Welcome to Bay Area Mobility Management

Industry News 

New Life for Two Local Global Mobility Groups

January 17, 2012 – There’s a revitalized organization in town dedicated to helping HR professionals stay on top of issues related to the transfer, assignment and permanent relocation of company employees.  Bay Area Mobility Management (BAMM) is the result of two specialized human resource organizations –Western International Personnel Association (WIPA) and Bay Area Professionals in Relocation Management (BAPRM)—partnering to better support global mobility and relocation professionals in the Greater San Francisco Bay Area.   
BAMM (formerly BAPRM) is the ONLY Worldwide ERC® recognized relocation council in Northern California and will continue to provide networking and educational opportunities to all related industry professionals.  The organization will begin 2012 with a one-day global mobility conference on February 23rd at the Hotel St. Claire in San Jose titled Beyond Borders:  Evolution of Mobility.   Topics related to immigration and tax compliance, homefinding and home sale challenges, cultural and language training and a myriad of other issues will be addressed.
“Both organizations have a rich history of providing wonderful educational meetings and the annual mobility conference always receives rave reviews for providing cutting edge presentations to help global mobility professionals,” says BAMM President Patty Ginochio.  “I can tell you that the challenges our industry faces in today’s economic climate can be daunting.  We provide a real service to our members.”
Eric Halverson of Ebay serves on the board of directors for BAMM.  “I think it makes perfect sense,” he says.  “WIPA focused on international issues and BAPRM originally focused on domestic relocation issues.  In recent years, we found that our two organizations were producing very similar programs at our meetings.  Joining together makes us a stronger and larger organization that can achieve even greater results.”
Membership is open to corporate global mobility professionals and the suppliers who provide related services to support relocating employees. 

 International Assignments in the Age of Social Media
by Jill Heineck, CRP

“Heineck writes that social media technologies have achieved an unprecedented global reach, and mobility professionals should consider how to leverage these tools to improve the success of international assignments. She also cautions that organizations should invest in policies that shelter their brand and resources against some of the unintended consequences of living in a hyper-connected world.“ 

Pay it Forward, Pay it Back: The Wonderful, Mysterious World of Payback Agreements
by Tim McCarney, GMS

“ Return on investment, or “getting your money’s worth,” is certainly a priority in today’s mobility environment. McCarney investigates the wonderful and mysterious world of payback agreements.”

– Read the full articles in the Mobility Magazine

Link: http://www.worldwideerc.org/MOBILITY/Pages/index.aspx

BAPRM June Meeting Recap
If you were unable to attend the BAPRM June educational meeting at NetApp, you can find a recap of the event discussions by clicking here.

Here are some quick links to hot topics in the news regarding global mobility.

The Impact of Flexible Policies: Is it Real or Just a Game?

“We live in an age of customization – from sneakers to cars, from smart phone data plans to our Twitter layouts – a litany of options and choices accompany most every service and products in the marketplace. How does this trend of flexibility apply to relocation policies?  Ron Labin consults human resource and mobility professionals for their insights concerning the implementation of customizable options in their corporate mobility programs.“

– Read the full article in the Mobility Magazine

Link: http://www.worldwideerc.org/MOBILITY/Pages/index.aspx

Business Immigration Law Newsletters and Articles from ABIL

If you are another regional relocation council that would like to post notices in this space, please contact Audrey Hahn .