Many of the comments in this thread provide good advice but many qualify the advice with "if you have good management..." or something similar. The question is how do you know the likely outcome. I am a CIO and live through this situation on a regular basis. You can determine the likely outcome with the following question:
Will the CIO or CEO be surprised by any statements made in the meeting. If so, you might have a problem.
Management rule #1: No Surprises.
If there has been an open line of communications,with forums to discuss problems and channels to vet the problems and communciate them effectively up the organization, there shouldn't be problems. If this method doesn't exist, there will be surprises.
Open forums are not the place to air new problems. The bigger the problems is aired, the more embarassment to CIO and CEO and someone will get hurt.
An effective CIO will keep the flow of information flowing up so he can brief the CEO about problem areas (no surprises). If this is anything but a social event, confirming to the CEO that the CIO is in command of his/her organization, the CIO could jeopardize his position.
I could write a chapter on this topic but the above is the essence of the situation (in my point of view).
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Many of the comments in this thread provide good advice but many qualify the advice with "if you have good management ..." or something similar. The question is how do you know the likely outcome. I am a CIO and live through this situation on a regular basis. You can determine the likely outcome with the following question:
Will the CIO or CEO be surprised by any statements made in the meeting. If so, you might have a problem.
Management rule #1: No Surprises.
If there has been an open line of communications,with forums to discuss problems and channels to vet the problems and communciate them effectively up the organization, there shouldn't be problems. If this method doesn't exist, there will be surprises.
Open forums are not the place to air new problems. The bigger the problems is aired, the more embarassment to CIO and CEO and someone will get hurt.
An effective CIO will keep the flow of information flowing up so he can brief the CEO about problem areas (no surprises). If this is anything but a social event, confirming to the CEO that the CIO is in command of his/her organization, the CIO could jeopardize his position.
I could write a chapter on this topic but the above is the essence of the situation (in my point of view).