"The Project Management Institute - An Update for Our Members"

Presented by Walter Viali, PMP

PMI Region 6 (South Central U.S.)
Component Mentor 2011-2013 

The September PMI GNO Jackson, MS Community Dinner Meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 14th, at the River Room Conference Center in Flowood, MS. This month's speaker is our Component Mentor, Walter Viali, who will provide a PMI update and address the evolution of our own Region for community members. Please plan to join us for this informative presentation.

Walter is a Project Management and Project Management Office (PMO) Management Consultant, Certified Project Management Professional (PMP) with a varied background in different industries, which has included several domestic and international assignments.  Click Here to view Walter's full bio. 

Next month's meeting will be held on Tuesday, October 19, 2010 at the River Room Conference Center in Flowood, MS.  Click here to register for next month's meeting!!!

MS Project Server 2010

Presented by Steve Neilson

2010 PMIGNO Jackson Community Summer Games

Hosted by the Jackson Community Leadership Group

The PMI GNO Jackson, MS Community Dinner Meeting was held on Tuesday, July 20th, at the River Room Conference Center in Flowood, MS. The PMI Jackson Community leadership team hosted the 2010 PMI Summer Games. 

The 2010 PMI Summer Games attendees had a great time with a totally interactive experience. Groups designed workspaces while practicing non-verbal communications strategies. Have a look at the Jackson photo album to see pictures of the resulting designs. Much was learned about individual attendees during the "Penny for your Thoughts" game. It was a fun event, with lots of prizes awarded.

Next month's meeting will be held on Tuesday, August 17, 2010 at the River Room Conference Center in Flowood, MS.  Click here to register for next month's meeting!!!

Case Study - MS Exchange Implementation

Presented by Deven Thaker, PMP

PMI GNO Jackson Community
Education Outreach Coordinator 

The June PMI GNO Jackson, MS Community Dinner Meeting was held on Tuesday, June 15th, at the River Room Conference Center in Flowood, MS. This month's speaker was our Education Outreach Coordinator, Deven Thaker.  He presented the Case Study "MS Exchange Implementation." 

Deven is a certified Project Manager with more than 10 years of IT and Business project management experience. He holds a degree in Computer Science from Mississippi State University. His experience also includes 14 years serving in the Mississippi Army National Guard where he managed several large survey projects. Deven has also managed projects for United Parcel Service and enterprise IT projects for MCI.

Next month's meeting will be held on Tuesday, July 20, 2010 at the River Room Conference Center in Flowood, MS.  Click here to register for next month's meeting!!!

Effective Use of Research to Support Project Decisions

Presented by Rondah Marks

Director of Marketing
University of Mississippi Medical Center 

The May PMI GNO Jackson, MS Community Dinner Meeting was held on Tuesday, May 18th, at the River Room Conference Center in Flowood, MS. There was a great turnout to hear this month's speaker, Rondah Marks.  Her topic was "Effective Use of Research to Support Project Decisions." 

Rondah Marks is a Jackson native and Mississippi State University graduate in Communications, with a 29-year history in healthcare planning, marketing, advertising, physician services, and healthcare administration. Currently she is the Director of Marketing for University of Mississippi Health Care-which includes University's five hospitals plus University Physicians,  a 450 physician multi-specialty practice and its clinics.

Next month's meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 18, 2010 at the River Room Conference Center in Flowood, MS.  Click here to register for next month's meeting!!!

Communication is the Key to Success

Presented by Charlie Enicks

Chief Information Officer
University of Mississippi Medical Center 

The April PMI GNO Jackson, MS Community Dinner Meeting was held on Tuesday, April 20th, at the River Room Conference Center in Flowood, MS. The meeting speaker, Charlie Enicks, presented "Communication is the Key to Success."

View your Meeting Survey Results at www.pmijacksonms.org under the Jackson Menu at Download Documents.

Charlie Enicks is Chief Information Officer with the University of Mississippi Medical Center. He has 32 years experience in healthcare information technology, and has developed software and managed large mainframe software implementations. Mr. Enicks earned a BS in Chemical Engineering from Virginia Tech, and an ME in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Virginia. He has previously served as Chief Information Officer at Emory Healthcare, UAB, and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia prior to serving in the same capacity at UMMC.

Next month's meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 18, 2010 at the River Room Conference Center in Flowood, MS.   Click Here to Register!!!

Strategies For Maintaining Your PMP Credential

PMO Startup and Best Practices

Presented by Terrence Hibbert

Senior Consultant
ChannelMatter

The February meeting was held on Tuesday, February 23rd, at the River Room Conference Center in Flowood.  Our guest speaker, Mr. Terrence Hibbert, presented a great presentation with complementing templates on "PMO Startup and Best Practices."

