New HQ for APM in UK

Reported by Miles Shepherd in the UK

The Association for Project Management (APM) has moved from their old and very cramped Headquarters (HQ) in High Wycombe. The new HQ (see photo below, right is a purpose built office development that offers more space, all new infrastructure for the IT system and more space for staff.

West Wycombe Road was APM’s first ‘independent’ property, with good parking and seemingly plenty of office accommodation. However, the move to this converted domestic dwelling coincided with a period of very rapid expansion of the membership and the concomitant requirement for additional staff. The spacious offices soon became cramped and a move has been planned for some time. The move was planned as a project and all the early indications are that it has been completed on time and within the budget.

APM can now be found at:
Ibis House, Regent Park
Summerleys Road
Princes Risborough
Buckinghamshire, UK
Telephone: +(0)44 845 458 1944
Facsimilie +(0)44 845 458 8807

The Association for
Project Management
(APM) is the UK’s national
body for professional project
management. With over 16,500 individual and 500 corporate members throughout the UK and abroad, APM is one of the largest organisations of its kind in Europe. The organisation develops and promotes project management across all sectors of industry and beyond. APM's published mission is: "To develop and promote the professional disciplines of project and programme management for the public benefit." APM is the UK member of the International Project Management Association (IPMA). With headquarters in Buckinghamshire, APM has twelve regional branches throughout the UK and one in Hong Kong. Additional information can be found at www.apm.org.uk.

PMI Chapter Frankfurt election results announced
and some German economical updates

Reported by Manfred Rieck in Wiesbaden, Germany

The PMI Frankfurt Chapter held its yearly board election in Frankfurt in advance of the traditional Dinner Meeting at Schubeck's Restaurant on 1 December 2008. There were some small changes in the board responsibilities as Volker Gottwald took over the VP Finance role and Andreas Lowinger took over the VP Education role. Wilhelm Kross has been confirmed as the President of the chapter and Michael Witzorky still holds the VP Webmaster role, same with Henning Zeumer (VP Programs) and Rüdiger Liebe (VP Meetings). Two new faces were elected namely Peter Miez-Mangold who became VP Public Relations and Martin Monka as VP Members.

During the election the question was asked whether to double the mandate duration to two years but the feedback of the members was indecisive so there is no change planned for the coming period.

The Dinner Meeting after the election was the main reason for most of the guests joining the event as they liked to finish the year with a “good meal and fruitful conversation” as one guest was stating. It is a good time to meet chapter members and friends who are visiting the chapter at least for this event to discuss chapter topics as well as the actual economic crisis we are in.

The discussions were very interesting and are mirroring the critical situation the German economy is moving in. It could be compared with a boat moving into a fogbank as 2009 is widely unknown when you look at the economical indices.

The group consisted of Senior Managers as well as Project Managers and gave a good indication of how widespread the “German Angst” is. But to make a long story short, optimism is still predominant. On the one hand several projects have been stopped, primarily in the automotive sector as project managers were able to report who were working for automotive providers. On the other hand projects in the banking sector and in the governance environment are still going on. In one special case the projects are speeding up as the selling of Dresdner Bank from Allianz towards Commerzbank was planned to be finished earlier.

Looking at the current politics there is an heterogeneous picture. The German Cancellor Angela Merkel is still waiting with a economical supporting package although the industry as well as several politicians are demanding it vehemently. It needs to consider whether the support of dedicated industries or a gift coupon for unemployed people and older people as asked for during the week really increases the domestic demand – then looking to Japan these packages had only short term effects.

Nomination Period for PMI Board of Directors is Open

The Project Management Institute (PMI) has announced that nominations are now open for the PMI Board of Directors for the 2010-2012 board. The nomination period is open until 2 February 2009. PMI members in good standing who would like to submit a name are encouraged to do so as early as possible.

In 2009, members of the Project Management Institute (PMI) will elect five individuals to serve on the PMI Board of Directors for a term spanning 2010-2012. Board member duties are as defined in the Bylaws of the Institute, Article VI, Section A, Board of Directors; the election process is governed by Section B, Directors of the Institute.

The PMI Board of Directors is comprised of twelve (12) to eighteen (18), at large, voting PMI Board Directors. Three (3) of these voting PMI Board Directors are elected by the board of director each year to serve as Officers of the Institute.

For information on the requirements and process, including action items and timetable, visit http://www.pmi.org/PDF/2009%20Call%20for%20Nominations.pdf.

The Project Management Institute (PMI) is a leading advocate for the project management profession globally. Founded in 1969, PMI has more than 425,000 members and credential holders in 175 countries. PMI’s Project Management Professional (PMP®) credential is recognized as the only globally transferable credential in project management. For additional information, visit www.pmi.org.

