by John A. Salguero, PMP, Athens Committee Chair
The second Athens-based meeting of PMI Atlanta was hosted by PMI Athens Committee Chair, John A. Salguero, at the Foundry Park Inn & Spa. Salguero's goal is to develop an active Athens chapter to bring networking and professional workshops to the community of Athens. He aims to establish relationships with organizations in the Athens area by hosting panel-type career fairs, recruiting exciting speakers, and starting a student chapter at Saint Leo University in Duluth.
This dinner meeting featured Brad Hunt, Executive Director of IT at the University of Georgia Terry College of Business, as the
keynote speaker. Though not a member of PMI himself, Hunt is active in the Technology Business Schools Roundtable, an organization similar to PMI with a focus on technology management. In the late '80s, Hunt was active in Chevron's project management development, helping the initiative grow into widespread practice. He emphasized honing meeting facilitation skills in order to find the right approach to achieve efficient and successful team meetings.
Hunt also addressed cultural differences in international organizations, recalling his experiences in Nigeria, Africa and Kazakhstan, located in Central Asia. The business environment changes from culture to culture and a successful project manager must be able to recognize those differences to implement successful management strategies.
After the illuminating keynote speech, Salguero spoke of the increasing importance of technology security in the field of project management. As more projects require advanced Internet-based technologies, managers should be aware of potential security challenges and may want to consider recruiting a security specialist for the project team. Salguero plans to bring in more speakers to address the question, "What does a project manager need to know in 2014?"