Ist AACEI Certified Earned Value Professional (EVP) from India

Reported by Raju Rao in Chennai

Day 1 Agenda Announced for November Professional Development Summit in Honolulu

Preliminary speakers and topics for presentations and workshops on Day 1 of the 2008 Professional Development Summit (PDS'08) in November have been announced. The PDS'08 conference is being sponsored by the PMI Honolulu Chapter and LavaCon^®, the leading organization for technical communications professionals. 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 (pictured), in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.

According to their latest announcement, Day One will include a keynote presentation by Andrea Ames of IBM, followed by these presentations and workshops.

Morning Presentations

• Why Less is More: The Backpacker’s Approach to Project Management, by John Kinser, Management Concepts

• What Do You Mean I Started It??? Overcoming Office Politics, by Tim Johnson, Carpe Factum

• Using the “Balanced Scorecard” Approach to Measure Project Success, by Joan Lasselle, Lasselle-Ramsay

• Migrating to DITA: Real World Successes, Failures and Lessons Learned, by Bernard Aschwanden, Publishing Smarter

• What Your Project Team Isn’t Telling You, by Tim Johnson, Carpe Factum

• Oh No, You Gave Me What I Asked For! Using Consulting Skills to Uncover Expectations, by Richard and Elizabeth Larson, Watermark Learning

• Case Study: Single-Source Publishing with MadCap Flare, by Bonni Graham, Scantron

• What’s New in DITA 1.2 , by Robert Anderson, IBM

Afternoon Hands-on Workshops

• Earned Value Management: A Hands-On Simulation, by John Kinser, Management Concepts

• Critical Judgment Workshop, by Rick Griffin, Mindavation

• Applying PMBOK Practices to Documentation Projects Workshop, Vivian Aschwanden, Platform Computing

• DITA 1.2 Workshop, by Robert Anderson, IBM

• Consultative Skills Workshop, by Richard and Elizabeth Larson, Watermark Learning

• How to Create and Deploy Effective Online Surveys Workshop, by Bonni Graham, Scantron

• Choosing a Content Management System that’s Right for You Workshop, by Bernard Aschwanden, Publishing Smarter

Day one will include exhibitor presentations over a box lunch and conclude with a traditional Hawaiian Networking Reception, featuring "Light Pupus!"

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" 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.

Late Report from the PMI World Congress
Latin America 2008 in São Paulo

Reported by Peter Mello in Brazil

From Monday 11^th to Wednesday 13^th August 2008 over 60 educational presentations within 13 areas of focus occurred in one of the largest events in Project Management seeing in Brazil.

There I could meet Ricardo Vargas, old friend and now Director-at-Large at PMI - Project Management Institute walking around the corridors as an honored guest but, as he told me - acting as a host for this sold-out event that mixed great presentations with crowded corridors.

In the morning of 11 August, I participated in a PMI R.E.P. breakfast with many "reps" from all around South America and got to hear about the new PMI Certifications for Risk and Scheduling professionals.

One interesting point was about PMI’s "Career Framework" and I think that everyone should take a look at: http://www.pmi.org/BusinessSolutions/Pages/Organizational-Career-Framework.aspx

My favorite presentation for the first day was by Farhad Abdollahyan about Corporate Fusions and Project Management. On Tuesday, I walked around collecting other people's impressions.

On Tuesday, presentations were by: Sergio Concha, Loreto Reyes, Nahdy Moreno, Victor E Anyosa, Peter B Souza Mello, Marconi Fábio Vieira, Edivandro Conforto Rdolfo Ambriz, Bruce A Woerner, José Esterkin, Murilo Paes Lima, Conrado Morlan,Antônio Amaral Júnior, Eddie Merla, Margareth Carneiro, Edson Satoshi Gomi,Jorge M Valdés Garciatorres, Julio Matus Nakamura, Xisto Alves de Souza Junior, André Augusto Choma, Honorable Dumilde das Chagas Simões Rangel, João Gama Neto, Anibal N Cassanelli.

