By:  Glenn Boylan, Technology Forum Volunteer

The January Technology Forum meeting was an interesting one – in fact it could more accurately be called the January meeting for all the PMI Atlanta Industry Forums. Titled “Your Industry … Your Forum", it brought together the Program Managers of the five forums to show what each of their forums offer.

Nancy Berlin kicked off the meeting thanking the Technology Forum volunteers and introducing Nara Acharya, a PMI Atlanta Board member. The program started with an introduction to the forums from Marcia Trajano, VP of Industry Forums. Marcia told the audience that the Atlanta Chapter puts on approximately 50 forum events per year in the five forums: Agile; Architecture, Engineering and Construction; Governance; Healthcare; and Technology. A sixth forum, Consulting, will be starting soon.

All the forums are designed to provide an opportunity for project professionals to network, learn, and share their experiences in a more intimate setting than the full chapter meetings. The forums enhance the attendees’ professional experience.

Although each forum focuses on their specific industry, the objectives are consistent. The forums strive to:

     • Make PMs more valuable through networking, developing skills, and sharing best practices and success stories
     • Develop leaders in their fields via networking and discussing industry trends
     • Offer opportunities for education and certification support

The forums are designed to appeal to program and project managers, as well as other professionals, in the forums’ industry, leaders and people who want to become leaders in the field, and people looking for professional networking opportunities.

Agile Forum:

Andrew Gurbaxani, Program Manager, spoke to the group about the Agile Forum. The forum has good speakers and refreshments (always a plus) but Andrew warned us that you’ll work! Audience engagement is a big part of the Agile Forum. They feature leadership from many different industries, and Andrew pointed out that Agile is not just for SW developers anymore; any good or service can be provided in an Agile manner. The Agile Forum meets on the third Tuesday of the month. You can follow them at @PMIATLAgile on Twitter.

Architecture, Engineering, Construction (AEC) Forum:

Jason Davis, Program Manager, provided the overview for the Architecture, Engineering, Construction (AEC) Forum. This is one of the newest forums PMI Atlanta offers, having started in 2013, and expanding its focus in October 2014. Meetings are typically in a roundtable format, and are very interactive. Industries discussed include energy, automotive, transportation, and others. The AEC Forum meetings are on the second Tuesday of the month.

Governance Forum:

Theresa Durham, Speaker Chair, represented the Governance Forum. The forum defines governance as an oversight function aligned with the organization’s governance model and encompasses the project life cycle. Monthly meetings share the latest trends and success stories in this field. The Governance Forum meets on the fourth Wednesday of the month. Please note it is important to pre-register for Governance Forum meetings. The forum is on Twitter as @PMIATLGov.

Healthcare Forum:

James Brooks, Program Manager, presented the Healthcare Forum. Meetings start off with some time for networking, and then typically have a presentation followed by a Q&A session. Healthcare Forum meetings are on the third Wednesday of the month.

Technology Forum:

Nancy Berlin, Program Manager, spoke about our host forum, the Technology Forum. Nancy acknowledged Venkata Patt and Steve Kruger for their contributions to the forum. The Technology Forum is designed to create awareness of latest technologies for the participants. The forum meetings are held on the fourth Tuesday of the month.

Thanks to all of our forum representatives for a very informative meeting. Please be sure to check the PMI Atlanta web site for the upcoming programs for each forum.

Next month’s Technology Forum will be about Security. We’ll be discussing if a creative mind can beat a criminal mind.