May 13, 2013 - Grand Rapids Dinner Meeting

Annual WMPMI Board of Directors Presentation - WMPMI Board of Director annual presenation will cover looking back on the year, VP reporting, and plans for next year.  

A drawing will be held for your chance to win one of five $100 gas cards! Don't miss out on your opportunity to win!!

Bonus topic:  NetPlus Connections, presented by Ken Fortier begins at 5:10pm

Held at the Holiday Inn Express / Crossroads in Grand Rapids Register Now

WMPMI Board Elections

Chapter Members are encouraged to vote for next years vacant board positions.  Voting closes May 13th!  Click here to VOTE: WMPMI 2013 Board Elections

June 26, 2013 - PMO CoP Monthly Meeting Kick-Off
Held at Grand Rapids Community College starting at 12:00pm
Contact Ted Kallman, VP of Marketing, for more inforamtion at 616-634-2918
 

July 12 - 14, 2013 - Region 4 Conference

Grand Traverse Resort
100 Grand Traverse Village Boulevard
Acme, MI 49610
http://www.GrandTraverseResort.com

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This is a recent press release on THE Project 2013.

GVSU Team Wins $5,000 Cash Prize for the Second Year in a Row as the “Experis Award” First Place Team in THE Project 2013 Collegiate Project Management Competition

The Western Michigan Chapter of the Project Management Institute (WMPMI) held its second annual awards gathering for an inter-collegiate project management competition on April 16th at Davenport University in Grand Rapids, MI.

The competition is called THE Project 2013. Seven teams from five schools competed for $11,000 in prize money and the real world educational experience of crafting a project plan that was reviewed and judged by a panel of prominent Executives from West Michigan. The competing schools were; Davenport University,Grand Valley State University, Kalamazoo College and Michigan Technological University. The winning teams were;

* 1st Place “Experis Award”, $5,000 = Grand Valley State University,

* 2nd Place, $3,000 = Michigan Tech (Team B),

* 3rd Place, $2,000 = Michigan Tech (Team A),

* 4th Place, $1,000 = Kalamazoo College (Team B)

The competition is the brainchild of the Education Council of WMPMI which is chaired by Deborah Wilk, PMP the VP of Education for the Chapter. Dennis Bolles, PMP was the Project Manager for this year’s competition and Dick Friedrich, PMP was the assistant PM and will lead the management of THE Project 2014 competition.

The Executive Judges Panel performed the final adjudication and determined the winning teams after the final four teams presented their final project plan and live presentation to the panel. The final four teams were selected by a seasoned Program Management (PMO) Panel after two stage gates were passed and final project plans presented by all of the teams prior to the final event. “THE Project 2013 will once again give students real-life business experience rather than a mere academic exercise” said Fred Keller, CEO of Cascade Engineering and Judge for THE Project 2012 and 2013.

Our Executive Judges for THE Project 2013 were;

* Fred Keller, Chairman and CEO Cascade Engineering

* James Mitchell, Chair, Mitchell Intellectual Property Law, PLLC

* Carole Valade, Editor, Grand Rapids Business Journal and Gemini Publications

* Joe Jones, CEO Grand Rapids Urban League and owner of E.E. Milestone + Associates, Inc.

* Gary Granger, President/CEO the Granger Group

“WMPMI is grateful to have such a stellar panel working on behalf of students and the project management profession in West Michigan” said Deb Wilk, PMP the VP of Education for WMPMI.

The teams created a project plan that was linked to one of Governor Rick Snyder’s Reinventing Michigan strategic initiatives “Keeping Our Youth – Our Future – Here”. Each team was given the same scenario, budget and time frame facts. The teams worked with PMP credentialed Mentors from January to March to craft the plans based upon PMI standards and the Project Management Body of Knowledge (the PMBoK) which is now the ISO standard for project management world-wide. Benjamin Todd, Mentor to the winning GVSU team’s last year and this year said, “This competition was a great experience for myself and for the team. We all learned a great deal.”

