{"id":1766,"date":"2017-06-12T15:55:33","date_gmt":"2017-06-12T19:55:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/pmsymposium.umd.edu\/pm2019\/?p=1766"},"modified":"2017-06-12T15:55:33","modified_gmt":"2017-06-12T19:55:33","slug":"2017-project-management-symposium-draws-record-crowd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pmsymposium.umd.edu\/pm2019\/2017-project-management-symposium-draws-record-crowd\/","title":{"rendered":"2017 PROJECT MANAGEMENT SYMPOSIUM DRAWS RECORD CROWD"},"content":{"rendered":"

Project management professionals from as near as D.C. and as far as Australia came together May 4-5 to share best practices, discuss lessons learned, and discover the latest advances in the field at the University of Maryland (UMD) Project Management Symposium<\/a>. More than 300 people were in attendance, the largest number in the event\u2019s four-year history.<\/p>\n

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Hosted by the Project Management Center for Excellence<\/a> in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering<\/a> (CEE), the Project Management Symposium featured over 50 technical sessions on a broad range of topics: people in projects, construction management, federal programs, agile\/IT, integrated project management, risk and big data, education, and stakeholders.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe diversity of the session topics allows professionals from all aspects of project management to gain insight into the challenges other agencies experience and what processes were implemented to overcome them,\u201d said Andrew Van Der Stuyf, assistant director of project management for UMD\u2019s Department of Residential Facilities and an alumnus of the Office of Advanced Engineering Education<\/a>\u2019s project management master\u2019s program<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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According to John Cable, director of the Project Management Center for Excellence, such diversity can be credited to leading minds eager to share experiences and dedicated partners.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are extremely pleased that interest in this symposium from both presenters and participants grows with each successive year,\u201d said Cable. \u201cI think it is a testament to practicing professionals\u2019 thirst for substantive information.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three of the five technical tracks were planned in collaboration with sponsors, ensuring presentations targeted audience experiences and questions more effectively. The Federal Programs track was sponsored by the Project Management Institute<\/a>\u2019s Government Relations Office, the College of Performance Management<\/a> sponsored the Integrated Project Management track, and the Construction Management\/BIM track was sponsored by the Maryland Center for Construction Education & Innovation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Topic diversity was also a hallmark of the featured presentations staggered throughout the two-day event.<\/p>\n

Jeff Gravatte<\/a>, CEO and owner of CADD Microsystems, kicked off things off\u00a0with a discussion of technology trends affecting building design and construction project management. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center\u2019s Stephen Shinn<\/a> took the stage during lunch to share strategies that aid\u00a0project success in a changing environment, while Patricia Carper<\/a> from Whiting-Turner later presented\u00a0lessons learned from the $1.3 billion development of the MGM National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland.<\/p>\n

Karl Wunderlich<\/a> of Noblis and Lisa Blumerman<\/a>, associate director for the decennial census at the U.S. Census Bureau rounded out the featured presentations on May 5. Wunderlich discussed his ideas for how to reduce risk and meet consumer demands as connected and automated transportation continue to transform vehicles and how they are used. And Blumerman offered attendees a detailed, behind-the-scenes look at the planning, coordination, and science needed to get an accurate population count every 10 years.<\/p>\n

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The breadth and depth of coverage featured at the Project Management Symposium, along with its proximity to the nation\u2019s capitol, is what initially drove many to register for the event and encourage their colleagues to do the same.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis conference is really important to the Census Bureau and to our certified program managers. The fact that it\u2019s local, that it\u2019s so thorough\u2014it\u2019s a great opportunity for continued development for our staff.\u201d said Blumerman, who was joined by more than 50 additional Census Bureau employees.<\/p>\n

For others, the success of the symposium stemmed from its unique blend of academic and practitioner presentations.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe [symposium] is a great hub for scholars and practitioners to meet and share their latest technological\/organizational achievements and cutting-edge visions,\u201d said Southern Alberta Institute of Technology\u2019s Shahab Moeini.<\/p>\n

Regardless of what first drew them to the signature event, however, participants agreed that engaging speakers kept them motivated throughout.<\/p>\n

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\u201cAll the speakers have been great,\u201d said Tracy H. Miles, program manager of National Facilities Services at Kaiser Permanente. \u201cI thoroughly enjoyed the People in Projects\u2013Motivation session, in particular Jocelyn [Davis]<\/a>. I thought she was a very engaging speaker. She really tried to draw out situations that people could relate to and that she could involve the audience in.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe passion that everyone brings\u2014the presenters and the conference goers\u2014creates an inspiring atmosphere that fosters new personal and business relationships,\u201d explained John Johnson, Softek Enterprises, LLC. \u201cQuality learning and quality people keep me coming back year after year.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Session presentations are available to download on the symposium website\u2014simply click on the session name<\/a> and look for the link in the left column. Videos of the featured presentations are also available through the individual speaker pages<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The fifth annual Project Management Symposium\u00a0will take place May 10-11, 2018. Registration, as well as a call for speakers, will open in September.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Project management professionals from as near as D.C. and as far as Australia came together May 4-5 to share best practices, discuss lessons learned, and discover the latest advances in the field at the University of Maryland (UMD) Project Management Symposium. More than 300 people were in attendance, the largest number in the event\u2019s four-year […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1766","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pmsymposium.umd.edu\/pm2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1766","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pmsymposium.umd.edu\/pm2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pmsymposium.umd.edu\/pm2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pmsymposium.umd.edu\/pm2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pmsymposium.umd.edu\/pm2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1766"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pmsymposium.umd.edu\/pm2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1766\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pmsymposium.umd.edu\/pm2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1766"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pmsymposium.umd.edu\/pm2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1766"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pmsymposium.umd.edu\/pm2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1766"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}