The January Austin ARMA meeting will be held January 21, 2025 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. This hybrid in-person/virtual* meeting is free for chapter members and only $5 for guests. Lunch will be provided, or you can bring your own. 

Topic: You Can't Manage What You Don't Know: Conflict Styles in RIM.

Records and information management professionals often face challenges that require effective conflict resolution, whether it's balancing legal compliance, handling data retention policies, or managing relationships with internal teams and external vendors. Once taken, the Conflict Styles Inventory (CSI), which categorizes individuals into five conflict-handling styles—competing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding, and accommodating—can be a powerful tool in managing what we didn't know by improving communication, decision-making, and overall efficiency within the RIM domain.

Speaker: 

An expert in conflict management within the records and information management field, Azure G. Brown currently serves as the Records Management Officer at Austin Community College and as a volunteer mediator and conflict coach through the Minnesota Conflict Resolution Center. Azure regularly presents as a keynote speaker and panelist at industry events and conferences where she talks about the transformative nature of conflict management. Azure is known for her highly engaging approach to teaching mediation tools with the power to transform lives. Though she’s been appearing as an expert since 2021, Azure most recently shared her knowledge, insight, and experiences at the 2024 ARMA Spring Seminar Mania with ARMA Greater Midwest Chapters as well as the 2024 ARMA Canada Information Conference.

Born and raised in East Austin, Texas, Azure believes strongly in the value of teaching people to manage conflict—both in personal and professional settings. She credits her own experiences avoiding conflict and subsequently learning to manage it with springboarding her success as a “conflict management evangelist.” Azure is a Certified Records Manager and holds a Master of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies.

Location: This event is hybrid. The in-person option will be at the Austin Energy Headquarters (4815 Mueller Blvd., Austin, TX 78723. Free parking in the Austin Energy garage, see map below. The virtual option will be via Webex (virtual meeting info will be sent by end of day May 20th to those registered for the virtual option).