Successful EVM Implementation! FAA Executive
Robert Rovinsky Reveals lessons learned!
The United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) operates the largest air traffic control system in the world, controlling the flights of over 45 million aircraft and 800 million passengers in 2007 over much of North America, the Caribbean, Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Following the firing of almost all the FAA's air traffic controllers in 1981, the US Congress gave the FAA over 30 billion dollars over 12 years to modernize its air traffic control system. This program fell behind schedule and overspent its budget, and in the mid-1990s the US Congress' General Accounting Office (GAO) put the program on its "high risk" list, where it has remained until now. A new effort by the FAA is attempting to convince the GAO that the agency can manage its acquisitions on schedule and within cost and specifications, through the adoption of such best practices as Earned Value Management (EVM) and Portfolio Management.
Dr Robert Rovinsky, Director of IT Enterprise Services in the Office of the CIO at FAA headquarters in Washington, DC, has described some of those efforts and experiences in an interview in the August edition of PM World Today. http://www.pmworldtoday.net/interviews/2008/aug.htm
Robert Rovinsky (pictured) is Director of IT Enterprise Services in the Office of the Chief Information Officer (CIO), Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Government of the United States of America. Dr. Rovinsky directs an office responsible for reviewing and improving all IT investment decisions within the FAA. His office reviews and helps prepare the capital investment business cases reported to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) as part of the annual budget process. He also co-leads the implementation of earned value management in the FAA, and his office produces the FAA’s IT strategy, conducts software and process engineering reviews of FAA programs, and is responsible for forms, privacy, directives and records management.
Prior to taking this assignment, Dr. Rovinsky led the team responsible for leading the investment analyses of the FAA’s communications, navigation, surveillance, facilities, infrastructure, and telecommunications programs. He led, from October 1998-September 1999, an investment analysis team that reviewed all the agency's satellite navigation programs, whose total investment (FAA plus industry) exceeded 10 billion dollars. He also was program manager for air traffic flow modeling, and worked on an airspace design effort for New York City's airports.
Prior to coming to the FAA in 1990, Dr. Rovinsky directed the Office of Research and Statistics for Fairfax County, Virginia, USA. From 1977-1987 Dr. Rovinsky was the Senior Information Manager and leader of an Operations Research Group in the US Department of Agriculture. Dr. Rovinsky has consulted in the areas of information technology, statistics, and management in Egypt, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, Costa Rica, and Morocco, and has taught Operations Research, Engineering, and Statistics at several universities. He holds a doctoral degree in Operations Research and a Masters degree in Mathematics, both from Cornell University, and has published widely on the applications of Operations Research. He did his undergraduate work in mathematics at the University of Pennsylvania, and took graduate work at George Washington University in economics and managerial accounting.
PMWT: What were some of the reasons for FAA’s emphasis on better program management, and EVM in particular? According to Dr. Rovinsky, "FAA, like most Federal agencies, had a spotty record of meeting its cost and schedule targets.OMB has data that shows that over 80& of the 1000+ large federal programs fail to meet their cost and schedule targets and are forced to go back to OMB to "re-baseline" them. We were no exception."
PMWT: Have you seen any benefits yet? If so, what have you noticed? According to Bob, "Our benefits have been striking. Our record in delivering programs on schedule and within cost targets is now quite good, with almost all of our programs within 10% of their variance targets and our average program ahead of its cost baseline. While almost all of the credit goes to the program managers, the executives within the FAA, and our contractors, I think that the emphasis on good business cases and the implementation of EVM and the consistency and transparency it brings has helped greatly. In particular, it has increased our credibility with those who fund us."
Those involved with implementing EVM or program management in large organizations and government agencies should read this. To see the entire interview, visit http://www.pmworldtoday.net/interviews/2008/aug.htm.
PM World Today is a monthly project management eJournal published by PMForum Inc. Each monthly edition contains articles, papers and stories by leading project management authorities and professionals around the world, as well as news articles about projects and project management organized in the following categories: Calls for Papers, Future PM Events; PM Community News; PM Research News; PM Education News; PM Profession News; PM Industry News; News from Fascinating Projects; and Other News Affecting Projects and Project Management. The technical producer of PM World Today is Nelson Soucek. The Managing Editor is David L. Pells. To see the latest edition or to subscribe, visit www.pmworldtoday.net. Subscriptions are free! Contents and distribution cover the world of project management!