©2008 Project Management Institute, Inc. All right reserved.
The PMI logo is a registered mark of the Project Management Institute, Inc.

First Day of the PMI - IT&T SIG Global Conference
17-18 December 2008, Cairo, Egypt

Reported live from the PMI-IT&T SIG Conference in Cairo
Reported by Ahmed Saleh Mokhtar in Egypt

To the first time in Africa, the PMI-IT&T SIG Conference is launched in Cairo, Egypt on Wednesday 17 December 2008 with opening and keynote speeches. The 2-day conference is held at a luxurious 5-star hotel and corporate resort near the airport of Cairo.

The conference was opened by representatives of the three organizers of the conference: Mr. Emad Aziz, CEO of Brisk Consulting, Mr. David Prior, Chairman of the Board, PMI IT&T SIG and Dr. Gamal Nassar, President of PMI MENA Chapter. The three organizers welcomed the conference attendees and introduced the keynote speaker HE Egypt’s Minister of State for Administrative Development; the conference is held under his auspice. He appreciated PMI-MENA chapter efforts in providing the Egyptian and regional market with certified project managers (According to Dr, Nassar the number of PMPs is increased rapidly from 7 PMPs in 1999 to around 1400 PMPs by end of 2008). The minister indicated that government’s intentions to sign an agreement with the chapter and other bodies to train about 2000 PMs of government projects. Also, Mr. Philip Diab, Chairman PMI BOD welcomed the attendees.

The first session was conducted by David Prior, Program Manager at EMC’s Consulting Services. The session was titled “Soft skills for software development PMs” and examined the advantages a PM can gain by deepening their understanding of, and practical application of soft skills. In the second session, Mr. Bob Tarne, Senior Program Manager at Lombardi Software, presented similarities and differences between the PMBOK® Guide approach to project management and some basic Agile practices. Discussions with the attendees showed how the two approaches are more complementary than it seems in the first look.
After the coffee break, Mr. Jose Pinto, Project and Operational Leader at IDP, delivered the third session about “Project management in Mobile Banking” addressing how project management can help mobile banking in better understanding of the customer needs and expectations.

Then Mr. Andrew Mammalian presented the forth session of the day addressing “Project management and 3G”, providing an understanding of the history and lifecycle of wireless networks as well as on how solid project management and configuration management can be applied to 3G network design, deployment, optimization and ongoing operation.

David Prior and Bob Tarne came to the stage again to present the last and fifth subject of the day on “PM Best practices for infrastructure Practices” and leaded a discussion after the lunch break.

Organizers:

The conference is organized by two regional organizations in Egypt
and one international organization:

• The IT and Telecom SIG of the PMI

• Brisk Consulting Services

• PMI MENA chapter

  
  

The IT and Telecom SIG of the PMI targets highly knowledgeable and experienced project management and technology professionals in the Information Technology and Telecommunications industries. Its members are leaders of technically advanced projects that involve both Information Technology and Telecommunications. They help one another through scholarship, mentoring, and online information exchange programs.
For more information: http://www.pmi-ittelecom.org/

Brisk Consulting SAE is a Joint Stock corporation that aims at delivering ‎operational professionalism to businesses operating in Egypt and the Arabian ‎Gulf. Brisk Consulting services cover a wide range of operations, supply chain, ‎total quality, and project management advisory services to meet the challenges ‎of today’s world by ensuring achievable results and providing sustainable ‎solutions.‎
For more information: http://www.brisk-consulting.org/

PMI MENA chapter is one of the PMI chapters existing in 90 countries all over the world and following the mother organization PMI (www.pmi.org/). MENA Chapter has been charted since October 1998 to enhance and develop the Project Management Professionalism in the Middle East and North Africa region. The chapter founders believe the only way out of the ever-rising competition of globalization is through the development of cooperation and mutual understanding between different cultures.

For more information: http://www.pmimena.org/.

Second Day of the PMI- IT&T SIG Global Conference
17-18 December 2008 in Cairo, Egypt

Reported live from the PMI-IT&T SIG Conference in Cairo
Reported by Ahmed Saleh Mokhtar in Egypt

The conference continued to its second and last day with five sessions and one roundtable discussion targeting advanced and senior level audience. The day included also good news for the project management community in Egypt.

The first session was conducted by David Prior, Program Manager at EMC’s Consulting Services and Mr. Bob Tarne, Senior Program Manager at Lombardi Software. The session was titled “Implementing Scrum in Waterfall Environment”. It gave more details to the Agile Project Management handled in the first day and described how to move an organization from waterfall to scrum environment. The audience showed great interest and delivered a pro- and contra agile discussion. In the second session, David Prior addressed “Emotional Intelligence for PMs” and provided a through background on key concepts of the EQ vs. IQ in project management.

