Happy Birthday: Monique Berry (National BDPA President)

Today, we celebrate the born day of Monique Berry! Monique is our National BDPA president. She has been a member of the BDPA Philadelphia Chapter since 2003. Currently, she is concluding her 2-year term as National BDPA president. Anyone that knows Monique is aware of her passion for BDPA. In her own words,

"As anyone who knows me can attest, I am and have always been very passionate about BDPA. I can remember when I was elected president of the Philadelphia chapter people telling me that I would get tired and burnt out and that my passion would wear off over time. Well, it hasn't. I'm in my second year as a chapter president and as passionate as ever."

Monique is employed by Vanguard; a mutual fund company located in Malvern, Pennsylvania. Her background includes experience in ERP systems, LMS systems and software development.

Monique is a committed community advocate serving on the boards of community organizations, family and children's services, and faith based community ministries. She's been a volunteer elementary school instructor for Junior Achievement and a computer instructor for Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church in Philadelphia.

Monique is a member of several professional and civic organizations, including the American Society for Training & Development, Project Management Institute, Network of Women in Computer Technology, Society for Human Resource Management and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

Her experiences in a variety of boards and organizations bode well for BDPA.

"I can promise that I will conduct myself with civility and respect for others, discussing differences in an open and honest manner. Moreover, I promise to remain passionate about BDPA. I am looking for your passion and committed support of BDPA. Think you are up for the challenge? I urge you to join our conversation here. We are going to change the game."

I join with all of BDPA-nation is wishing national president a truly magnificent birthday!

InRoads -- Accepting Applications for Interns

InRoads will begin processing new applications for Summer 2013 internships on September 1st. This date is currently for current college students.

INROADS Internships are awarded to outstanding ethnically diverse students. Only the best and the brightest are selected. Our Interns are graduating high school seniors, college or university freshmen or sophomores with a grade point average of B or better, and a combined SAT score of at least 1000, or an ACT score of 20 or better.

The students have demonstrated a proven leadership ability, and are interested in pursuing a Bachelor's degree in business, engineering, computer and information sciences, sales, marketing, allied health care, healthcare management, and retail management.

The mission of INROADS is to develop and place talented minority youth in business and industry and prepare them for corporate and community leadership.

INROADS seeks high performing African American, Hispanic, and Native American Indian students for internship opportunities with some of the nation's largest companies. Our rigorous career development training process will challenge you to commit to excellence and raise the bar on your personal expectations.

[More on how to apply]

Where Are They Now? Hercules

What it was: An extremely popular line of graphics cards for IBM PCs and compatibles. Hercules first appeared in 1982, the year after the IBM PC was launched, and was known for its high-quality text; it was as synonymous with graphics in the 1980s as Creative’s Sound Blaster was with audio a decade later.

What happened: When fancy color graphics replaced Spartan text displays, Hercules continued to be a prominent brand for years, though it never dominated as it did in the early years. But in 1998, it was bought out by competitor Elsa, which then went bankrupt and sold the Hercules brand to French tech company Guillemot. (In researching this article, I’ve come to the conclusion that one sale or merger is usually bad news for a venerable brand, and a second one is usually near-fatal.) Guillemot continued to make cards under the Hercules name for several years. But industry consolidation in the graphics biz was ongoing and brutal, and in 2004 it ceased production of them.

Current whereabouts: The Hercules name lives on, but in an array of tech gadgets that doesn’t include graphics cards: Guillemot uses it for notebooks, Wi-Fi and powerline networking gear, sound cards, speakers, iPod accessories, laptop bags and more. I wish them luck. But it’s a little as if McDonald's stopped selling burgers to concentrate on tuna salad, Philly cheese steaks, BLTs and Reubens.

SOURCE: 'Where Are They Now? 25 Computer Products That Refuse to Die' by Harry McCracken.

BDPA Members Honored on Veterans Day

Guest Blogger: Perry Carter, president
BDPA Washington DC

Here are some little known facts about veterans in BDPA:

Did you know?

... that Dr. Jesse Bemley founded both marquee programs for National BDPA (IT Showcase and High School Computer Competition) and served in Vietnam?