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Jürgen Oschadleus Named PM Ambassador™ in Australia
PMForum is pleased to announce that Jürgen Oschadleus, Director of Act Knowledge Pty Ltd and Managing Partner of Valense (Australia), has joined the PM AmbassadorsTM Speakers Bureau. Based in Sydney, Australia, Jürgen is a globally recognized project management authority, consultant and teacher who has gained visibility recently as a featured speaker at project management conferences and events. He has now announced his availability to speak at events and meetings worldwide.
Jürgen Oschadleus, MBA, PMP, has over 15 years of experience across the globe as a project manager, consultant and change agent. Jürgen draws on his diverse industry and cultural experiences to bring sustainable change to individuals, teams and organisations. Formally qualified as an educator and trainer, he later moved into a strategic consulting role with Booz•Allen & Hamilton (South Africa). He then took on project management roles with Concur UK, CPA International and the SAS Institute, deploying business solutions into blue chip companies across the UK, Europe and later Asia Pacific. Since 2001 he has focused his primary attention on developing the leadership capabilities of his diverse clients.
Jürgen is the author of Heart of Influence, and has written numerous articles and papers on leadership, influential communication and sustainable change. His training programs have been delivered on five continents, and he is a frequent contributor to international conferences, as well as keynote speaker at a range of C-level Summits. He currently serves on the Project Management Institute’s (PMI’s) Registered Education Provider Advisory Group, and is a co-author of PMI’s e-learning program on the PMBOK® Guide to Project Management (Third and Fourth editions). He is the Course Coordinator and Facilitator for the Project Management and Supply Chain Management courses that form part of the Masters of Business & Technology program at the University of New South Wales, and presents the project management component of the University of Sydney’s Masters in Veterinary Public Health Management.
Jürgen is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP), is DiSC-accredited, and an Advanced Toastmaster (Gold). He holds an Education Diploma, a Masters degree in History and an MBA in International Project Management and Organisational Development, as well as a Certificate IV in Workplace Training & Assessment.
Potential Presentation Subjects (others available)
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Building Influence Equity
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Leadership through Everyday Conversations
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Le Blues and the Samba: Lessons from the 2002 FIFA World Cup
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Leadership Principles from the Life of Demosthenes
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Organizational Strategy and Change
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The Argus Insight: Lessons in Change Management
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Selling the Value of Project Management
Jürgen speaks in various countries worldwide on the above and other topics, and is available to travel. For information on his availability, please contact ambassadors@pmforum.com or editor@pmforum.org.
The PM AmbassadorsTM Speakers Bureau was introduced by PMForum in 2007 as a service for project management leaders and meeting planners worldwide. The program offers leading project management authorities, experts and professional leaders who are available to speak at PM events worldwide. PM AmbassadorsTM include globally-recognized project management professional experts; authors of PM textbooks; former presidents and chairs of PM professional societies; experienced project managers and PM professionals; and retired executives of project and program-oriented organizations.
PM AmbassadorsTM are available to speak at project management conferences, meetings, seminars and workshops, and at corporate events. Interested meeting organizers and planners can contact ambassadors@pmforum.com for more information. Background information about individual speakers, availability and potential presentation topics can be found at http://www.pmforum.org/ambassadors/ambassadors.htm.
Established in 1995, www.pmforum.org was the world’s first website devoted to professional project management and is one of the world’s most popular sources of project management news and information.PMForum also produces the monthly online PM World Today eJournal where articles, case studies, papers and viewpoints by leading PM authorities from around the world can be found; free subscriptions are available at www.pmworldtoday.net.
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Senior Fluor Executive Bob Prieto Delivers Lecture on Program Management at 2(ND) UT Dallas Project Management Symposium in Texas
The 2nd UT Dallas Project Management Symposium opened in Richardson, Texas on Monday, 18 August, in the UT School of Management on the UT Dallas campus. The conference began in the School of Management's auditorium with a welcome and overview by James Joiner, Director of the Graduate Program in Project Management at UT Dallas and the Conference Chair. Jim then introduced Dr. Hasan Pirkul, Dean of School of Management at The University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas), who welcomed delegates to the conference and to the School of Management.
