A Bittersweet PMI Congress
PMI's annual conference was different this year. As a long time member … my 21st consecutive symposium … there was an energy missing. That energy was Eric Jennet, one of PMI’s original founders. Eric died on Friday at the age of 86. He was a character … he called it the way he saw it, and was not afraid to buck the tide. As a consequence, he was one of the most respected men I’ve ever known. Eric was missed at PMI … but his legacy will live on.
The PMI Congress itself served as a perfect memorial to him. I didn’t get to many paper sessions, but I asked attendees in the hallways, on the elevators, at the events, "Have you liked the presentations you attended?” The answer, for the most part, was a resounding “yes, they were pretty good!” There was a lot of discussion about PMOs, how they are evolving and changing. Agile Project Management is coming in like a lion and PMI’s new certification is positioning itself for a huge demand! The former SIGs have turned into Communities of Practice and signs of this transition still abound.
The new book just released by Kent Crawford and Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin, An Inside Look at High Performing PMOs was a hot item! Kent’s ballroom-size class was filled with attendees who wanted to know more about the PMO of the Year winners and finalists and their best practices.
Overall, it was a good show filled with a mix of experience, wisdom, questions, and quests to discover best practices in project management. Eric would have enjoyed it ... and I'm sure he was there in spirit.
- Some Thoughts About Governance, PMOs and the Thinking Project Manager
- Session Highlights from the PMI Global Congress
- Project Management on the Potomac: Making Waves
- We're Blogging from the PMI Global Congress ...
- No Dropped Connections: A Great PMO Focuses on Communication
- Strategy Execution: Align the Portfolio, Tune Up the Performance Engine, and Go!
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Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin says:
So sad to hear this. I had hoped Eric would be eternal! He holds a special place in my heart as someone who supported me as a “newbie” in project management when I began writing for PM Network in 1995. I treasure the letters to the editor he wrote praising my articles. He will be missed!
Posted on October 26, 2011 at 8:29 pm
Aly says:
Hi Deborah - I work for Barbecana, a risk software company here in Houston, Texas. We were also in attendance at the PMI Congress this year - getting ready to launch our new Microsoft Add-In for schedule risk analysis, Full Monte. I agree, the Congress was a perfect memorial to one of the industry’s greatest leaders.
Anyways, thanks for sharing your thoughts and impressions of the Congress! - Aly
Posted on October 31, 2011 at 6:57 pm