Preparing for PMIEMEA18

 

#PMIEMEA18 is coming up very soon and there are a lot of preparations going on in advance. As someone who will be speaking at the conference for the first time, I'm really excited to be able to present my topic to the audience but I'm also extremely excited to be presenting alongside some absolutely fantastic speakers and knowledgeable experts there!

I'll also be there as part of the Social Media crew helping to bring the conference to those who are unable to be there in person. I'll be sharing my personal experience and highlights from the sessions that I'll be attending and allowing you to follow the conference online.

Before you come to Berlin:

Make sure that you've read through the entire conference schedule so that you've got an idea of what you're looking to attend. I'd also recommend bringing enough Business cards to share out with people at the networking events. 

Monday:

• If you're a first-time attendee to PMI conferences then I can highly recommend that you attend the "The first time attendee orientation", It'll be a great help to understand how the conference works and how to make the most out of your conference.
• The Keynotes are always a great way to kick off the conference and this year looks no different! Rowan Gibson gives a great talk about: Winning the Innovation Economy and the mindset that we need to adopt for being innovative.
• I'll then head to: How emotions can impact your success as a PMP. This is a topic that I think that a lot of us can learn from and it'll be something that you'll be able to apply immediately after the conference.
• After lunch, I'm planning to go to: Augmented Project Management. Why Less is more when facing complexity in projects. I think that this topic will give some key takeaways for a wide variety of Project Managers.
• The next session I’ll be going to attend is a personal favourite topic of mine: Better your Project Management techniques via Lean Six Sigma. I really love learning about Six Sigma and how it can be applied to existing Project Management techniques.
• The last session of the day will definitely be one to keep you on your feet! Agile droplets in a waterfall world will aim to show you when and how agile practices could be applied to your projects /environment.

The conference doesn’t end there. Please don’t forget to check out the evening networking opportunities. The evening events are not only a great way for you to mingle with your other Project Management counterparts but they’ll also be a great way to learn more about Berlin’s fascinating history!

Tuesday:

Tuesday is going to be a packed day but it'll be a busy one for sure!

• I'm really excited about the Offsite learning experience at the Berlin Brandenburg Airport. I've been following this project for several years and it'll be a project where there is a lot to learn from.
• After lunch, I’ll be presenting a topic called: Dude, where’s my control? Transitioning from a Project Manager to a Scrum Master. This is a great session if you’re thinking of becoming a Scrum Master or alternatively if you’re going through a transition yourself.
• The next session for me will be: Tips and techniques for managing those difficult project stakeholders. Dana Brownlee is a really fantastic speaker and I can’t wait to hear her thoughts on this!
• Happy Hour is an hour that you should definitely NOT miss. This is a great opportunity to network with your colleagues and wind down from an intense day of presentations.

Wednesday:

Wednesday morning kicks off and it’ll be a packed final day of the main #PMIEMEA18 conference!

• The first session I’ll be looking to attend will be: Delivering real value in Business consulting projects – the agile way. I’m really interested in how Project Managers can deliver real value and seeing if they can do this in an agile way.
• Wednesday afternoon will continue with some more strong topics! Fabiola Maisonnier will be talking about: Signs of Leadership: are you change resilient and emotionally mature? I think these sorts of presentations that will help others to increase their leadership skills and social awareness are going to be some of the more valuable sessions for attendees to attend.
• The closing keynote will give you a lot to think about. Inma Martinez will be presenting a topic called: Developing creative approaches to Artificial Intelligence  in the workplace  in the times of accelerated digitalisation. One reason why I think that this is so critical is because it brings the importance of the future of our profession to the forefront of our minds and shows us that we cannot avoid thinking and planning for the future.

#PMIEMEA18 has a packed program that will definitely give you the advantage. It’ll give you the tools to develop your skills and broaden your mindset. Moreover, it’ll give you the opportunity to meet other Project Management colleagues and enable you to widen your network.

So, which sessions are you looking forward to?