PMFORUM Breaking News

Reported by David Pells in Dallas

The PMI Dallas Chapter's Second Annual Professional Development Day (PDD) was very successfully conducted on Saturday, 12 April 2008. The annual event lasted from 7:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza North Dallas/Addison Hotel in Addison, Texas, USA. Approximately 150 people enjoyed the educational and informative sessions, and the closing entertainment.

Chuck Tryon (pictured at right) provided a powerful breakfast keynote speech on "What's So MODERN About PROJECT MANAGEMENT?" Mr. Tyron contrasted the assumptions of Continuing Efforts and Single-Time Efforts and identified some of the most critical issues Information Age organizations and project managers must address. Chuck Tryon is a nationally respected educator and popular symposium speaker, based in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Morning breakout presentations were provided by John T. Cole (“Dare to go there! Project Management for the Enterprise” and “A Practical Approach to Retaining Organizational Knowledge”), Paul Burek (“Tracking 4 Project Pitfalls Leading to Project Failures”), Susan Lee (“FMEA for Everyone!”), Matt Piazza and Mark Everett (“Power Tools for Enterprise Project Management”), Chuck Tryon (“A Practical Approach to Retaining Organizational Knowledge”), Nayan Patal (“What Does Portfolio Management Really Provide?”) and Dwight Davis (“Secrets of Persuasion for Project Success!”).

A Panel presentation on the subject of “The Power of Portfolio Management” was also held, with Terry Doerscher, Chief Process Architect for Planview moderating. Panelists included Kane Wai of Hitachi Consulting, Amy Wright of Wright Consulting, Nayan Patel of Baylor Healthcare Systems, and William Beattie of McAfee. Mr. Doerscher provided some background information about Portfolio Management, with the panelists then providing some perspectives and lessons learned from implementations at their organizations. Questions and answers made the session time disappear quickly.

Ron Black (pictured at right) provided a powerful luncheon presentation entitled "Acrobatics for Overachievers: The Art and Science of Managing Multiple Projects and Priorities". According to Mr. Black, there are “Five Imperatives for Improving Daily Productivity and Achievement: (1) Recognize that ‘harder, faster, longer’ limits your potential; (2) Know how you spend your day; (3) Focus on results that count; (4) Make better strategic choices; and (5) Master the control points!” Using personal stories, examples, anecdotes and an interactive style, Ron engaged, educated and entertained PDD participants with some powerful points and suggestions.

Afternoon presentations and breakout sessions included Atul Choudhary (“Leveraging Enterprise PMO Tools for Productivity Gains”), Jack P. Ferraro (“Three Leadership Competencies Every Project Manager Needs”), Dwight Davis (“Six Constraints of Project Planning”), Susan Lee (“FMEA for Everyone”), Gary Rechtfertig (“Emotional Intelligence and Principles to Increase our Capacity to Succeed”), Tony Johnson (“Program Management Fundamentals” and “PMO Success Strategies”), and John T. Cole (“Establishing a PMO in Your Organization: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly!”).


The closing plenary session featured The Drum Café, a motivational musical ensemble that uses the powers of music and rhythm to energize, motivate and entertain! The group not only provided highly energized entertainment, interspersed with messages correlating the importance of rhythm in one’s life and work and the power of “playing together!” Attendees were required to play drums along with the group and to join in a dancing celebration at the end. It was a powerful way to end the PMI Dallas Chapter’s second annual PDD – 2008.

According to Sherrie Karram (pictured), PMP, PMI Dallas VP Professional Development, who was responsible for the event, “Overall, we were pleased with the quality of the presentations and the energy of participants. Our keynote speakers were well received, and the power of project management was really reflected in the closing session. The Drum Cafés interaction with the audience was really powerful!”

Other PMI chapter officers echoed her sentiments. “This was another big event for our chapter,” stated Chapter VP Programs Marilyn Sawyer (on left in photo). “It was another good learning experience for me, and I think the attendees got a lot out of today,” she added.

According to Susan Lee, chapter VP Operations (on right in photo), “It was a good opportunity for me to make a presentation, as well as help ensure that the facilities, food and equipment were in place. The chapter board and other volunteers always pull together for these big events, so they are usually very successful. The teamwork makes the success more rewarding!”

Jennifer Carlisle (pictured at left), Chapter VP Communications, added, “This event was open to all business professionals in the Dallas area with an interest in project management. Discounts were provided for PMI members, and certified Project Management Professionals (PMPs) received up to eight professional development units (PDUs) for attending all sessions. Providing these types of events has helped the PMI Dallas Chapter become the leading project management professional organization in North Texas. I was happy to be part of the team effort once again displayed by our volunteers at today’s event!”

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 organization success. With more than 260,000 members in over 173 countries, the Project Management Institute (PMI^®) is the world’s leading membership association for the project management profession. Founded in 1984 and with over 4,000 members, the PMI Dallas Chapter is one of the world’s largest PMI components. To learn more about the PMI Dallas Chapter and its service offerings, please visit www.pmidallas.org.