PMFORUM Breaking News

The Best Practice Showcase, an event showcasing best practices in programme and project management, will take place at the QE11 Conference Centre in Westminster, UK on June 24th 2008. Project and programme managers are invited to attend this free learning event. Now in its sixth year, more interactive and innovative sessions have been announced for the program this year.

According to event director Emma Hilditch, “Delegates tell us they enjoy the chance to air their views, join in discussions and talk to other delegates and speakers, so we’ve added more opportunities for them to do just that.”

Interactive sessions at the Best Practice Showcase will include:

• Interactive Seminar Sessions - sessions such as one from Steve Clarke of Onemind Management will be a big new feature of the event. “We’ll be asking the question ‘What does it take for an organisation to become more effective at handling change?’” Steve says. “Most of the clients we work with underestimate what needs fixing in their organisations. We’ll be proposing the notion that portfolio management is the heart of the matter –doing the right things is more important that doing the wrong thing well.” Steve will be presenting with his client Sarian Harcombe, IT Portfolio Manager, Environment Agency. Last year, as part of the OGC’s P3M3, her department was awarded a Project Management Maturity Level 3 award.


• Ask The Expert Panel - an Ask the Experts Panel with Susan and Alan Ferguson from AFA and Alison Browne, Director for Pathways, Royal Berkshire NHS Foundation Trust. The session will be entitled: Beyond MSP: Attitudes, Benefits or Challenges


• Question Time: Ask the Author – Attendees will have an opportunity to interact with Sue Vowler, P3O Lead Author, Rod Sowden, P3M3 Lead Author and Andy Murray, PRINCE2 Lead Author.


• Ask The APM Group – Alan Harpham, chairman of The APM Group, will field questions related to “what’s new?” with PRINCE2 and MPM.

The final session of the day will be an interactive presentation by Nick Fewings, Director of The Colour Works. Nick’s session ‘Fired Up For Success! Managing Change Effectively’ will showcase how the Shropshire Fire Brigade worked with The Colour Works to become one of the leading Fire & Rescue services in the UK.

“I am really looking forward to this year’s event and hearing some very healthy debating during the course of the day,” stated Hilditch. “Delegates always report they enjoy the Best Practice Showcase, but this year I think they will find it even more useful. Our ultimate objective is that they will go away with the confidence to run even more effective programmes and projects.”

The Best Practice Showcase is free to attend for programme, project and risk managers. Delegate registration is via the web site at www.bestpracticeshowcase.com

According to Wikipedia, The Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre is a conference centre in London, England. It is located right in the heart of the city, a minute's walk from the Palace of Westminster. It was opened by Her Majesty the Queen in 1986. It is operated by the British government as an executive agency of Communities and Local Government. The centre has four main auditoria, seven conference rooms and many smaller rooms. It specialises in events for between 40 and 1,300 delegates. Due to its location it attracts many high profile meetings. It also has 2,000 square metres of exhibition space. (Photo: Westminster district of London – QUII is directly across from the Sanctuary outside Westminster Abbey)