I had the great opportunity on Tuesday to present my own paper on the topics of "Project Management Tools for Modern Project and Portfolio Management", co-authored with Vladimir Liberzon from Moscow, Russia.

More information can be found at: http://www.pmforum.org/blogs/news/2008/08/pmi-global-2008-event-in-sao-paulo.html

Congress website: http://congresses.pmi.org/LatinAmerica2008/TheCongress/DailyAtAGlance.cfm

PMI UK Launches International Project Management Day -
It's People That Count!

Reported by Bob Owen in the UK

The PMI UK Chapter is holding its third International Project Management Day Conference on Thursday 6^th November 2007 at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry. The conference will be one of the main international project management conferences taking place in the UK this year, with over 200 delegates expected. The conference theme is "It's People That Count!" and will look at how to build and motivate the project team.

Keynote speaker is Bob Assirati, Director - Projects, UK Office of Government Commerce

The other speakers for the day are:

Chris Cattaway - PM Challenges for NGOs with reference to an Ongoing Humanitarian Project
Sylvia Baumgartner - Getting the People bit right!
Nick Fewings - Successful change is down to people
Andy Taylor & Patrick Bird – Fresh thinking in the development of Project Management capability
Vicky Higham & Steve Jones - HBOS’s capability improvement project case study
Nick Lake – PMI UK
Dr Harvey Maylor - Closing Keynote - Step back from chaos

There will be an exhibition with sponsor and project management association stands including sponsors: CPS, CITI, UMT Consulting, People Deliver Projects and ExxonMobil (also sponsors of the reception).

The cost to attend will be £195 + VAT for PMI UK Chapter Members and £245 + VAT for non PMI UK Chapter Members who book before the 12th September 2008.

Further details and to book visit http://www.pmi.org.uk/events/intprojman.asp or call the Conference hotline on +44 (0)208 751 5626.

Invitation to Attend Launch of New PMA India Chapter
in Hyderabad

Project Management Associates (PMA) of India has announced the launch of a new PMA Chapter in Hyderabad with an open invitation to attend the half-day ceremony. According to the announcement, "project and program managers, project management professionals and executives are invited to attend the historic opening of the PMA Chapter, Hyderabad on 11 September 2008."

The invitation is extended by Mr. Adesh Jain (pictured), National President of PMA and Chairman of the Council of Delegates for the International Project Management Association (IPMA), of which PMA is a national member.

The inaugural event will be held in the Institute of Public Enterprise (IPE) Auditorium at Osmania University in Hyderabad, India, from 11:00 – 13:15 p.m. and will include lunch. Addresses and speeches by several notable university and government officials, as well was PMA leaders from Delhi and the new Hyderabad Chapter, will include the following:

• Dr. Ramesh Chandra Panda, Member, Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) and former Secretary, Dept. of Heavy Industry & Public Enterprises, Govt. of India. – Inaugural Address

• Prof. R K Mishra, Director, Institute of Public Enterprise

• Prof. T Tirupathi Rao, Vice Chancellor, Osmania University

• Shri K B Dubey, Director (Projects) & Member of the Board, NTPC – ‘Project Management in NTPC’

• Shri A S K Reddy, Chief HR Officer, GMR Hyderabad International Airport – ‘Project Management in GMR’

• Adesh Jain, National President, PMA & Chairman, CoD, IPMA, Switzerland - ‘Project Management at the centre stage of economy’

• Shri A K Goel, Special Chief Secretary to the Government of A.P., Hyderabad (Invited)

• Arvind Agarwal, Director, Project Management Associates

For more information or to register, please contact Arvind Agarwal, PMA Director in Delhi, at info@pma-india.org or Ch. Upender at chupender@gmail.com.