The Project 2013 was built around a purpose, mission and vision;

* Purpose - To expand the visibility and community favor of WMPMI while increasing the Project Management skills and knowledge of the participants

* Mission - To create and deliver the best Project Management contest in the PMI universe

* Vision - To be the tool that brings positive focus to Project Management as a profession in West Michigan

The Education Outreach team from PMI has taken the format for THE Project and is encouraging Chapters across the world to replicate the competition in their own areas. It gained attention and recognition in the local press as the Grand Rapids Business Journal became the exclusive Media Sponsor of the competition for the second year which included an article bringing a focus to project management and WMPMI. Also, Mr. Kallman and Mr. Mitchell were interviewed on April 12th on West Michigan Week a TV Show on WGVU.

Tom Shaw, the President of WMPMI, in his remarks to the student competitors to start the final competition day on April 16th said; "An ancient Proverb once stated 'Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding'. I have found over the years that this is a true statement. We get understanding through connecting our knowledge to actual experience and hopefully we act in wise ways once we do understand. My hope is that each one of you as student participants in THE Project 2013 have not only increased your knowledge of project management tools and processes but that you have also gained understanding. Understanding about yourself and how working with teams can accelerate success in addition to baseline knowledge about project management. Thank you for your willingness to participate. It is our hope that you will carry with you not only a better knowledge of project management but also a true understanding of the creativity, innovation and team dynamics needed to successfully engage a rapidly changing world. That you will now take what you have learned during the competition and make it a base of excellence that will help grow you into the leaders that we need in the years to come."

PMI (www.pmi.org) is the world’s leading not-for-profit membership association for the project management profession. It has more than 700,000 members and credential holders in 185 countries with 677 of those members in the Western Michigan Chapter.

For more information regarding the THE Project 2013 or plans for THE Project 2014 contact Ted Kallman at 616-634-2918 or go to http://www.WMPMI.org.

By Tom Shaw, PMP, President of WMPMI

So has my first year as president gone by.  I cannot figure out where the time went but it sure has been a busy year.

I am very pleased to report that we are finishing the year very strong and coming off two very successful events.  I must admit that I had my concerns about fielding two, no wait a minute, three, big events this year but I am very proud of our chapter for pulling off two so far with the third one yet to come.  What exactly am I talking about?  The PDD, The Project 2013, and the upcoming Region 4 Leadership Conference of course.

None of this would have been possible were it not for our legion of volunteers that have pitched in to help over the past several months.  I cannot possibly express adequately the gratitude me and the board of directors feel for all of your excellent support. These events, especially The Project, have catapulted the stature of our chapter in the community into uncharted territory.  We are seeing unprecedented interest from West Michigan colleges and businesses.  This is positioning us for an explosion of growth for The Project 2014.  We could potentially see 15 to 20 teams in the competition next year!

Yes, this will require more volunteers.  But I am confident that our members will rise to the occasion as we always do and get the job done.  It will be hard work and at times frustrating, but, I can promise you that it will also be rewarding and leave you with a sense of self satisfaction that can only be achieved from a job well done.

We will be discussing all of this in more detail at the May business meeting on the 13^th.  I hope you will plan to attend.  We will be giving away five $100.00 gas cards at the end of the evening to liven things up a bit and say thank you to all of you who support our monthly meetings.

In closing I would also like to recognize our Past President Gilann Vail-Boisvenue.  Our next dinner meeting will be her last as a sitting board member.  Gil has done a tremendous job over the past four years leading our chapter by setting the stage so we could accomplish the lofty goals we established for the chapter.  Her strategic foresight led us to “projectize” our strategic plan which allowed us to bring the focus necessary to achieve the Project 2012 and 2013 while continuing on with the PDD and other smaller initiatives.

Gil has also been a personal friend and mentor to me and I am grateful for the blessing she has been to me as I have taken over the reins of leadership and attempted to carry on what she began.

By: Dennis L. Bolles, PMP

WMPMI’s THE Project 2013 held at Davenport University on Tuesday, April 16^th, was a spectacular success.  This was the second year for the unique program. It was developed to introduce University and College students to the practices of project management through a competition format. The mission of the program is to involve area businesses in the project as sponsors and to raise awareness of WMPMI Chapter. Another objective for the business community is the opportunity to interview the student participants during a reverse career fair held during the afternoon sessions.  Last year approximately 70% of the students obtained internships or other employment positions as the result of the interviewing process and it is anticipated that this year’s results will be similar.