After the second session, the conference audience became witness of the signature of Partnership Agreement between The Ministry of State for Administrative Development (MSAD), represented by Mr. Sameh Bedair, the PMI IT&T SIG represented by Mr. David Prior and PMI-MENA Chapter represented by Dr. Gamal Nassar, through which PMI IT&T SIG and PMI MENA Chapter will help the MSAD in building and improving PM Competencies of the government project managers responsible about delivering public projects. More on the cooperative details will be provided in a special article in the next PM World Today eJournal.

Then a round-table discussion was held in presence of the four speakers from the PMI IT&T SIG: David Prior, Bob Tarne, Andrew Maximilian and Jose Pinto addressing “What Value Can PM brings to my IT Organization”. The audience participated actively in the discussion and many real-life project situations were discussed. The future of PM in light of the current economic recession was one of the subjects that raised differing views between the speakers themselves and the audience
as well.

The last session of the conference is presented by Andy Maximilian, Senior Consultant at Blue Wing Services and Jose Pinto, Project and Operational Leader at IDP, on the subject of “on-boarding Project Management in my Organization” including the challenges of introducing PM into functional organizations.

Organizers: The conference was organized by two regional organizations in Egypt and one international organization:

The IT and Telecom SIG of the PMI targets highly knowledgeable and experienced project management and technology professionals in the Information Technology and Telecommunications industries.

Its members are leaders of technically advanced projects that involve both Information Technology and Telecommunications. They help one
another through scholarship, mentoring, and online information exchange programs.
For more information:
http://www.pmi-ittelecom.org/

Brisk Consulting SAE is a Joint Stock corporation that aims at delivering ‎operational professionalism to businesses operating in Egypt and the Arabian ‎Gulf. Brisk Consulting services cover a wide range of operations, supply chain, ‎total quality, and project management advisory services to meet the challenges ‎of today’s world by ensuring achievable results and providing sustainable ‎solutions.‎
For more information: http://www.brisk-consulting.org/

PMI MENA chapter is one of the PMI chapters existing in 90 countries all over the world and following the mother organization PMI (www.pmi.org/). MENA Chapter has been charted since October 1998 to enhance and develop the Project Management Professionalism in the Middle East and North Africa region. The chapter founders believe the only way out of the ever-rising competition of globalization is through the development of cooperation and mutual understanding between different cultures.

For more information: http://www.pmimena.org/.

PMI Buenos Aires Elects Board of Directors

Reported by Ana María Rodríguez in Argentina

On December 18^th the Annual Assembly of the Buenos Aires Chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMIBA) was held, with the main objective of approving the Board of Directors that had been previously proposed by the Chapter’s nominating committee. With 20 assistants to the assembly, and 8 votes that were sent by email, the following Board of Directors was approved and will conduct the Chapter beginning January 1^st 2009:

The list includes

President- Mr. Osvaldo Ucha, actual president
of PMIBA
Vice President – Mr. José Estérkin
Secretary – Mr. Andrés Cabral
Pro Secretary – Mr. Pablo LLedó (Mendoza Branch of PMIBA)
Treasury – Ms. Cecilia Boggi
Pro Treasury – Mr. Alejandro Pulleiro

Main Vocals – Ms. Emilse Chiricola
Mr. Nestor Delisa (Córdoba Committee of PMIBA)
Mr. Mauricio Garay (Mendoza Branch of PMIBA)
Mr. Jorge Moreno (Mendoza Branch of PMIBA)
Ms. Adriana Morando

Alternate Vocals - Mr. Alberto Alami
Mr. Diego Cruces
Mr. Ariel Bernal
Mr. Raul Borgés

Main accounts reviewer – Mr. Marcelo Martínez

Alternate accounts reviewer – Ms. Mercedes Seisdedos

There are some interesting issues to highlight from this election process at PMIBA:

• The Chapter made an important effort to invite members to participate in the process, and to become part of the Board of Directors. Members appreciated this opportunity, which represents an important improvement in the communication channels of the Chapter.

• The new Board of Directors includes 50% of the previous Board, and 50% of the positions will be held by professionals that have not been part of the Board in the past. A very interesting signal of renovation for a chapter that has had in the past difficulties attracting new volunteers to its activities.

• Four of the fifteen positions of the new Board will be held by representatives of the new communities of PMIBA, Mendoza and Cordoba. This is a great opportunity for all to create a national plan for the development of the PM profession in Argentina

• Although less than 10% of the members of the chapter voted, either in presence or by email, this is an increase regarding last year’s election process. And most important, new voters joined the process.

• The vote by email option was a novelty for this process, many members of the chapter were not aware of this opportunity although several emails were sent announcing it. For sure next year more voters will take advantage of the possibility of voting without attending the assembly.