Following speeches by Dr. David E. Daniel, president of UT Dallas, (see report) and Mr. George Consolver, Director of Strategy Process for Texas Instruments, attendees had the opportunity to attend paper presentations in five streams: global PM, project governance, PM methods A & B, and Information Systems/Agile PM.
Those who attended the Global PM Track had an opportunity to hear from one of the world’s leading experts on infrastructure project and program management, Mr. Robert Prieto (left), Senior Vice President of Fluor Corporation. The topic of Bob’s speech was "Program Management - Getting on the Right Track."
Robert (Bob) Prieto is a Senior Vice President for Fluor Corporation, one of America’s largest engineering, construction and project management organizations. At Fluor, Bob is responsible for strategy in support of the firm’s Industrial & Infrastructure Group and its key clients. He focuses on the development and delivery of large, complex projects worldwide. He is a member of the executive committee of the National Center for Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, a member of the board of directors of the Business Council on International Understanding, a member of the board of the Civil Engineering Forum for Innovation, and co-founder and member of the board of the Disaster Resource Network.
Mr. Prieto serves on the National Research Council’s committee framing the challenges on Critical Infrastructure Systems. He served as a Presidential appointee to the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Business Advisory Council and served as chairman of the Engineering and Construction Governors of The World Economic Forum. He was co-chair of the infrastructure task force formed after September 11th by the New York City Chamber of Commerce and has extensive experience with programs associated with planning for and responding to natural disasters. Bob is also a member of the board of trustees of Polytechnic University of New York.
According to Bob, "Program management involves management of complex endeavors that translate strategic business objectives into well performing outcomes. These outcomes are typically represented by a series of projects which collectively result in the achievement of desired business outcomes. Increasingly program management is being employed in new markets and by owner’s without prior experience in this delivery form. To be successful it is important that the program be put on the right path from the outset."
In his lecture, Mr. Prieto focused on three aspects that require early focus by both owners and program managers in order to ensure successful outcomes: How the owner’s role changes under a program management approach; How "governance" is addressed between owner and program manager; and the "framework" systems and their focus under program management."
(photo at left: Veikko Valila, IPMA President; Robert Prieto; David Pells, PMForum President)
The 2 Day Project Management Symposium was being held on the UT Dallas campus in Richardson, Texas during 18-19 August 2008. In addition to the Opening Ceremony with Keynote Speakers, day one included more 23 presentations over five tracks of topics, a vendor exhibition, and a Monday evening networking reception. Day two on Tuesday will feature an opening keynote by Michael Kennedy, CEO of Targeted Convergence, 16 paper presentations, three panel discussions and closing keynote addresses by Ricardo Viana Vargas, member of the board of directors of the Project Management Institute (PMI), and Veikko Valila, President of the International Project Management Association (IPMA).
The symposium is being sponsored by the Graduate Program in Project Management at The University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas), in cooperation with the Dallas Chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMI®) and PMForum, Inc. Papers and presentations featured at this year’s symposium will be posted after the event on http://pmsymposium.utdallas.edu, where additional information about the conference and keynote speakers can currently be found.
For more information about the Graduate Program in Project Management at UT Dallas, visit http://som.utdallas.edu/project/. For information about the PMI Dallas Chapter, visit www.pmidallas.org. For information about PMForum, visit www.pmforum.org.
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Professor Lynn Crawford to Deliver Keynote Speech at 22nd
IPMA World Congress in Rome in November 2008
The project management team for the 22nd IPMA World Congress on Project Management - ROMA 2008 Project Management to Run - has announced that Dr. Lynn Crawford will be a keynote speaker for the November congress. Prof. Lynn Crawford (BArch MTCP GradDipHRM ADipC DBA FAIPM FRAIA MAPM) is Professor of Project Management at the Bond University, Australia and at the ESC of Lille, France. She is also Director of Human Systems International Limited.
Lynn Crawford is involved in project management practice, education and research and is Professor of Project Management at both the Lille Graduate School of Management (ESC Lille), France and Bond University, Australia. Through Human Systems, she works with leading corporations that are developing organisational project management competence by sharing and developing knowledge and best practices as members of a global system of project management knowledge networks. She is currently involved in three research projects.
