SPF PDU OMG!

Only 10 days remaining before the PW&WCBA 2013 conference. Bring your best Sunscreen Protection Factor (SPF) and head to Orlando, Florida.  At this forum you can earn a total of 36 Professional Development Units (PDUs).  This is over 50% of the PMP Certification three year requirements, in only three days.  These three days are more convenient and a lot more fun than some other alternatives.  Think of the SPF as SPiF or a Super Project Information Forum.  This conference will be full of learning and network opportunities.  Above all OMG or “Oh My Gosh,” you are in Florida, and Minnie and Mickey are your neighbors.  This is paradise!

There are four different tracks to help you earn 36 PDUs.  These tracks include, “From PM to Project Leader,” “From Business Analyst to Business Strategist,”  “Best Practice in PM/BA Collaboration,” and “Tools, Techniques and Trends.”  The great thing about these tracks is the flexibility; you are able to move between the tracks.  The workshops the first day will help get you started on a good foundation. 

Today, let us focus on the leadership track.  On Monday, September 9^th, you begin your day at 7:30a.m. with registration and a continental breakfast.  The leadership workshop begins at 8:00a.m. and ends at 6:00p.m.  This workshop is called Retooling Leadership (Through the Lens of Neuroscience) and is being taught by William Greenwald, a Director from Humana, Inc.  William has over 20 years of experience in both the healthcare and financial industry and will have plenty of insight.

In this workshop you will be able to learn how to use and improve your brain power to maintain and improve your performance, as well as your team. This workshop touches on every area of the brain, where many of us could use some help including habits, stress, resilience, memory and sleep.  Who could not use some more sleep?  William will help you discover some “A-ha” moments and teach you how to implement these discoveries.  We could all use a few “A-ha” moments in our lives. 

The beginning of day two begins with some wonderful key note speakers.  After lunch, you can continue the leadership track, “From PM to Project Leader.”  The first session is called, Beyond Risk Management: From Risk Mitigation to Value Creation, presented by Ronan J. Murphy, Head of Risk Management and from Railway Procurement.  Discussed in this session will be the risks on a multi-billion dollar portfolio of projects.  Needless to say, this portfolio had varied complexity and several layers of risk.  What was learned from this portfolio of projects was how to create a successful Enterprise Risk Management process, specific to the needs of the organization. 

The next session begins at 2:30p.m., Best Practices to Get a Huge Global Enterprise Program Back on Track – Real Life Case Study.  This session is taught by Gopal Renganathan, Sr. Manager of PMO from Cisco Systems.  If you are a program manager or plan to be, this session may be for you.  Gopal discusses how to turn around an Enterprise program, which is a year behind schedule.  The company is also spending five million every quarter for business transformation. Gopal will take you through all the ups and downs and how this project succeeded.  Any project or program manager would benefit from these lessons learned and new best practices.

Later in the afternoon, and after a networking break, there will be a presentation from J. LeRoy Ward, VP of ESI International, 14 Project Leadership Skills to Boost Your Career.  LeRoy has written numerous books and anyone with a PMP has read or studied at least one of his books.  He will be discussing 14 leadership skills he has identified from his research with executives.  But he does not stop there, LeRoy also has broken these skills down and walks you through the hierarchy and the order in which you should develop these skills.  These leadership skills will improve your career in any industry.

On day three, you have the final set of great keynote speakers.  After lunch, you can continue through the leadership track.  This session is being presented by Ken Bono, Jr. Manager of PMO at Scottrade. This presentation should be interesting as it is titled, Is a PMP Needed, or is it Simply and Option? Do not think this presentation is putting you out of a job, but just the opposite.  This presentation is to learn how a PM can become more efficient and use your time better, where you are needed. 

The next session begins at 2:30 p.m. will be the Global Project Portfolio Management (PPM) – Borderless Delivery.  This is presented by Samantha Dunbar, Global PMO Director of Deloitte Touche.  In this presentation you will learn how to create a repeatable and sustainable global project portfolio.  Also how important financial management is throughout the project life cycle.  One of the most important aspects discussed is the importance of project health throughout the levels.  If you are managing global projects, this session should definitely be on your list.

The final presentation is Building a Data Warehouse at Travelers – A Lesson in Risk Management, presented by James J. indelicate, Sr. Project Director of Travelers Insurance.  James will walk you through a very costly multi-year project, which had the executive’s attention when the project stumbled several times in the beginning.  To save the project the team became creative and innovative, developing a solution of “iterative throw away” projects.  This approach demonstrated an almost immediate value to the organization.  This could be interesting to find out more about iterative throw away projects.

Attend the 2013 Project World & World Congress for Business Analysts packed full of knowledge at this Super Project information Forum (SPiF) and earn 36 PDUs. OMG, what more do you need!  Register today at http://bit.ly/13jM72A.