PMFORUM Breaking News

A Call for Papers has been issued for the 2nd UTD Project Management Symposium, to be held during 18-19 August 2008 in Plano, Texas, USA. The conference is being sponsored by the Graduate Program in Project Management in the School of Management at the University of Texas at Dallas (UT Dallas), in cooperation with PMForum and the Dallas Chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMI®).




The 2 Day Project Management Symposium will focus on topics important to organizations, industries and the economy of North Texas. Proposed Tracks include the following:

• Construction & Property Development PM


• Engineering Project Management


• Global Program & Project Management


• Management of Complex Programs & Projects


• Medical & Healthcare Project Management


• New Ideas & Emerging Trends in Project Management


• Program & Portfolio Project Management


• Project Management in Local Government


• Project Management on Energy, Oil & Gas Projects


• Project Management for New Product Development


• Program & Project Management Tools& Techniques


• Sports & Entertainment Projects (Cowboys, Mavs, Stars & more)


• Telecommunications & Technology Project Management


• Transportation Infrastructure PM (trains, planes & automobiles)

Other Conference Features

• Opening Ceremony with Keynote Speakers – Monday morning


• Monday evening reception for attendees, speakers and exhibitors


• Opening and Closing Keynote speakers on Day Two


• Exhibition of PM products & services – Sponsorships available

According to Jim Joiner, Director of the UT Dallas graduate program in project management, “Our first symposium in 2007 was a success, so we are ready to grow this conference into a world class event. We think that North Texas is ready for a major annual project management event to promote project management more visibly among local organizations. The Dallas/Ft Worth area is home to some of the world’s leading organizations in several industries. We want them to also be leaders in project management.”

The Symposium will be held at the Plano Centre in Plano, Texas. Again, according to Mr. Joiner, “both UT Dallas and the PMI Chapter are Registered Education Providers with PMI, so attendees should receive up to 12 PDUs. Paper presenters can receive more. Full registration fee will only be $400 for the two-day conference, UTD students and PMI members will receive a discount, so we expect a good turnout.”

Project management experts, leaders and professionals worldwide are invited to email an abstract for presentation of a professional paper on one of the above topics, according to the following guidelines.

• Papers should not have been previously published


• Papers and presentations should be free of commercial sales content


• Papers and presentations should focus on the subject of the title, and provide new contributions to the topic


• The length of the abstract should be between 150 and 250 words


• Abstracts shall be typed in 12pt Times New Roman font in the MS Office Word format, 2000 or 2003 versions


• Each abstract must have a lead author who will serve as the primary contact for all correspondence.


• Length of the final paper should be between 1000 to 2000 words in length.

Key Dates

• 31 January 2008 – Abstracts Due


• 1 March 2008 – Papers & Speakers selected


• 31 May 2008 – Full papers due

Authors whose abstracts are accepted will be expected to deliver a final paper and to deliver a presentation at the symposium in Plano next August, according to the final symposium schedule. Authors will attend the symposium free of charge. For more information or to submit an abstract, contact Debbie Samac at debbie@utdallas.edu .

The Project Management Program at UT Dallas provides application-oriented education for professionals with significant project, program or general management responsibilities. Established in the Executive Education Center in UTD’s School of Management, students have the option of earning a Certificate in Project Management, a Master of Science degree with an emphasis in project management, or a Master of Business Administration degree with project management emphasis.

The UTD PM program, originally developed in 1997, is accredited by the Project Management Institute (PMI®) and is registered with the PMI Registered Education Provider Program (PMI R.E.P.). The program is taught by world-class faculty with a blend of industrial project management, consulting and teaching experience. UTD’s PM Program in delivered both on campus and online, and attracts students from across the United States and around the world. For more information, visit http://som.utdallas.edu/project/.

The PMI Dallas Chapter is a volunteer-based professional association dedicated to supporting the growth and development of project management practitioners, as well as building awareness of the project management discipline and its critical role in business and organizational success. To find out more about the Chapter and its service offerings, please visit www.pmidallas.org.