Her research and writing are currently focused on Exploring the Role of the Executive Sponsor, The Value of Project Management and Impact of Complexity Theory on Project Management. Results of a completed study have been published by in a book titled "Project Categorization Systems: Aligning Capability with Strategy for Better Results". Lynn has been actively engaged in the development of global standards for project management since the late 1990’s and has been instrumental in the formation of the Global Alliance for Project Performance Standards (GAPPS).
At the 22nd IPMA World Congress in Rome, as a key-note speaker, Dr. Crawford will speak on the topic of "Project Management for a Faster Tomorrow".
According to her abstract, "We are all running to keep up with the pace of change. Project and Program Managers, as the managers of change, are at the heart of this challenge. Like professional athletes, individuals, project teams and organisations need to baseline and benchmark their performance, develop and implement ongoing improvement programs to ensure and maintain their fitness for competition. This presentation will show how leading project managers, teams and organisations are preparing themselves by developing their competence for a faster future."
The IPMA 22nd World Congress on Project Management will be held in Rome, Italy during 9-11 November 2008. According to the "ROMA 2008 - Project Management to Run" project team, with keynote speeches and 12 streams of presentations over three days, as many as 200 presentations on important project management topics can be anticipated.
The congress is expected to attract leading project management authorities and over 1,000 participants from the 45+ countries represented by IPMA membership. The Roma 2008 World Congress will be one of the largest project management events in the world this year. The 22nd IPMA World Congress and Exhibition will be held at the Palazzo dei Congressi near the heart of downtown Rome. For registration, schedule and other information, visit the conference website at www.ipmaroma2008.it.
The local hosts for the ROMA 2008 World Congress are the Italian Project Management Academy and the Italian National Association of Industrial Plant Engineering (ANIMP). The President of ANIMP is Fabrizio Di Amato; the President of the Italian PM Academy is Roberto Mori; the Congress Chairman is Luigi Iperti; and the Project Manager for IPMA 2008 is PierMarco Romagnoli.
Founded in 1967 and registered in Switzerland, the International Project Management Association (IPMA) is is an international federation of more than 40 national PM societies in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. Local societies serve each country in its national language. IPMA provides an umbrella organization at the international level. IPMA’s internationally acclaimed 4 Level PM Certification Programme continues to grow worldwide. The IPMA annually presents awards to teams that achieve great feats in project management. IPMA maintains its continuous presence in the global PM arena through regular International Symposia, Expert Seminars and its Annual World Congress. The president of IPMA for 2008 is Veikko Valila. Additional information is available at www.ipma.ch.
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SRO for Personal Angles on Project Management at 2nd
UT Dallas Project Management Symposium in Texas
Demonstrating that project managers want to hear about personal aspects of project management (PM), three such paper presentations were full to standing-room-only (SRO) audiences on Day Two of the 2nd UT Dallas Project Management Symposium on 19 August. The conference was held at the School of Management on the University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas) campus in Richardson, Texas, USA during 18-19 August 2008. Day two of the conference began with a welcome by James Joiner, Symposium Chair and Director of the Graduate Program in Project Management at UT Dallas. He was followed by a keynote speech by Michael Kennedy, CEO of Targeted Convergence, on "Managing to Achieve Toyota Excellence in Product Development."
From 9:45 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., attendees had opportunities to attend presentations by 15 speakers over four tracks of subject areas. This is when participants voted with their feet, with three presentations filled to capacity, as follows:
"When Academic Theory Collides with Applied Reality - Time to Stop Talking About IT and Doing IT", by Lee R. Lambert. Mr. Lambert (pictured at right), a popular speaker at PM events throughout North America, discussed "how it actually is in today’s fast paced, under resources, need it yesterday, project world." Lee focused on "real world" applications or concepts, tools and methodologies. According to Lee, the presentation was intended to "penetrate through the fog of academic theory."
"How Project Management will Fill the Baby Boomer Vacuum," by Andrea Nicholas (pictured left). According to Andrea, "With SAP projecting that the baby boomer generation comprises nearly 46% of the worldwide workforce, companies irrespective of size, industry or location are looking ahead to the next 3-5 years and hearing the same sucking sound: the sound of the baby boomer leadership vacuum… the result of significant numbers of executives entering retirement beginning in 2010… What are companies doing to reduce the risk this problem presents..?" During her presentation, Ms. Nicholas explored the project and program manager development "pipeline" as a path to both career development and organizational continuity and stability.