Mr. Hibbert, a Senior Consultant at ChannelMatter, has over 10 years of process and strategy management consulting. He has worked extensively with clients, both in teams and individually to bring focus, accountability, prioritization, visibility, and alignment through improved processes and management systems that link business objectives to performance measurement. His experience in implementing project management offices, organizational strategy, and balanced scorecards has provided access to a wide variety of industries. His background includes project management and commercial banking.

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, March 16, 2010 at the  River Room Conference Center in Flowood, MS.  Register now!!!

PMBOK 4th Edition Overview 

Presented by Katisha Sutton, PMP

Education Coordinator
PMIGNO Jackson Community

The January PMI GNO Jackson, MS Dinner Meeting was held on Tuesday, January 19, 2010.  Katisha Sutton, PMP,  presented an overview of the PMBOK 4th Edition to 28 attendees, which was both informative and enjoyable.

Katisha's comparison of the 3rd and 4th Editions and her discussion points related to specific changes provided valuable insight. One member commented, "Great content, been looking forward to it."

Katisha joined HORNE-LLP in 2008 as a manager in Specialty Accounting.  Katisha has worked in the project management office providing compliance monitoring and program management for multiple programs.

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, February 16, 2010 at the  River Room Conference Center in Flowood, MS.  Register now!!!

The PMI GNO Chapter - Jackson Community is offering a preparation course covering the knowledge areas assessed by Project Management Institute's professional certification examinations for certification as Project Management Professional (PMP®). This 8-week course will prepare the student to demonstrate an acceptable level of understanding and knowledge about project management on the Project Management Institute's certification examination for the PMP® by examining the special nature of projects - concepts, definitions, approaches, and processes within the context of the Project Management Institute's methodology for project management. Critical to mastering the PMI methodology is a clear understanding of the phases of the project management life cycle and the related processes and sub-processes that characterize the Project Management Institute's approach to project management. Participants who complete this rigorous course of study will have been exposed to and reviewed all of project management knowledge areas tested by the PMP®.

It's time for the November dinner meeting of the PMI GNO Jackson, MS Community!!  The meeting will be Tuesday, November 17, at the River Room Conference Center in Flowood.  The speaker for this month is Becky Carruth, Director of Information Systems for Baptist Health Systems.  Her topic will be "Project Management in the Real World - A Case Study".

Ms. Carruth has worked for Baptist Health Systems for the past 31 years.  As Director, she oversees Financial System applications, interfaces and the network infrastructure.  She has a B.S. in Chemistry from Millsaps College.  Originally from Louisiana, she has lived most of her life in Mississippi, graduating from high school in Vicksburg.  She in an active member of Colonial Heights Baptist Church and an avid tennis player.

Please make plans to attend.  Register Here.  

The October Dinner Meeting of the PMI GNO Jackson, MS Community was held Tuesday, October 20.  There were 27 attendees, who enjoyed a very interesting presentation by Dr. Debbie Minor.  She talked about the challenges and rewards experienced in her project to work with the community of Morton to educate them, at the overall level, on heart disease and other major contributors to the high rates of mortality found in Mississippi.  Her project developed and executed initiatives to work with the town as a whole.  

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, November 17, at River Room Conference Center in Flowood.  Register now!!!

Survey results from the October meeting will be published soon!

The October dinner meeting for the PMI GNO Jackson, MS Community is coming up on Tuesday, October 20, at River Room Conference Center in Flowood (see map for directions).  Deborah S. Minor, PharmD, will have the program - Development of Community Initiatives:  Process Strategies and Sustainability.

Debbie Minor, Associate Professor and Executive Vice Chair for the University of Mississippi School of Medicine's Department of Medicine, also has faculty appointments in the Departments of Pharmacy Practice and Family Medicine.  Debbie has worked in the areas of community, institutional, consultant, academic and clinical pharmacy over the past 25 years.  She received her Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Mississippi in 1997, a B.S. degree in Pharmacy in 1982, and a B.S. in Psychology from Millsaps College in 1978.  She is actively involved in various state and national pharmacy and medical organizations and has received numerous honors and awards for her work.

Please make plans to attend.  Register Here.  

The September Dinner Meeting of the PMI GNO-Jackson MS Community was attended by 21 people who enjoyed an interesting presentation from our own Mike Little, PMP.  He talked about the challenges of managing a project abroad based on his experience with the Department of Defense as Project Manager of the Russian Chemical Weapons Destruction Facility as part of the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program.  Review survey results from the meeting.

Register now for the October meeting of the Jackson Community on October 20.

Don't forget about the upcoming Professional Development Summit in New Orleans October 25 - 27.

The September dinner meeting for the PMI GNO Jackson, MS Community is coming up on Tuesday, September 15, at River Room Conference Center in Flowood (see map for directions).  Micheal 'Mike' Little, one of our local members, will have the program - International Projects: Testing Your Skills & Trying Your Patience. 

Mike is a native Mississippian who has moved back to his 'home town' of Star, MS just south of Jackson.  He has his Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Mississippi and is an avid fan.  He received his PMP Certification in April, 2008 after years of Project Management.

