Executive Symposium
The Project Management Institute Upstate NY Chapter and the New York
State Forum for Information Resource Management presented an Executive
Symposium Panel and Luncheon on September 22. The program centered on
the importance of the Project Management Office and featured Dr. Ginger
Levin, nationally known project management consultant and author of
The Advanced Project Management Office: A Comprehensive Look at
Function and Implementation. Following Dr. Levin's presentation,
a panel of local public and private sector executives shared their
experiences as PMO champions in their organizations.
This Executive Symposium was organized in response to our strategic initiative to reach out to the PM community at large. The event was geared to business executives and managers who wanted to learn more about project management, what it can do for them, and how to sell it in their organizations. The Symposium was widely advertised by the Forum and 135 area executives and managers attended.
Dr. Levin's presentation provided an overview of project management and then specific steps to implement and support a PMO. Dr. Levin joined Robert Fleury, First Deputy Commissioner, Office of General Services; Nancy Mulholland, Deputy Executive Director, Worker's Compensation Board; Diana Ritter, Executive Deputy Comptroller, Office of the State Comptroller; and Kate Van Buren, Division Manager, Enterprise Project Management, KeyBank NA, on the discussion panel. Attendees were able to ask the panelists questions and the panelists shared their organizations' experiences. Paul Hauschen, VP, Education and Certification, hosted and moderated the event.
75% of the survey respondents rated the program "excellent" and 67% felt the
content provided them "very useful" information. Organizations that had PMOs
were happy that much of what they had done was validated, while organizations
without PMOs found Ginger's presentation and the panel's "real world" insights
very informative. Respondents suggested many topics for our next symposium
with Portfolio Management being the overwhelming suggestion.
Thanks to the PMI-UNY Executive Symposium Core Team: Paul Hauschen, Nancy Mulholland, Gary Davis, Kris Sprague, Brenda Breslin, and Karen Huggins; and the NYS Forum Team: Gary Benson, Rebecca Buchner, and Milena Ivanova.