"Finding Humor in Project Management," by Zelda Jones and Gary Travelstead (in photo at right). According to the authors, "Studies have shown that encouraging humor in the workplace can increase worker retention and workplace satisfaction. Other studies have shown that humor stimulates the right side of the brain, the side that supports thinking outside the box which facilitates problems solving..." The authors demonstrated the concept by relating some humorous project management incidents based on real life experiences. As you might expect, it was all funny but also enlightening.
The success of these sessions suggest that symposium organizers should include more papers and presentations with personal angles and aspects of project management.
In addition to the above, other presentations on day two included those by Adam Paul ("Bridging Engineering and Information Technology to Address Regional Mobility"); Jim Miller ("Catapulting Productivity with IT Project Management and Corporate Governance"); Ram Garg & Eric Harris ("Changing the Software Outsourcing Game. Multisourcing: The New Global Trend"); Jamin Eberhart & Surajit Kar ("The Gold Standard in New Product Development"); Pete Harpum ("Best Practice PM in Drug Development"); Curt Raschke ("Leading Your Customer in Successful Product Co-Development Programs"); Greg Indelico ("Project Management in the Adaptive Development Environment"); Niel Nicholaisen ("Breaking the Project Management Triangle - The Purpose Alignment"); and Samir Ray & Dipesh Patel ("Managing Chaos in an Agile World").
The 2 Day Project Management Symposium included an Opening Ceremony, two Keynote Speakers on day one, 40 presentations over five tracks of topics, networking lunches, a Monday evening reception, an opening keynote speech on day two, three panel discussions and closing keynote addresses by Ricardo Viana Vargas, Director-at-Large for the Project Management Institute (PMI), and Veikko Valila, President of the International Project Management Association (IPMA).
The symposium was sponsored by the Graduate Program in Project Management at The University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas), in cooperation with the Dallas Chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMI®) and PMForum, Inc. Papers and presentations featured at this year’s symposium will be available for download at http://pmsymposium.utdallas.edu, where additional information about the conference can be found. This annual event was intended to contribute to the productivity and success of organizations and industries in North Texas, and to local economic development. Individuals or organizations interested in participating in next year’s symposium should contact Debbie@utdallas.edu.
For more information about the Graduate Program in Project Management at UT Dallas, visit http://som.utdallas.edu/project/. For information about the PMI Dallas Chapter, visit www.pmidallas.org. For information about PMForum, visit www.pmforum.org.
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Germán Bernate Named International Correspondent
for PMForum and PM World Today in Colombia
PMForum is pleased to announce that Germán Bernate, a senior Project Management consultant based in Bogotá, has been named an International Correspondent in Colombia for PMForum and PM World Today. Mr. Bernate is also General Manager and Founder of ALMAGESTON Consulting Firm.
Germán Bernate holds a degree in Electronic Engineering from the Universidad Distrital Francisco José de Caldas. Mr. Bernate has dedicated 45 years of his professional life to the engineering and software industry in the areas of strategic management, Balanced ScoreCard, and Project Management.
Germán worked for more than thirty years at IBM Colombia, where he assumed a wide range of responsibilities in both technical and management areas. He also worked as a Project Manager at NCR Colombia. Mr. Bernate has managed projects in Banks, government, distribution, communication networks, aerial transport, and retail stores.
Germán has published several books, including "El año 2000 al acecho" (2000 Year Coming) related to the Y2K problem. In 2004 Mr. Bernate was a guest speaker at the congress organized by PMI Madrid Chapter, with the lecture "Triunfos y frustraciones de un Gerente de Proyecto en Latinoamérica'" (Triumphs and frustrations of a Project Manager in Latin America). In February 2006 he presented "How to Grow in a Different Environment" at the annual congress of the Association for Strategic Planning - ASP- in Los Angeles, CA, USA. In 1992 Germán won the first award of the fourth edition of the literary contest “Dr. Mariano Zumel" in Madrid, Spain. Germán is actually working in the fields of Project Management, Strategic Planning and Balanced ScoreCard implementation. He is the immediate past president of the Santa Fe de Bogotá Chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMI).
According to Wikepedia, Bogotá, formerly called Santa Fe de Bogotá, is the capital city of Colombia as well as the most populous city in the country, with 7,033,914 inhabitants (2007). Bogotá and its metropolitan area have an estimated population of 8,244,980. Bogotá's altitude makes it the third-highest major city in the world after La Paz and Quito. Bogotá is the largest in Colombia in terms of land area.