Project Management Associates (PMA) is a non-profit registered professional body of project and business managers with the aim of strengthening project management in India. Since its formation in 1993, PMA has made tremendous strides in creating awareness amongst CEO's, practicing managers and academia in India regarding the importance of balancing time, cost and scope with quality built-in and meeting the diversified expectations of various project stakeholders. PMA was started with it's President, Adesh Jain's missionary zeal and commitment to see India at the top of the world map in managing projects & change. PMA continues this vision to promote professional project management in India. For more information, visit http://www.pma-india.org/index.htm.

Australian Defence Project wins AIPM Project Management Achievement Award

A Canberra-based Defence Materiel Organisation (DMO) project team that successfully delivered the C-17A Globemaster III heavy air lift aircraft to the Royal Australian Air Force has won the Defence/Aerospace category of the ACT Project Management Achievement Awards. Procurement of Australia's fleet of four C-17A Globemaster aircraft was a landmark achievement for the Department of Defence, providing a major piece of national infrastructure.

"The C-17 aircraft and support provisions were delivered ahead of schedule, under budget and exceeding performance expectations," the Director General Airlift and Training Systems, Air Commodore Steve Drury said.

The $2.2 billion Heavy Air Lift Project was approved on 1 March 2006 to acquire the Boeing aircraft and related provisions, including airfield and maintenance facilities, aircrew and maintenance personnel training and ongoing logistics support contracts.

Principal project supplies including the aircraft are now in operational service, with delivery of remaining C-17 infrastructure and training devices continuing over forthcoming years.

"Ordinarily, a Defence capability of this magnitude and complexity would take in excess of five years from project approval to delivery," said project team leader, Group Captain (GPCAPT) Andrew Doyle. "However, the accelerated schedule never before attempted by Defence in the modern aviation era included a requirement to have the first C-17 operational by January 2007, and all four C-17 aircraft delivered by mid-2008."

Australia's first C-17A was delivered on 4 December 2006, with the fourth aircraft being delivered on 8 March 2008.

"The achievement of these ambitious outcomes was made possible through a whole-of-Defence team effort and the fantastic support and cooperation of the United States Air Force and the aircraft manufacturer. The C-17 is already proving to be a great capability for Australia," GPCAPT Doyle added.

For the first time in Australia's history, the C-17A provides the capability to rapidly transport up to 70 tonnes of over-sized military hardware, humanitarian relief supplies and medical support anywhere in the world. The C-17A has also been used to effect in support of Operation PNG Assist in November 2007 and Operation Nargis Assist in Burma earlier this year. The project will now go onto the Australian Institute of Project Management national awards judging to be held at its national conference in Canberra in October.

For more information abut the Australian Institute of Project Management and their Project Management Achievement Awards, visit http://www.aipm.com.au html/default.cfm.

PMI UK Chapter announces new keynote speaker for
International Project Management Day event in Coventry

Reported by Bob Owen in the UK

The PMI UK Chapter has announced a change to the previously publicised Opening Keynote Speaker for its third International Project Management Day Conference, scheduled for Thursday 6th November 2008 at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry. The one-day event is titled “International Project Management Day – It’s People That Count!”

John Tuckett, Director Major Projects and Programmes, Office of Government Commerce (OGC) is taking over from Bob Assirati as the Opening Keynote speaker at the conference. The OGC, at the centre of the UK Government, is developing a number of measures to assist people with delivering projects and programmes to time, cost and quality, including developing greater professionalism within all those involved. John Tuckett is the lead within OGC for a number of initiatives and will explain the drivers, rationale and outcomes expected, and how these can all be related to the individual.

An updated Conference Programme for the day can now be viewed at http://www.pmi.org.uk/events/downloads/IPMProgramme2008v2final.pdf

Other speakers and topics for the day are:

• Chris Cattaway – PM Challenges for NGOs with reference to an Ongoing Humanitarian Project

• Sylvia Baumgartner – Getting the People bit right!