This year’s project theme involved one of Governor Snyder’s initiatives, “Keeping Our Youth – Our Future – Here! The Governor sent a letter and video thanking the PMI Western Michigan Chapter and business sponsors for there outstanding dedication, commitment, and support. This competition gave them an excellent opportunity to grow their project management skills.  One of the common comments I heard from the student participants was about the benefits and value they obtained through the competition process by working as a team to solve a “real world” problem.

Dr. Dana Johnson, Michigan Tech Champion, sent this message to James Mitchell, Panel Judge for THE Project 2012 and 2013: “… Several of the students will sit for the CAPM exam this summer and a couple of past participants have already completed the Certified Associate Project Management. It is a great opportunity for the students to work with industry mentors and participate in the reverse career fair.  It has definitely provided a lot of exposure for Michigan Tech business students.  I believe Amway came to Michigan Tech in the fall 2012 to recruit at Michigan Tech for the first time. I have been fortunate to work with the students who have chosen to participate in THE Project competition.  We look forward to fielding teams again next year. The students are enrolled in an Advanced Project Management course where the Project Management course is a prerequisite.”

Last year, THE Project 2012 was promoted by PMI in Europe at the EMEA Congress and again in Vancouver, BC at the 2012 North American Leadership Institute Meeting. Ted Kallman presented a video produced by WMPMI and described the program to attendees. Dr. Saul Spivack, PMI Academic Relations Department Manger, was instrumental in arranging the presentations in 2012 PMI meetings. The purpose of the PMI Academic Relations Department is to work with Colleges and Universities to develop project management graduate and post graduate programs. Dr Spivack was the key note speaker at this year’s event program. His message to the audience underscored the importance for students to seriously consider project management as a career.  Based on recent research, there are over 800,000 project management jobs currently unfilled world-wide and the number is growing daily. 

The success of both THE Project 2012 and 2013 programs was the direct result of 100’s of volunteer hours performed by the WMPMI project team members, Champions, Mentors, Judges, PMO Panelists, and other volunteers. One of the outcomes of this years program will the development of a WMPMI Collegiate Competition Guidelines publication.  It will describe the details of how the program is developed and managed. Any PMI Chapter that is interested in producing a similar event will be able to download the eBook from the WMPMI website later this year.  Work has already begun on planning THE Project 2014 program.  Based on recent interest, the 2014 program will include a significant number of additional of Student Teams. To date, we have received indications of interest from nine new West Michigan Colleges and Universities.

I have had the opportunity to be a volunteer on many PMI Administrative Advisory teams and PMI Standards projects in my 28 years of PMI service as a volunteer and I can say without hesitation, working with this team has been an outstanding experience.  THE Project 2014 team will be led by Dick Friedrich. He is in the process of assembling his project team for the next program, so I encourage you to contact and let him know of your desire to get involved now. 

WMPMI is facilitating a monthly gathering of PMO peers to discuss issues and successes.  This will be a PMO only group affiliated with PMIs PMO CoP (Community of Practice) that will meet monthly rotating between companies or locations to where current (or former) PMOs can learn from each other and network ideas and solutions.

The kick-off meeting for this group will be hosted by Darcy Swope the manager of the PMO at Grand Rapids Community College.  It will be held at The Heritage on GRCCs campus downtown GR.  The Heritage is a part of GRCCs award winning Culinary School and Dr. Ender, the President of GRCC, will be giving the opening remarks and welcome.  Darcy Swope will be presenting ‘The Strategic Impact of an Executive Level Project Prioritization Team’.  The meeting will be held on June 26th at noon.  

Contact Ted Kallman, VP of Marketing, if you are interested in participating in this group.  Ted can be reached at ted@unifiedvisiongroup.com or 616-634-2918.

By Matt Boon, WMPMI Sponsorship Director

A special Thank You goes out to our friends and sponsors of THE Project 2013!  What a great event and learning experience for our participating students and businesses that attended our reverse career fair. 

This event is due in large part to you our Sponsors to whom we appreciate your partnership!

Experis

Dematic

Davenport University

Grand Rapids Business Journal

BVW Photography

Greymatter Group

Compliance Systems Inc.

Trans-Matic

Cascade Engineering

University of Phoenix

Stryker

DPT Solutions

Advisicon

Unified Vision Group

On behalf of the entire volunteer staff, Thank You Very Much!

