PMFORUM Breaking News

The PMI Honolulu Chapter and LavaCon have announced keynote speakers for the 2008 Professional Development Summit being sponsored by the PMI Honolulu Chapter in partnership with LavaCon^® during 6-8 November 2008. The conference, which will present proven best practices in the fields of project management and technical communications, will be held at the Marriott Honolulu Waikiki hotel, in Honolulu, Hawaii, USA.

Keynote speaker on Friday (Day 2), November 7, 2008 will be Elizabeth Larson (pictured at left), CEO of Watermark Learning, a Minneapolis-based project management and business analysis training and consulting firm. Elizabeth Larson is Co-Principal of Watermark Learning and has over 25 years of experience in business, project management, requirements analysis, business analysis and leadership. She has presented numerous workshops, seminars, and training classes since 1996 to almost 5,000 participants on 3 different continents.

Elizabeth's speaking history includes Project World, various chapters of PMI, PACT (Professional Association of Computer Trainers), Minnesota Government Symposium and UK Project Management Symposium in Bristol, England. She is also a program presenter for the Project Management Institute's SeminarsWorld, in which she has presented on business process management in Sydney (Australia), Toronto, Denver and other US location.

Elizabeth has authored and co-authored industry articles that have been published worldwide, including "Critical Success Factors for All Projects"; “How to Create a Clear Project Plan"; “Achieve project success with sponsorship and clear vision"; “Managing Small Projects"; "Use Cases: What Every Project Manager Should Know"; "To manage projects, 'use cases' help set scope & achieve goals" & "Demystifying Requirements Through Use Cases." She has been published and/or quoted in leading national and international trade publications such as CIO; Darwin Magazine; ComputerWorld; Computer Weekly; Control Engineering; Project Management World Today; Certification Magazine; Data Center Management, Canadian Consulting Engineer, Software Test & Performance and Projects & Profits Magazine.

The PMI Honolulu Chapter + LavaCon Professional Development Summit 2008 is for professionals who want continuing education on how to manage projects, the latest management and communication tools and technology, and “soft skills” in areas such as leadership, conflict management, contract and workplace negotiation skills, etc. Choose from over 40 sessions and workshops on technical communication and project management! Participants may earn up to 24 Professional Development Units (PDUs) for attending – a major event in one of the most beautiful places on Earth. For more information, visit http://www.pmi-honoluluchapter.org/PDD_PDS/2008/PDSWelcome.htm.

The Project Management Institute (PMI^®) is the world’s largest professional organization for project management professionals. Founded in 1997, the PMI^® Honolulu Chapter is a non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of project management practices and standards worldwide and the development of the project management profession. More information about the chapter can be found at http://www.pmi-honoluluchapter.org. For more information about the conference, contact the PDS'08 committee at pdshi@pmi-honoluluchapter.org

LavaCon^® is a conference for technical communication professionals—senior technical writers, documentations managers and other professionals interested in learning how to deploy and manage technical communication projects. More information about previous LavaCon conferences can be found at www.lavacon.org.