Originally founded by the Muisca Confederation, Bogotá was settled in 1538 by the Spanish explorer Gonzalo Jiménez de Quesada and named "Santa Fé de Bacatá" after his birthplace Santa Fé and the local name. "Bacatá" became the modern "Bogotá" by the time it was made the capital of the New Kingdom of Granada, which was part of the Viceroyalty of Peru, and later the Viceroyalty of New Granada. The city was one of the centers of Spanish colonial power and civilization in South America. After being freed from the Spanish in 1819 by Simón Bolívar, Bogotá became the capital of Gran Colombia, a federation combining the territories of modern Panama, Colombia, Venezuela, and Ecuador. When Gran Colombia was broken up, Bogotá remained the capital of New Granada, which later became the Republic of Colombia.
Bogotá is located near the geographic center of Colombia, on the east of the Savannah of Bogotá, 2640 meters (8661 ft) above sea level. Bogotá is Colombia's largest economic center, followed by Medellín, Cali, and Barranquilla. Most companies in Colombia have their headquarters in Bogotá (for example, Bavaria, Avianca).
It is the site of Colombia's main stock market, and home to many foreign companies doing business in Colombia and in South American. Bogotá is a major center for import and export of goods for Colombia and the entire Andean Community in Latin America. It has a busy banking industry, insurance sector, and Stock exchange. Engineering firms provide services for many regions of Colombia and Central America. Bogotá houses the central governmental institutions and military headquarters, is the centre of the telecommunications network and has the biggest industrial facilities in the country.
Bogotá receives money from many exports, including flowers and emeralds. Millions of dollars in domestically produced rough and cut emeralds are bought and sold daily in the city. Other important industries include financial services, especially banking. Bogotá is headquarters to many banks and the Banco de la República, Colombia's central bank. Bogotá is a printing and publishing centre, and a major convention destination. The city's industrial base include staples of the Colombian economy such as GM Colmotores, Compañía Colombiana Automotriz, and Ecopetrol.
Bogotá also has a scholarly tradition that dates back to 1580. The oldest university of Bogotá is Universidad Santo Tomás opened on July 13, 1580. The second oldest is Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, founded on July 9, 1623 by the Jesuits. In December 31, 1651 the still-operating School of Our Lady of Rosary was founded by Fray Cristóbal de Torres. The largest university of Colombia, the Universidad Nacional de Colombia, was created in September 22, 1867. In 1886, the Externado of Colombia University was founded.
Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country located in Northwestern South America. Colombia is bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Atlantic Ocean, through the Caribbean Sea; to the north-west by Panama; and to the west by the Pacific Ocean. Colombia also shares maritime borders with the Caribbean countries of Jamaica, Haiti and the Dominican Republic and the Central American countries of Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.
Colombia is the 26th largest nation in the world and the fourth largest in South America (after Brazil, Argentina, and Peru), with an area more than twice that of France. It also has the 29th largest population in the world and the second largest in South America, after Brazil.
Colombia has a long tradition of constitutional government, and the Conservative and Liberal parties, founded in 1843 and 1848 respectively, are two of the oldest surviving political parties in the Americas. Since the 1960s, government forces have been engaged in conflict with left-wing insurgents and illegal right-wing paramilitaries. Fuelled by the cocaine trade, this escalated dramatically in the 1990s. Colombia is a standing middle power with the second largest Spanish-speaking population in the world after Mexico. It is also one of the largest manufacturers in South America.
Colombia is very ethnically diverse, and the interaction between descendants of the original native inhabitants, Spanish colonisers, African slaves and twentieth-century immigrants from Europe and the Middle East has produced a rich cultural heritage. This has also been influenced by Colombia's incredibly varied geography. The majority of the urban centres are located in the highlands of the Andes mountains, but Colombian territory also encompasses Amazon rainforest, tropical grassland and both Caribbean and Pacific coastlines. Ecologically, Colombia is one of the most mega-diverse countries in the world.
