that the topics raised at our project post mortems (so-called “Lessons Learned Review Meetings”) tended to be pretty much the same for every project. I mean, really, how many times can we “learn” that goals should be made clear, that communication shouldn’t be abysmal, or that strong, trusting relationships are essential to team success?

After more than 20 years of working on the biggest challenges people face in individual leadership, team effectiveness, and organizational cultures, I’ve noticed an astonishing pattern of predictable and avoidable failures. Are we doomed to repeat past mistakes, or can we break out of this “Ground Hog Day” cycle and make new and more exciting mistakes as we lurch fitfully in the direction of our goals and dreams?

Highlights:

• The biggest causes of individual failure to achieve their goals.
• What the worst leaders do, and the 70% of unengaged workers that results from this.
• Why teams of good, smart, decent people all over the world fail to achieve the results they seek.
• What organizations know, but don’t do, that leads to their predictable demise – and even downfall.

About Kimberly Wiefling
Kimberly Wiefling has extensive experience in the R&D and manufacturing of complex systems of hardware, software, firmware, chemistry and physics. Her physics background has provided her an
excellent framework for systems thinking, dealing effectively with complex challenges, and the insight that what seems “impossible” is often merely difficult. She’s held leadership positions ranging from NPI Program Manager to VP of Program Management at HP as well as several startups to Organizational Effectiveness for a Xerox Parc spinoff, and has helped companies from startups to Global 1000 successfully grow and – more importantly - SCALE.

She enables leaders to avoid or fix the most common causes of failure in global teams, problems that damage or destroy companies, along with billions in shareholder value. Although a physicist by education, she has found that many of these are “human” problems that don’t require “rocket science”. All that’s required to achieve significant positive impact in many cases is to make common sense into common PRACTICE. This includes applying practical frameworks such as project management and design thinking, two areas of her expertise, that she has combined to create a predictable and repeatable process to “innovate on purpose”.

 
 
 

Hi All,

We are a group of experienced line, project, and product management consultants that bring business questions and challenges to the group to share insights and solutions. The meeting time is used to learn from one another and share our experiences in a very congenial atmosphere.
Our discussions often include getting and keeping satisfied clients and other critical areas related to earning a living as a management consultant.

To have a topic to start with this month? Are we going to do anything differently due to the current potential consulting downturn?

Our group is a joint meeting of the ABC (Area Breakfast for Consultants) of the South Bay and PATCA. We are Affiliated with the IMC (Institute of Management Consultants) Northern California Chapter and PATCA (the Professional and Technical Consultant's Assoc). The IMC is the Premier Organization of Management Consultants in the U.S (http://imcusa.org), and PATCA, is a leading Bay Area organization of Consultants (https://patca.org/).

These meetings are held on the third Monday of each month from 7:30 to 9:00 AM. This meeting will be held at the Black Bear Diner, 415 E. El Camino Real, Sunnyvale, CA 94087 (Tel:[masked]) Cost is to order from the menu and join in on the conversation. Come join us. Please Respond via this meetup group or just drop by.

Questions? Call Carl Angotti [masked][masked]