By Cornelius Fichtner, PMP - Making the PMBOK® Guide fun

Obtaining your Project Management Processional (PMP)^® Certification is a lot more than reading the PMBOK^® Guide, it is also involves completing the PMP^® Exam application, which can be a time consuming sometimes confusing process. In completing the education requirements section, you see that you need at least 35 contact hours. So, what exactly are contact hours, why do you need them, and what do you need to do to obtain them? Contact hours are not the same as a Professional Developmental Units (PDUs), you need to have at least 35 contact hours of prior to the completion of your application be eligible to take the PMP^® Exam, whereas once you obtain our PMP^® Certification, you will need 60 PDUs every three years to maintain the certification.  

All of the hours you want to use towards contact hours must be in the form of a formal project management training or course work.  Approved project management-related topics include project quality, project budget, project risks, project scope, project communications, project procurement, and project integration management. This training or course work also must require that you demonstrate successful understanding and completion.  If you have taken training or course work in the past that would count towards the contact hours you need -- even if it was 10, 15, or 20 years ago, it still counts as long as you have the documentation confirming your attendance.

There are six categories of providers available from which you can obtain training or course work to meet the 35 contact-hour educational requirement to submit an application to take the PMP^® Exam.

Category A – PMI Registered Education Providers (R.E.P.s) - Take some training through a PMI Registered Education Provider (R.E.P.). These courses can be easily located on the Project Management Institute (PMI) website under the “Professional Development” section where you can search for a specific activity or provider based on such requirements as your location, the type of training you are looking for, keywords, and language. Training taken from one of PMIs Registered Education Providers is usually pre-approved to meet PMIs education requirements for contact hours.

Category B – PMI Chapters or Communities of Practice - Participate in a training activity provided by one of PMIs many Chapters or Communities of Practice (CoP). Check out the schedule of your local PMI Chapter; many offer low cost training opportunities that you can count toward your 35 contact hours.  Attending a PMI Chapter does not qualify for contact hours unless at least one hour of that meeting is dedicated to a training activity.  There are also many PMI Communities of Practice that offer training opportunities. CoPs are industry specific groups such as Aerospace and Defense, International Development, and the Utility Industry that focus on project management as it is applied in their specific industry. CoP information can be found on the PMI website under the “Get Involved” section. Any training provided by a PMI Chapter or CoP is pre-approved to meet education requirements for contact hours.

Category C – Employer / Company–sponsored programs - If your employer is providing project management-related training where you are required to demonstrate you have learned the material and there is a quiz at the end, you can claim each hour spent towards project quality, budget, risks, scope, communications, procurement, and integration management as a contact hour. Keep all of the related material just in case PMI has any questions about this training while reviewing your application.

Category D – Training companies or consultants (e.g., training schools) - Attending training provided by a training company, school, or consultant that is project management specific can be counted towards the contact hours you need. These are generally organized training events or classes where you are tested both during the training and upon completion. As with other non-pre-approved PMI trainings, make sure you keep the materials and any test scores just in case PMI has any questions while reviewing your application.

Category E – Distance-learning companies, including an end-of-course assessment - Taking a distance learning course is another method for earning your contact hours. These training courses can typically be conveniently completed from anywhere based on your schedule. It is important that the training is project management specific around the topics of project quality, budget, risks, scope, communications, procurement, and integration management and there is an end of-course-assessment. Make sure you keep a hold of any assessments showing you successfully completed the course just in case PMI has any questions while reviewing your application.

Category F – University / College academic and continuing education programs - Academic and continuing education programs provided by a College or University are another good opportunity to obtain contact hours. These courses will typically have an end-of-course assessment that you can use to prove you have successfully completed the course. You can only claim the amount of time you spent in the course on project management topics such as project quality, budget, risks, scope, communications, procurement, and integration management. Keep in mind for courses provided by a College or University that each hour you spend in class counts as long as it is spent on the appropriate topics. For example if you take a 10 week course where you meet three hours a week, that equates to 30 contact hours. Retain the course syllabus and any assessments for the hours you claim just in case PMI has any questions while reviewing your application.

If you have discovered you need a few more contact hours or even all 35, a good place to start would by checking out the PM PrepCast. PM PrepCast is a PMI Registered Education Provider that provides a distance learning course where you can obtain all 35 contact hours by simply watching videos, and these will also help in your PMP^® Exam prep. The PM PrepCast course falls in both Category A and F and is offered by OSP International LLC, a PMI Registered Education Provider (R.E.P.).