Chapter meetings

Back By Popular Demand - Free Chapter Meetings!

Reservations should be made by 4:00 PM on Monday the week of the meeting which will be the second Monday of the month.  Reservations may be made via email to Mike Gaetano at m.gaetano@eswp.com or alternatively you may telephone (412) 261-4300.

In the email please provide your name as you want it to appear on the name tag, indicate that you are, or are not, a member of the Pittsburgh Chapter, and a telephone number where you can be reached during the business hours.

You may include in your email the names of associates or guests that may also be attending with you, and provide the same name tag and affiliation information.

June Meeting Details

Date: June 11, 2009

Schedule:

5:00 pm Financial Services LIG Presentation

6:00 pm Dinner

6:45 pm Chapter Meeting and Presentation

Financial Services LIG Presentation

Title: Achieving Success in Today's Business Climate - You can 'Bank' on it!

Speaker: Rick Clare OCP, PMP, CBAP

Abstract: This presentation will discuss how companies and individuals can achieve success in today's difficult business climate. In an attempt to reduce spending to offset falling revenues, some companies unfortunately cut items such as training. This presentation will discuss how a focus on training and improving employee skills can lead to increased productivity and better project results for companies. For individuals facing a potential layoff or competing for a job, having excellent skills in areas such as project management, business analysis and/or business process improvement is critical.

The training and consulting services offered by PMCentersUSA supports the drive to excellence by companies and individuals, and examples will be offered from our many financial institution clients. The history of PMCentersUSA will be briefly covered, along with our long-term relationship with PMI.  The courses and Master's Certificate programs will also be briefly discussed, along with continued training available for people who already achieved their PMI or IIBA certification. This presentation will end with a suggested path to project excellence. Attend this presentation and learn how to drive performances you can 'bank' on.

Presenter's Biography: ick Clare is the Business Analysis Practice Director and a Senior Instructor for PMCentersUSA. With over 20 years of experience as a project manager, business analyst, trainer, and developer, he was one of the first in the world to attain his Certified Business Analyst Professional (CBAP) credential from the IIBA. Rick is responsible for maintaining the PMCenters BA courseware, providing expert consulting services to companies moving into the Business Analysis world for the first time, and constructing customized training materials incorporating company-specific methodologies. Rick's career experience before joining ConsultUSA in 2000 was as a Senior Oracle Database Developer, performing analysis, design, development and documentation on numerous database systems using Oracle and its complete set of development tools.  He has worked on projects that involve all aspects of the application development task as a Business Analyst and as a Project Manager.  His training background is as an Oracle Instructor, Course Developer, and Technical School Administrator.  Rick has written numerous documents including course material, help manuals, installation instructions, and system manager guides.

Chapter Meeting and Presentation

Title: Two Case Histories - How I learned to stop pulling out my hair and love Project Management.

Speaker: Mara Burns, PMP, BNYMellon

Abstract: We have all had projects that drove us to pull out our hair, or other vice - I've had a lot of them over the years, most recently as an Enterprise Program Management Consultant at BNYMellon. I'll walk you through two war stories, and share with you how using the PMBOK principles paid off. Sometimes you have to make tough decisions in order to survive and even thrive.

Presenter's Biography: Mara Burns has been a project manager since 1984, with the majority of her work in the financial industry. In her role as an EPMO consultant, she brings a wealth of experience to the table, providing independent oversight, governance and mentoring on major high risk and high budget global projects and programs. She leads the EPMO team effort to develop institutionalized protocols and processes for global IT governance. In addition, she is very involved in the mentoring program, developing future world class PMs at the bank.

Ms. Burns joined the BNYMellon PMO in March of 2007, and was instrumental in the formation of the new EPMO. Before joining BNYMellon, she was an independent consultant for many years; her wide ranging experience encompasses financial, government, and aeronautic industries. A native New Yorker, she has traveled abroad extensively, and speaks several foreign languages. Her education includes the University of Wisconsin and Queens College undergraduate, and NYU for graduate IT courses. She is a certified Project Management Professional (PMI).

Ms. Burns was one of the founding members of PM Lessons learned, an organization with more than 1000 members that was formed several years ago to help project managers and those interested in becoming project managers. She is very active in her community, has served on the boards of several organizations, and is a sought after mentor and speaker. She is a member of the NYC PMI, and recently represented BNYMellon at the PMI PMO SIG Symposium.