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Friday, February 22, 2008
PMSA Conference 2008 - Second International Plenary Speaker Confirmed for May event
Reported by Jaycee Krüger in South Africa

Project Management guru, Dr Terry Cooke-Davies has been confirmed to deliver a presentation and an interactive workshop at PMSA Conference 2008, taking place from 26 to 28 May at Gallagher Estate in Midrand Johannesburg. He is the second of four international plenary speakers to confirm his participation in the event.

PMSA conducts its international conference, inviting members and other interested parties to benefit from a jam-packed three day programme, featuring local and international plenary speakers in the morning sessions, and topic-specific afternoon sessions, where reviewed research papers and industry presentations are made. In addition, delegates also have the option of attending outcomes-based workshops in the afternoon streams, led by the international experts.

“This is an excellent opportunity for South Africa project managers to be exposed to the knowledge of international experts, at local conference rates,” says PMSA President, Elmar Roberg (pictured).

An unexpected benefit is the current exchange rate which makes this an appealing opportunity for delegates and speakers from outside of South Africa to participate and share their research, and experience what the country has to offer.

Registration for the conference is now open at www.pmsaconference.co.za for more information and to register. The early-bird discount expires on 31 March 2008.

Dr Terry Cooke-Davies has influenced project management thinking quietly, consistently, but significantly, for the past 30 years. First known for his innovative work on project management benchmarking in the mid-80s, he was also one of the first to vocalise the need to bring project management within the overall context of general management.


A true thought-leader, Terry’s thinking is always ahead of its time. Whilst today, the value of assessment and benchmarking is universally acknowledged, when Terry founded Human Systems' project management knowledge networks, back in 1993, the profession was still young and few had considered this higher level perspective on its value. Terry not only brought together many of the world’s leaders in project management best practice, but he used his facilitation skills to enable these organisations to work together to create new knowledge. Terry realised that what was needed was a critical loop between those at the ‘practice’ end of the industry and those whose focus was academic research: he used the knowledge from his network to feed research that would then help define new directions for the industry.

Terry Cooke-Davies has contributed to a great many industry initiatives over the years – directing thinking both through his own clearly stated views and through the subtler role of facilitation. He is an expert adviser for the APM, reviewed the then CCTA’s Managing Successful Programmes initiative in the early 90s, was programme manager for PMI’s OPM3 initiative and was a key participant in ‘Rethinking Project Management’, a UK based research network funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC).

Terry’s passion about the development and improvement of project management is reflected in his abundant and continuous writings on the subject, through which he shares his experience and wisdom with the rest of the world. This has culminated in the recent publication of his highly acclaimed book ’The Right Projects Done Right!’ which was co-authored with Paul Dinsmore.

Project Management South Africa (PMSA) is a not-for-profit professional association serving more than 1,000 project management practitioners in South Africa. PMSA hosts a conference every second year that features invited international and local speakers, and a broad range of reviewed presentations. The PMSA President for 2008 is Elmar Roberg; and Chairman of the Board is Robert Best. For more information abut PMSA, visit http://www.pmisa.org.za/.




Jaycee Kruger

Jaycee Kruger
International Correspondent South Africa


Jaycee Krüger, PMP, PrTechEng, is an International Correspondent for PMForum and PM World Today in South Africa. He is also the Managing Director of the CMSS, trading as Construction Management Support Services. He has over 29 years of experience in project environments with increasing responsibility, on power, industrial and mining projects, including shutdowns and projects in remote locations. A Civil Engineer by training, Jaycee is active in the Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering International (AACE), Project Management Institute (PMI), Project Management South Africa (PMSA), and the South African Institute of Civil Engineering (SAICE). Jaycee is based in Heidelberg, Gauteng, Johannesburg region, and can be reached at jckruger@greybeards.co.za. For additional information about Jaycee Krüger, visit http://www.pmforum.org/pm%20forum%20team/index.htm#Kruger.




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