Speaker Information

Event Details | Types of Sessions | Submission Process | Resources | Timeline |Potential Session Topics

Event Details

  • Dates: Thursday, April 30, 2026 and Friday, May 1, 2026
  • Format: The event will be offered both in-person and virtually.  All sessions will be recorded and available to attendees to view for one year following the 2026 event.

Live and Pre-Recorded Speaker Sessions

For the 2026 Project Management Symposium, the University of Maryland plans to have two types of presentations:

In-person session speakers presenting live in 4 concurrent tracks (36 total sessions over the 2 days). Session is 45 minutes in length: 5 minute introduction, 30 minute speaker presentation, and 10 minutes for Q&A.

On-demand presentations that will be pre-recorded and posted to the Symposium website one week prior to the in-person event. Presentation is 30-45 minutes in length.

Submission Process

Submit Presentation Description + 2 Minute Video (NEW speakers only). Deadline: Monday, November 10, 2025

Review by UMD to select in-person and on-demand speakers. UMD will send out an email to all selected speakers.

Selected speakers attend a webinar (1/22/26) to discuss the draft presentation submission and review process.

 

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Speaker Resources

Speaker Timeline

Below are the important deadlines for speakers for the 2026 Symposium:

August 13, 2025 Call for speakers opens
November 10, 2025 Call for speakers ends
December 5, 2025 Notification of accepted speakers (via email)
December 19, 2025 Deadline for speaker acceptance
January 9, 2026 Program posted on website
January 22, 2026 Mandatory speaker webinar to discuss presentation submittal and review process
January 31, 2026 Speaker registration deadline
March 22, 2026 Draft presentations due
March 31, 2026 UMD feedback to all speakers
April 13, 2026 Recorded sessions and final presentations due (on-demand speakers)
April 16, 2026 Webinar to discuss final day of event logistics (mandatory for in-person speakers)
April 20, 2026 Final presentations due (in-person speakers) and completed papers due (optional)
April 22, 2026 On-demand recorded sessions posted to Symposium website for viewing by attendees
April 30-May 1, 2026 Project Management Symposium – delivered live

 

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Potential Session Topics

  • AI in Project Management
    • PM Productivity and AI
    • AI and Automation
  • Strategic Project Management
    • Project Management Offices (PMOs)
    • Leadership Development
    • Organizational Change Management
    • Integrated Project Management
    • Performance Management
    • Program Management
    • Portfolio Management
  • Project Management Skills
    • Risk & Resilience Techniques
    • Tailoring your Way of Working (Hybrid, Agile, Predictive)
    • Product Skills for Project People
    • Coordination Techniques for Teams
    • Scheduling and Project Modeling
    • Budgeting and Estimation
  • People in Projects
    • Emotional Intelligence
    • Productivity and Performance Management
    • Strengths-Based Management
    • Data Driven Decision Making
    • Mentorship Programs – Finding a Mentor, Being a Mentor
    • Multi-Generational Teams: Working and/or Leading
    • Performance Evaluations (1:1)
  • Federal Programs
    • Accelerated Procurement
    • Managing Efficiency Initiatives
    • People Management in Era of Efficiency
    • Agency Transformation and Mission Change
  • Lean, Agile and Product
    • DevOps
    • Agile at Scale
    • Hybrid Project Management
    • Lean Process and Product Management
    • Product Management
  • PM Tools – for PMs by PMs
  • Innovation and Change Management
    • Change Management
    • Innovation
    • Data Analytics and Digital Transformation
  • Completed Project Case Studies & Lessons Learned
    • Transformation Projects
      • Successes and Challenges
      • Actual Projects – What did and did not work
    • Lessons in Failure
      • Project Setbacks and Value Extracted

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