We’re pleased to bring you a series of interviews with some of the presenters at The Information Governance Conference 2018. The Information Governance Conference is the premier event focused on the practice of Information Governance – the high level and coordinating policies and practices applied across all organizational information. The Conference, going into its’ fifth year, brings together the top leaders in the emerging field of Information Governance.
We had the honor of interviewing one of those top leaders in Information Governance: Tod Chernikoff who has served in a variety of roles in the profession and is currently available.
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IGGuru: Tod, it’s great to sit down with you to talk today! You’re speaking at this year’s Information Governance Conference – what will you be discussing?
Tod Chernikoff (TC): The topic I will be presenting on is going to provide down to earth advice based on a real-life case. In order to manage and properly govern an organization’s information assets, you need to know what those assets are and their attributes. That’s what I’ll be focused on at this year’s conference.
IGGuru: Who is the most influential person for you related to information governance?
TC: My first project manager when I became a records management consultant – she always looked forward to solutions. When a mistake or misstep was made, you would hear about it once, and only once. Learn and move on. That was an important lesson.
IGGuru: Information Governance covers so much, what topic or domain do you feel is underutilized in organizations?
TC: Change management. Improving the management and governance of information assets involves moving peoples’ thinking and approaches. Of clients I have worked with over the past two decades, the ones that have had the most success in improving their programs are the ones that use/employ change management professionals.
IGGuru: Completely agree, we’ve seen that as well. Tod, how did you end up in the Information Governance space?
TC: It is a longish story, but I’ll try to be brief. I had been working at a municipal government planning office on a special project for a year and was hired as a permanent employee as a vacancy had opened. Soon after, the senior administrative assistant in the office said, “I don’t want to do the records anymore. Make the new guy do it!” That’s how I became the department’s records officer, in addition to my “day job” as an urban planner. From there I became the city’s Records Administrator and Archivist about six years later. Since then I have been working mostly as a consultant in records and information management and information governance.
IGGuru: Speaking of the “new guy”, we see attracting youth as a big part of the future of the information profession. What advice would you give to someone entering the Information Governance space?
TC: Look at the big picture of managing information assets and don’t get stuck focusing on the technology or specific systems.
IGGuru: What do you dread going back to after this interview?
TC: Nothing to dread in the next task on my schedule today. I’m taking my dog for a ride to the pet store to get some probiotics and dog treats! She loves rides and meeting people and showing them a great deal of appreciation.
IGGuru: That sounds like a lot of fun. Can we come along?
TC: Sure?
IGGuru: Ha! Well, before we wrap this up – this is a part of a series of interviews of people who are speaking at the Information Governance Conference but you’ll also be an attendee, what are you most excited about in the upcoming Information Governance Conference 2018?
TC: The wide variety of topics and speakers is what I’m most excited about – a wide range of perspectives and experiences.
IGGuru: We’ll see you there! Thank you again, Tod, for taking the time to share your thoughts today!
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Tod Chernikoff will be presenting as a part of The Information Governance Conference 2018 – learn more or register at https://www.infogovcon.com/.
Thanks for featuring this! Tod