• Nick Fewings – Successful change is down to people

• Andy Taylor & Patrick Bird – Fresh thinking in the development of Project Management capability

• Vicky Higham & Steve Jones – HBOS’s capability improvement project case study

• Nick Lake – PMI UK

• Dr Harvey Maylor – Closing Keynote – Step back from chaos

• Our MC will be Penny Pullan, and a poster representation of the whole event will be drawn by Vanessa Randle

There will be an exhibition with sponsor and project management association stands including:

Silver Sponsors - CPS - www.cps.co.uk, CITI - www.citi.co.uk, UMT Consulting - www.umt.com, People Deliver Projects - www.peopledeliverprojects.com, ESI International – www.esi-emea.com, PMProfessional –www.pmprofessional.co.uk RPC UK Ltd – www.rpc.uk.com Planview www.planview.co.uk

General sponsors – ExxonMobil, PMI, PMI UK, Aston University

The cost to attend will be £245 + VAT for PMI UK Chapter Members and £300 + VAT for non PMI UK Chapter Members. Further details and to book visit http://www.pmi.org.uk/events/intprojman.asp. Group booking discounts are available for companies sending 5 or more delegates along to the conference. Tel 0208 751 5626 for further info.

Further information can be found at
http://www.pmi.org.uk/events/intprojman.asp or by email to Sandra Newman at
service@pmi.org.uk or calling 0208 751 5626 in the UK.

PMA Announces New Chapter in Ranchi, India

Project Management Associates (PMA), the Indian project management professional society, has announced that it is opening a new chapter in Ranchi, India. Project management professionals, executives and the general public are invited to attend the "historic opening of PMA Chapter, Ranchi.

The Grand Opening conference and ceremony will occur on Saturday afternoon, 11 October 2008, in the Auditorium at HEC Headquarters in Dhurwa, Ranchi, India. The inaugural address will be by Dr. Ramesh Chandra Panda, member of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT) and former Secretary of the Department of Heavy Industry and Public Enterprises, Government of India.

The following Programme agenda has been announced:

• 14:00 Opening Function

• 14:10 Welcome Address: Shri G K Pillai, CMD, HEC Ltd.

• 14:25 Special Address: Shri S P Patnaik, ED (HRD) MIT, SAIL – Topic: Project Management in SAIL

• 14:40 Special Address: Shri B Sankararaman, Director (Projects), MECON – Topic: Project Management in MECON

• 14:55 Keynote Address: Shri Adesh Jain, National President, PMA & Chair of Council of Delegates of IPMA (Switzerland) – Topic: Project Management at the centre state of economy

• 15:30 Inaugural Address: Dr. R C Panda, Member, Central Administrative Tribunal

• 15:55 Concluding Address: Shri Arvind Agarwal, Director, PMA

Anyone interested in attending should RSVP to Mr. Arvind Agarwal, Director, Project Management Associates, Delhi, A-48, Sector 5, Noida, India or via email at info@pma-india.org. For website, visit http://pma-india.org/.

IPMA Elects First Female President! Brigitte Schaden of Austria
to assume IPMA Presidency

Reported by Miles Shepherd in London, UK

The International Project Management Association (IPMA) has elected Brigitte Schaden as President for the term beginning in January 2009. Schaden is currently serving as Vice President for Certification and is President of PM Austria. She becomes IPMA's first female President.

President Elect Schaden is best known for her extensive work on Certification. She was the Project Sponsor for the recent revision of the International Competence Baseline, IPMA’s world standard on multilevel certification. She also was responsible to overseeing the subsequent revision to the International Competence Regulations Guidelines. She has held a variety of significant posts in PM Austria, from 'Controller' to Chief Executive and currently President.

Her international experience includes 4 years as a member of the Certification and Validation Management Board (CVMB) which handles all aspects of IPMA’s certification programme. She was the Project Manager for the Global Company certification programme that piloted IPMA's approach to providing certification for Companies operating across multiple IPMA Member Associations.

Brigitte is currently working with Siemens to develop a similar programme for worldwide certification of Siemens staff.

PM Forum will publish an interview with President-Elect Schaden next month.

Founded in 1967 and registered in Switzerland, the International Project Management Association (IPMA) is an international federation of more than 45 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. Additional information is available at www.ipma.ch.