Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s School of Business will entertain more than 400 attendees at its 2013 Project Management Symposium. The event is 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Friday, Nov. 15, at the Morris University Conference Center on the SIUE campus. The annual one-day event focuses on cultivating the art and science of project management.
Headlining the closing session is Justin Ponder of U.S. Navy Special Forces. The presentation is “When Your Life Depends on Your Team: Lessons in Building and Leading Teams.” Zachary Schaefer, assistant professor of speech communication in SIUE’s College of Arts and Sciences, will interview Ponder. The Belleville native leads a Special Warfare Combatant crew attached to Seal Team 18 stationed at the Naval Amphibious Base in Little Creek, Va.
“We have another sell-out event this year. The SIUE Symposium is the largest project management conference in the Midwest,” said Sandra Hindelang, director of the SIUE School of Business’ Executive Education Division. “Project management professionals from more than 120 different companies in the St. Louis metropolitan area will participate.”
The day will open with a panel discussion titled “Got PMs?” Panelists will discuss changes in business sectors and economic development in the St. Louis area that are creating a growing demand for project management skills. Panelists are:
- Jim Brasunas, executive director of Information Technology Entrepreneur Network (ITEN), discussing entrepreneurial development in the St. Louis region
- Jim Lachance, group manager for Transformation Support in the BJC Healthcare Center for Clinical Excellence, discussing developments in the healthcare delivery system
- Tom Rice, senior director of Cyber Security and Technology Planning at Ameren Missouri discussing the proliferation of security initiatives – cyber and physical
Hour-long morning and afternoon breakout sessions will provide a range of topic choices. Breakout sessions are led by area expert project management professionals, and often include SIUE faculty specialists. Topics include:
- To SME, or Not to SME: How to Build a Collaborative Environment for Subject Matter Expert (SME) Growth
- Establishing and Managing a Portfolio of Projects
- Here I Am! Now Where Am I? Quickly Assessing Organizational Culture
- Integrating Cyber Security into PM Methodology
- PM Skills in Demand: Now and in the Future
- Leadership Lessons from the Movies: Learning EQ and Other Useful Techniques from the Silver Screen
The SIUE School of Business is a recognized leader in project management education. It prepares the next generation of PM practitioners through academic programming in project management in undergraduate and graduate degree programs. It also provides continuing education for PM professionals through the Project Management Training portfolio of the Executive Education division.
The Executive Education Project Management portfolio is guided by the SIUE Project Management Advisory Board, a consortium of project management experts from more than 20 of the area’s top businesses committed to PM in their organizations. The group meets monthly to share best practices and solutions to common challenges and collaborates with the School of Business to develop the SIUE Project Management Symposium.