Introduction

What is the value of attending an international project management conference? Why should anyone attend? Are such events primarily for career development, networking, business promotion, or personal gain of some other sort? Is it all of the above? Any why should a company or manager authorize the budget or expenditures for attending such events? In today’s economy, I am sure this is a valid issue for many project managers and project teams around the world. Can attending a professional conference really provide a “return on investment?”

I recently had the opportunity, and privilege, to attend the 23rd IPMA World Congress on Project Management in Helsinki, Finland. That major event, IPMA’s annual world congress held during 15-17 June in Helsinki, had the theme “Refresh!” – Refresh Yourself! Refresh Your Career! Refresh Your Business! Refresh Your Society! Streams of presentations, panel discussions and workshops were delivered along those themes by people from around the world over the three days. Because the question “what is the value of attending an international conference?” continues to be an important one, both for project management professionals and the organizations that employ them, and because the Helsinki congress is so fresh to me, I thought I would take this opportunity to tell my conference story again this year.

This is a follow-on to my April 2008 editorial entitled “The Value of Project Management Conferences Revisited: My Recent Experience in Tokyo.” Just as I had found last year in Japan, the benefits to myself and our organization were widespread, significant and very valuable. For those who have not yet had this experience, or have had some difficulty in either gaining the benefits or persuading management to fund your trip, here are some tangible things to consider, presented as a sort of report on my recent trip to Finland. As the Helsinki congress organizers had anticipated, it turned out to be a very refreshing experience.

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