He began his career in Paducah, Kentucky doing research for the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) on the desulphurization of high sulfur coal.  Budget cuts in research lead him to an 'on loan' position from TVA to the Department of Defense as Project Manager of the Russian Chemical Weapons Destruction Facility as part of the Cooperative Threat Reduction Program.  After more than 50 trips to Russia, the program head changed and Mike decided it was time to stay in the USA for a while.  He took a Project Manager position at the Pine Bluff, Arkansas Arsenal Explosive Destructions Systems Facility disposing of recovered chemical munitions. 

After more than 28 years of service with TVA, he retired in December 2008.  He will begin his next adventure in January 2010 for a division of the United Nations in The Haig, Netherlands as an inspector of military chemical weapons destruction facilities all over the world. 

Quite the daredevil, he has his airplane pilot's license and scuba diving certification and is in hopes of hang gliding or parachuting some day.  He is a seasoned traveler who would like to visit every country and who has traveled thousands of miles just to see his Rebels play (GO REBELS!).  He and his wife, Sherry, have just added 2 Black Lab pups to their family fittingly names 'Hotty' and 'Toddy'.

It promises to be an interesting and entertaining program so make plans to attend.  Register Here.  

The August Dinner Meeting of the Jackson Community, held August 18, was enjoyed by a big crowd of 32 attendees.  Margie Jepson, MBA with Entergy Nuclear, was the presenter.  Her program, Communicating in Business: How to Excel at Getting Things Done with Effective Communications Processes was very well-received.  Some of the comments in the surveys:  "Very useful and interesting presentation", "Excellent, informative, best program I've been to", "Relevant info".  Survey Results here.  Photos from the meeting can be viewed in the Jackson Photo Album from the Jackson Menu to the left.

The September Dinner Meeting will be Tuesday, September 15, at River Room Conference Center.  The speaker will be Micheal 'Mike' Little, one of our local members.  Mike retired in December, 2008 after more than 28 years of service with TVA.  His program promises to be very interesting - International Projects: Testing Your Skills & Trying Your Patience.  Make plans to attend and register here.

The PMI Jackson Community leadership group hosted the 2009 PMI Summer Games for the July Dinner Meeting.  The 24 attendees had a great time with the totally interactive experience that included PM trivia via an audience response system, a "group wisdom" project challenge, and LOTS of PRIZES!!  The three groups all developed unique marketing strategies for selling 10,000 used washing machines (one more 'unique' than the other two!).  There was much laughter amid the planning as each person had to take on an assigned trait that was unknown only to themselves.  Several points were made about how perceptions affect outcome in project management.  Prizes included free passes to monthly meetings, food and many other prizes provided by local businesses.  Check out the pictures in the Jackson Photo Album!!  Survey results can be viewed via the Download option under Jackson Menu.

The August Dinner Meeting for the Jackson Community will be held at River Room Conference Center in Flowood on August 18.  Make plans now to attend and Register Here . . .

The June dinner meeting of the Jackson Community was held Tuesday, June 16.  Amanda Orgeron, PMP, did a great job as speaker, talking about Change Management to our largest group in attendance yet - 33.  It was an interactive program that got very good results on our survey (also available from the Download menu to the left).  Amanda, one of our local members, is a Project Manager with Southern Farm Bureau Life Insurance Company.   

Check out photos from the meeting in the Jackson Photo Album on the Main Menu to the left!

Our June meeting was sponsored by Cheryl Crawford Consulting.

Our July meeting is scheduled for July 21 at River Room Conference Center.  Details to be published soon and you can register now!

Review some recent articles about our PMI Community in Jackson.

MS Press

The inaugural meeting of the PMI Jackson Community on February 19, 2008, was a big success with over 30 people in attendance.  It was a standing room only crowd for this meeting and a promising start for the group.  Martina Wood presented "Building Predictive Workplans using Project" giving some practical advice on using the Microsoft tool.  Hartman Holiman, Program Coordinator ended the meeting with a drawing for a "Free Pass" to the next PMI Jackson Community meeting - won by Robbe Mahaffey with Southern Farm Bureau Casualty Insurance Company - and the announcement that the next meeting will be held at Sal & Mookies in the Fondren District on March 18, 2008.  We are bumping up the start time to 5:30 with a 45-minute networking and registration time prior to starting the meeting at 6:15.  Make plans now to attend!!  

Martina's presentation from the February meeting is available in the Download section under the Jackson Menu to the left.  Look in the 2008 February Jackson Monthly Meeting folder. 

This year, the Greater New Orleans Chapter welcomes the Jackson community as part of our chapter. Volunteers from Jackson will work with our Board of Directors to seek out project management professionals that reside in Mississippi and provide the leadership, structure and tools necessary to organize membership and promote project management principles and best practices within the region.