Experience at PMI Congress 2014

I just returned from the Project Management Institute's North America Congress in Phoenix this week. This was my first time attending this conference so I thought I would share a few observations about the congress and about the project management profession.

The conference was a large event that took place across the stunningly beautiful Phoenix Convention Center. The three days of the conference were filled with presentations but there was still plenty of time to network with other project managers or visit with the vendors in the exhibit hall. Most of the presentations provided excellent perspectives into current project management issues and practices. Although some of the presenters could have been more engaging (especially after a full day of listening to presentations) all of the presenters understood their audience and focused their presentations on a set of outcomes. Since the project management field covers so many areas (leadership, communications, risk, strategy, scheduling, etc) there were many topics to choose from throughout the event.

Attending the conference presentations and speaking with many project managers from around the world I gained additional insight into the project management profession. Project managers from all industries and all regions of the world share common issues and are looking for solutions or ways to improve their project management practice. I noticed many project managers are interested in learning more about designing and building effective project teams, becoming better leaders, improving stakeholder communications, developing better project plans, and dealing with challenges (risk) that occur during the project. In addition to these operational interests I also found many project managers interested in program management, portfolio management, and agile approaches to project management.

During two of the mornings I led discussions in project management career paths and founds some common concerns and observations from the attendees. I'll share these findings in my next blog post. My experience at PMI's North America Congress was a good one. I may not attend the PMI Congress every year but I certainly see this as a valuable event for project managers and encourage others to attend a congress in the near future.