... that Dr. Will Bundy, co-founder of the BDPA IT Institute with Dr. Juan Gilbert,  was a submarine driver (both diesel and nuke) and is one of the Centennial Seven African American submarine skippers who served during the first 100 years of the Submarine Service?

... that Lt. Col. Joseph Carpenter was the Marine Corps' first African American Data Systems Officer and is a Montford Point Marine?

... that Terry Halvorsen and Mark Di Francisco were Army Intelligence and Special Operations officers, respectively?

... that Joseph McMahon was a Naval Flight Officer; co-founded two BDPA Chapters and was instrumental in securing Navy leadership and involvement with National BDPA to include the Secretary of the Navy, Chief of Naval Operations, and Department of the Navy's CIO?

... that Felicia Jones and Eileen Gadsden, two of BDPA's strongest leaders are Army veteran "Black Girls who Lead and Code?"

... that Army veteran José Márquez-Leon, President & Founder of Latinos in Information Sciences and Technology Association (LISTA) was a BDPA Member when he founded LISTA?

Perry Carter - Marine Corps
August 1985

Message from BDPA Northern Delaware Chapter President

Karen Smith

Thanks to the 2013 BDPA Northern Delaware Banquet Planning Team for an extraordinary celebration of our STEM Initiative! After seven years of leading the Northern Delaware Chapter, this event served as my last official act as the Chapter President.

Our 2013 event was an Annual Event where we specifically thanked our Corporate Sponsors, Student Leaders, and Volunteers. The overall success of the BDPA Northern Delaware Chapter can be attributed to contributions of all three. JPMorgan Chase, as a chapter sponsor, is a big part of what makes our chapter successful.

We also introduced the 2014-2015 BDPA Northern Delaware chapter president to the Delaware community. We are preparing for growth in 2014 with 60 plus students aligned to our programs, 60% of them college students. This is the result of our partnership with three premier Delaware Universities and three local High Schools. I want to acknowledge the Northern Delaware Student Affiliate chapter at Delaware State University and our growing partnership with the National Society of Black Engineer's chapter on the University of Delaware campus. I want to also thank Wilmington University for the gift of lab space and student scholarships.

Sincerely,
Karen Smith, president
BDPA Northern Delaware Chapter

This Week in BDPA (November 10-16, 2013)

BDPA offers strong programs in 46 cities around the nation. Are you taking advantage of these programs? Here is a weekly preview of upcoming events gathered from the centralized BDPA calendar :

• Nov 10: BDPA Chicago - Workshop, 'Virtualization, Linux, Security and Cisco'
• Nov 12: BDPA Education and Technology Foundation - Webinar, 'BDPA iRadio Show'
• Nov 13: BDPA New Jersey - Webinar, 'How Cloud Computing Can Cut Your IT Costs by Half'
• Nov 14: BDPA Dallas - Program Meeting, 'Text Marketing is Taking Technology to the Next Level'
• Nov 14: BDPA Atlanta - Fundraiser, 'Awards & Recognition Banquet'
• Nov 15: BDPA Dallas - Workshop, '3D Printing & Robots'
• Nov 15-16: National BDPA - Meeting, '4Q-2013 National Board of Directors'
• Nov 16: BDPA Dallas - Workshop, '3D Printing & Robots'

Please let us know of other BDPA events 

that we may have missed! 

You can always find BDPA programs, services or networking activity online at places such as:

• BDPA Facebook Group
• BDPA Foundation Facebook Page
• BDPA Foundation Twitter Account
• BDPA LinkedIn Network Group

BDPA supports your efforts for career advancement in the IT industry. Our hope is that you find reasons to provide tax-deductible support to our Causes, our HSCC Scholarship Funds or Your Causes! We encourage all BDPA leaders to take advantage of the centralized BDPA Groupsite Calendar to post your upcoming events.

Dr. Craig Brown Interviewed by The Philantrepreneur Show

Dr. Victoria Boyd (Galaxy Group) is excited to share the hosting duties with Susan Dane Setin (Smart Women International). National BDPA vice president Dr. Craig Brown (STEM Resource Partners) is the guest for this 30-minute interview on The Philantrepreneur Show originally aired on November 6, 2013.

New Business Podcasts with The Philantrepreneur Show on BlogTalkRadio