2020 Testimonials

The following testimonials were provided by 2020 participants.

A great example of managing a project change – Covid 19 and the Virtual UMD PM Symposium. It was truly amazing how well the symposium was executed under such a short timeframe.
Robin Bernhard
Absolutely fabulous! I walked away with a wealth of information and was provided references for follow-up reading.
Tanya Shuy
Amazing how UMD put this virtual event together so quickly and did such a good job! Love the fact that I can “attend” all sessions through recordings. Generally, I would have to choose one session out of five for each track/block. Now I can benefit from all of them!
Cindy Miller
An excellent event which is priced right and the content is fantastic!
Jacob Lightfoot (AKA JD)
Attend and be pleasantly surprised at what you will walk away with learning.
Tanya Shuy
Attending helped me to refocus my goals to better implement project management best practices in my daily work.
Carla Hairston
Attending is a great way to recharge to be a more effective PM.
Theresa Leslie
Excellent speakers, great information, and PDUs to boot!
Catherine (Cathy) Tilton
Great topics, few technical glitches despite the last minute switch to virtual!! BRAVO!!!!!
Deidre Hicks
Great way to keep up to date on the new ideas and improvements in the PM arena.
Ama Danso
I came into the conference not expecting much. I left really satisfied. From the last minute change to a virtual conference, the quality of the speakers, the ease navigating the webex tool, to the scheduling of the presenters all made for a fulfilling 2 days.
Keith Ross
I have attended every UMD PM Symposium and they have gotten better every year. 2020’s move to virtual was dictated by the environment, but the team managed to enhance the value of the PMS by adding the ability to ‘attend’ every presentation.
Evan Yount
I have attended the PM Symposium for the last few years and appreciate the opportunity to gain knowledge, network and earn PDUs. I enjoyed the virtual conference just as much as the face-to-face, and would highly recommend the Symposium to others.
Lisa Price
I was a little concerned about the virtual experience; however, UMD pulled it off exceptionally. This is the first virtual conference where I did not have any technical issues. The content was awesome and I have lots of new ideas to take back to my team!
Laura Sharps
It is important to take the time to listen to other perspectives and learn new things. The PM Symposium is an excellent way for project managers to do that. It is a worthwhile investment from the perspective of both time and money. The value this year is exceptional with the availability of recorded sessions!
Beth May
Its an excellent platform not only to refresh your existing skills but to enhance your exposure in new dimensions of the field. I strongly recommend students, academicians and practitioners to join Project Management Symposium in 2021 and witness a wonderful event.
Khuram Shahzad, Muscat College Oman
It’s the best project management symposium that I never attended. Going virtual meant that I could sit half-way around the world (Australia) in my pyjamas, and still participate and hear the latest ideas.
Shane Perkins
People + Process + Technology = Knowledge + Innovation + Change! Tyra Parker Library of Congress
Tyra Parker
Personal training shouldn’t be on a risk register, be proactive and join UMD’s 2021 Project Management Symposium!
David Kordel
Real world solutions to discover your project’s new competitive edge.
John DeLeonardis
The 2020 Project Management Symposium was outstanding: well organized, well managed and executed. The speakers were excellent. The quality and amount of information presented was exceptional. I look forward to attending next year, virtual or in person.
Anthony McDonald
The 2020 symposium was the perfect intersection of practical industry application & theory. Despite being online, I felt connected and “in the room” with all of the speakers and moderators. Great job!
Meisha Watkins-USPS
The overall symposium was FANTASTIC as was the Federal Track. Please continue with these focused sessions.
Scott Hine
The Project Management Symposium provided beneficial information and ideas to help me open my mind and change my perspective about project management.
Erin O’Nora
The speakers are in line with current and future trends for project management, it is a great refresher and an even better way to prepare for the future!
Christina Pitre
The Symposium is one’s opportunity to stretch the mind while connecting with colleagues across region and geography.
Al Zeitoun
The symposium provides realistic, timely and applicable information from various perspectives within multiple industries. We can always learn something new with best practices.
Deidre M McCamey
The UMD PM Symposium enables an individual’s learning that leads to personal, professional and organizational value realization.
Dr. William Yates
The UMD PM Symposium is the best game in town for Federal Project Managers. No other conference provides PM techniques specific to the Federal workplace.
Susan Hostetter
There has never been a better time to invest in yourself. The benefits are priceless!
Kimberley Johnson
This conference exceeded my expectations! The virtual component was a new experience and something I hope will be more adapted in the future. The ability to look at the agenda and have the option to hop from virtual room to virtual room was like intellectual shopping for your brain! Not only was each session insightful and clearly delivered (can I just say logistics were on point!)- it was so much fun to have the freedom to really explore Project Management at my own pace. Overall, I was very impressed and would eagerly attend another session before 2021 if offered!
Symone Mercado
This conference never disappoints. The speakers are excellent and the information presented is both interesting and applicable. While I missed the personal interaction this year, the staff did an amazing job of creating a seamless and engaging virtual symposium!
Tracy Gioannini
This is my second UMD Project Management Symposium. After each I recommended the symposium to more and more co-workers as a fine way to obtain PDUs. I attended the Symposium with my wife this year and it was a great way to bond over “agile development” theories — “how about that for a date night?”
James W. Watters (BrainTrust Holdings LLC)
This symposium far outweighed my expectations, I will definitely be attending in future!
Jay Dayanidhi
This virtual symposium fit perfectly with my current “home bound” work situation. The price was particularly attractive as I am ‘self funded’ but this event was very much worth the investment.
James H. Keenan
This was an amazing symposium, especially given that it moved to being totally virtual. The speakers were very knowledgeable and I look forward to watching some of the videos of the presentations i missed later. Thanks for such a great job!
Christine Schmidt
To take a quote from a speaker “always be purposeful.” This symposium was informative and provided tools for me to sharpen my ability to “be purposeful”.
Camille Chapman
Virtual provides me with the option for seeing all of the sessions at my leisure.
Jeffrey Pullen
Wonderful event which worked perfectly online! This allowed for multiple PDU’s & learning to be gained not only in a deep dive during the 2 day live event but throughout the year at attendees own pace. Fantastic value!
Lorelei Pate
Worthy of full engagement, in a time of over-engagements.
Jim Maas
You delivered, truly awesome experience, obtained from my home in the year of COVID-19. Well planned and organized event, a great source of innovative and new information.
Camille Hordatt