At PMForum we offer our best wishes to the new authorities of PMIBA and our support to the development of their activities. For more information on PMIBA, visit www.pmi.org.ar

PMIBA elije Board of Directors

Reportado por Ana María Rodríguez en Argentina

El 18 de diciembre se realizó la Asamblea Annual del Capítulo Buenos Aires Chapter del Project Management Institute (PMIBA), con el principal objetivo de aprobar la Junta Directiva (Board of Directors) propuesta previamente por el Nominating Commitee del capítulo. Con 20 asistentes a la asamblea y 8 votos vía email, la siguiente lista fue aprobada y conducirá el capítulo desde el 1 de enero

La lista incluye

Presidente- Osvaldo Ucha, Presidente actual de PMIBA
Vice Presidente– José Estérkin
Secretario– Andrés Cabral
Pro Secretario – Pablo LLedó (Mendoza Branch de PMIBA)
Tesorero – Cecilia Boggi
Pro Tesorero – Alejandro Pulleiro

Vocales Principales- Emilse Chiricola
Nestor Delisa (Comité Córdoba de PMIBA)
Mauricio Garay (Mendoza Branch de PMIBA)
Jorge Moreno (Mendoza Branch de PMIBA)
Adriana Morando

Vocales Suplentes - Alberto Alami
Diego Cruces
Ariel Bernal
Raul Borgés

Revisor de cuentas titular – Marcelo Martínez

Revisor de cuentas suplente – Mercedes Seisdedos

Algunos aspectos interesantes de este proceso de elecciones de PMIBA merecen ser resaltados:

• El capítulo realizó un importante esfuerzo para convocar a los miembros a participar del proceso, y a ser parte del Board of Directors. Los miembros apreciamos esta oportunidad, que representa una mejora importante en los canales de comunicación del capítulo.

• El nuevo Board of Directors incluye al 50% del Board anterior, y un 50% de las posiciones serán cubiertas por profesionales que no han sido parte del Board anteriormente. Una señal muy interesante de renovación para un capítulo que ha tenido dificultades para atraer nuevos voluntarios a sus actividades.

• Cuatro de las quince posiciones del Nuevo Board serán ocupadas por representates de las nuevas comunidades de PMIBA, Mendoza y Cordoba. Esta es una gran oportunidad para desarrollar un plan nacional para el crecimiento de la profesión de PM en Argentina.

• Si bien menos del 10% de los miembros votaron bien en persona o vía email, este año hubo mayor participación en el proceso que el año pasado. Y más importante aún, nuevos votantes participaron del proceso.

• El voto via email fue una novedad para el proceso, muchos miembros del capítulo no estaban al tanto de esta oportunidad aunque varios emails de difusión se enviaron. Con seguridad el próximo año más miembros aprovecharán la posibilidad de votar sin necesidad de atender la asamblea.

Desde PMForum enviamos nuestros mejores deseos a las nuevas autoridades y nuestro apoyo para el desarrollo de sus actividades. Para más información sobre PMIBA, visite www.pmi.org.ar

New Global PM Leadership Award announced by JVQT Alliance in India

The JVQT Alliance is a Presidential Alliance of Project Management Professional Associations in four countries of ever-growing PM interests - China, India, Japan and Russia. This alliance was officially formed at the Global PM Symposium 2002 in New Delhi, India, and extended in March 2007 to include Kazakhstan and Ukraine during a meeting in Alma Aty, Kazakhstan.

Now the JVQT Alliance has announced a new 'Global Project Management Leadership Award.' At the 16^th Global Symposium on ' Project Management - at the Centre Stage of Economic Transformation’ held in New Delhi, India from Dec 16 to 18, 2008, Mr. Adesh Jain, visionary PM leader was honored with the first ever Global PM Leadership Award.

This new award was announced by Dr. Hiroshi Tanaka, (pictured) President of the Project Management Association of Japan (PMAJ) and co-founder of the JVQT Alliance. The Award was presented to Mr. Jain on 16 December by Mr. Veikko Valila, President of the International Project Management Association (IPMA), the Switzerland based federation of national PM societies.

According to Dr. Tanaka on 16 December in New Delhi, "This award reflects the spirit of the extended JVQT Alliance. As Adesh Jain mentioned in his keynote address for PMAJ’s global symposium in Tokyo in March, while PM traces its roots back to the West, it is Asian dynamism and innovation that will craft the future of project management."

"In initiating this global project management leadership award," Hiroshi added in his statement, "I would hope that the spirit and our strides forward will be shared by those incoming awardees who have demonstrated great commitment and contributions to project management."

According to the announcement, Adesh Jain was awarded the first Global PM Leadership Award as "a visionary leader sharing the project management profession globally, co-founder of the Extended JVQT Alliance, and the first non-European President and Chair of IPMA."