Colombia's economy is fueled by abundant natural resources, a highly literate population and relatively high-valued currency. Colombia's main exports include manufactured goods (41.3%), petroleum (28.3%), coal (13.2%), and coffee (6.3%). Unofficially, illegal drugs are also a major export. Colombia is also the largest exporter of plantains to the United States. It also exports many types of sugar crops. Within Latin America, Colombia is known as a provider of fine lingerie, an industry centered in Medellín. With approximately 43.6 million people in 2006, Colombia is the third-most populous country in Latin America, after Brazil and Mexico.
Information above about Bogotá and Colombia is courtesy of Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia, at
Fluent in English and Spanish languages, German Bernate is based in Bogotá and can be contacted at gbernate@cable.net.co. The PMForum team now welcomes German’s participation.
Established in the early 1990s in Canada, www.pmforum.org was the world’s first website devoted to professional project management and continues to be one of the world’s most popular sources of project management news and information. PMForum also produces the popular monthly PM World Today eJournal; free subscriptions available at www.pmworldtoday.net. PMForum’s global network of correspondents provides news and information from around the world of project management. For more information about this program, visit http://www.pmforum.org/pm%20forum%20team/index.htm#5
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Andrea Ames of IBM to Keynote Day One at PMI Honolulu Chapter
+ LavaCon Professional Development Summit in November
The PMI Honolulu Chapter and LavaCon have announced keynote speakers for the 2008 Professional Development Summit being sponsored by the PMI Honolulu Chapter in partnership with LavaCon® during 6-8 November 2008. The conference, which will present proven best practices in the fields of project management and technical communications, will be held at the Marriott Honolulu Waikiki hotel, in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.
Keynote speaker to kickoff the three-day conference on Thursday, November 6, 2008 will be Andrea Ames (pictured at right), Information Experience Strategist and Architect for IBM. Andrea is a Senior Technical Staff Member and Information Experience Strategist and Architect in the Information Management User Technology organization at IBM, where she is responsible for driving broad initiatives to improve the total information experience. She is also the Information Development Strategist/Architect/Lead for the Data Studio portfolio of common tooling, clients and runtimes to design, develop against, manage and govern the data lifecycle.
Andrea accomplishes her business results entirely without people management authority. Prior to IBM, she was an information architecture and information usability consultant, helping primarily small businesses to engineer their product and information development processes to design and create information in ways that provide information where and when the user needs it via assistance embedded in the product user interface, enhance product usability, decrease user learning curve, increase and accelerate user productivity, increase product adoption and customer loyalty, support business and marketing goals, and most efficiently use small numbers of information developers.
Andrea has 25 years of experience in technical communication, a Master of Science degree in Science and Technical Communication from Drexel University in Philadelphia, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Temple University in Philadelphia. She is a Fellow and past President (2004–2005) of the Society for Technical Communication (STC, the largest international professional society for technical communication), a Distinguished Engineer of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), and a Senior Member of the Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineers (IEEE). She is also a member of the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), the American Society for Information Science and Technology (ASIS&T), the Information Architecture Institute (IAI), the Usability Professionals Association (UPA), and the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing (ATTW).
Andrea designed, coordinates and teaches in the UCSC Extension in Silicon Valley certificate program in Technical Writing and Communication. She has published two award-winning technical books and more than 50 papers and articles, and is a regular speaker at conferences and professional meetings around the world.
The PMI Honolulu Chapter + LavaCon Professional Development Summit 2008 is for professionals who want continuing education on how to manage projects, the latest management and communication tools and technology, and "soft skills" in areas such as leadership, conflict management, contract and workplace negotiation skills, etc. Choose from over 40 sessions and workshops on technical communication and project management! Participants may earn up to 24 Professional Development Units (PDUs) for attending - a major event in one of the most beautiful places on Earth. For more information, visit http://www.pmi-honoluluchapter.org/PDD_PDS/2008/PDSWelcome.htm.
The Project Management Institute (PMI®) is the world's largest professional organization for project management professionals. Founded in 1997, the PMI® Honolulu Chapter is a non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of project management practices and standards worldwide and the development of the project management profession. More information about the chapter can be found at http://www.pmi-honoluluchapter.org. For more information about the conference, contact the PDS'08 committee at pdshi@pmi-honoluluchapter.org
LavaCon® is a conference for technical communication professionals-senior technical writers, documentations managers and other professionals interested in learning how to deploy and manage technical communication projects. More information about previous LavaCon conferences can be found at www.lavacon.org.
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