Enrollment is now open for the 2022 UNH Project Management Conference on Friday, Sept 23 2022!
Keeping up with the latest tools, trends, and strategies is essential for project management professionals to lead effectively and efficiently. Continue to develop the critical technical skills you need to succeed in today's workplace at the annual UNH Project Management Conference.
Whether you are new to a project or a veteran project leader, this conference will provide value to any manager, stakeholder or team member, regardless of industry or area of expertise. Consisting of multiple presentations from industry experts, this event will give you the confidence and energy to perform better in your role on any project team.
Confirmed 2019 Conference Presentations Include:
Your 2019 UNH Project Management Conference registration includes full access to the conference including:
Register by May 24 and Save! $329 if registered by May 24, $379 after May 24.
Thanks to all those who attended the 2018 UNH Project Management Conference!
The 2019 Project Management Conference will take place in the Piscataqua Room in Holloway Commons (75 Main Street, Durham, NH) on the University of New Hampshire.
Free parking will be available for all conference attendees in the UNH Campus Crossings Visitor Lot. Those registered will receive additional information on the location and parking by email one week prior to the conference.
Breakfast and lunch will be provided at the conference and is included in the cost of enrollment.
Lodging accommodations in Durham within walking distance of the UNH Project Management Conference:
As President of Abudi Consulting Group, LLC, a woman-owned small business, Gina Abudi utilizes her 25+ years of consulting, coaching and executive leadership experience to work closely with executives and Boards of Directors of mid- to large global organizations to lead and support strategic, transformational change initiatives. Her work is focused on coaching leaders on change, providing consulting services to drive successful change in organizations, and offering training programs related to leading and championing/supporting change.
Gina is the lead author of Best Practices for Managing BPI Projects: Six Simple Steps (J. Ross Publishing, 2015) and author of Implementing Positive Organizational Change: A Strategic Project Management Approach (J. Ross Publishing, 2017.) She is working on her next book with J Ross Publishing, The Profit Maximizing Culture: A Strategic Guide to Building your Organization’s Change Capabilities. (Exp. 2023.)
She received her MBA from Simmons University Graduate School of Management. She is an adjunct faculty member at UNH, Clark University and Tufts Medical School (School of Public Health.)
An international Coach, Trainer and Speaker with more than three decades of experience in technology and leadership coaching and training, Tether Free Vision Founder, Marie Bankuti, specializes in helping leaders and teams bridge multicultural differences, so they can thrive in our global economy. Her work focuses on helping them develop Cultural Intelligence, build awareness, enhance communication, boost productivity and minimize conflict. Offering individual, group, and corporate coaching, Marie has worked with hundreds of individuals from more than a dozen countries.
She is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC), Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC), and a Project Management Professional (PMP), authorized to facilitate the Cultural Intelligence, Team Diagnostic™ and Leadership Circle Profile™ 360 Assessments. Her Coaching and Leadership training is through Coaches Training Institute, Team Coaching International, and Cultural Intelligence Center, and her B.S. in Business Administration is from Emmanuel College. Marie is a member of the National Speakers Association, International Coach Federation, and Project Management Institute (PMI). To learn more and get in touch, visit TetherFreeVision.com.
David Connors has over 30 years' corporate experience with the IBM Corporation as an I/T professional with more than 25 years' experience in project management. His management experience includes leading a Project Management Office in a multi-divisional, multi-national product development area. He was a member of the Project Management Institute and the PMI NH Chapter serving as Director of their Ambassador Program. He is a corporate trainer and is a recognized expert in project management specializing in Risk Management and certification training. He founded PM Intervention which was, for 10 years, a Registered Education Provider for PMI.
Kathleen is a certified PMP who has spent ten years implementing business & sales solutions in large and mid-sized CPG companies. She’s spent much of her career as a leader in B2B eCommerce and as a liaison between Business & IT teams. As a corporate Change Agent she’s helped to shepherd teams through successful business transformation. Kathleen’s favorite thing about project work is the relentless collaboration. She believes that working with people across an organization to solve problems, to innovate products & processes and to build strong partnerships is what Project Management is all about. Kathleen loves meetings and is dedicated to proving every day that the “I love meetings!” club deserves more members.
Pamela Oberg, a native New Englander, landed in New Hampshire after exploring both NH and Vermont (by way of out-of-state tuition at UNH and UVM, respectively). She kicked off her professional career in high-tech as a proposal specialist, business operations manager, and relationship manager. Pamela later explored such diverse fields as education, health and beauty, and healthcare, developing and polishing her project management and training expertise. Now a well-established Portfolio Manager in the educational assessment field, Pamela’s current responsibilities include managing three state assessment programs, a team of project managers, and two operational improvement projects. In her position as Portfolio Manager, Pamela is able to combine her unique background in education and high-tech with her passions for leadership, training, and communication, in order to achieve both company and client goals. When she isn’t managing people or projects at the office, she’s coaxing a teenager out of her bedroom or a spouse out of his workshop to eat, or writing mysteries; Pamela has published several short-fiction stories.
As Principal of JP Stewart Consulting LLC since 2003, Jim is a certified PMP® and possesses multiple Agile certifications. Jim is a long-time member of the Project Management Institute (PMI®) and served for several years on the board of the local chapter. He has, for many years, taught and developed courseware for PMP® classes and co-developed an Agile 101 online course.
With over 25 years’ experience in project management, Jim has managed numerous multi-million-dollar international infrastructure. pharmaceutical and software development programs. As Program Manager for Genuity, Jim spearheaded the implementation of its award-winning $20M Virtual Private Network service.
Since going solo in 2003, Jim has implemented several PMOs, worked on projects rolling out software such as Salesforce and Workday, acted as Scrum Master for startups and, most recently, provided resource management for a major retail company. He is currently working with a global company as Agile coach to assist them in guiding their teams. He is co-author of the book How to Facilitate Productive Project Planning Meetings.
2019 UNH Project Management Conference Agenda
8:30am-9:00am
Registration & Breakfast
9:00am-9:10am
Welcome to the 2019 UNH Project Management Conference
9:10am-10:00am
How to Facilitate Productive Project Planning Meetings
Jim Stewart, PMP, CSM, PMI-ACP, Principal, JP Stewart Associates
In project management, one of the most important things you can do is plan. However, many organizations do not allow enough time for planning with the consequence that projects fail at a fairly high rate. In this session we'll discuss not only the importance of planning but also how to facilitate a one-or-two day planning session with a large, heterogeneous team.
10:10am-11:00am
Leading Multicultural Teams for Project Managers: Developing Your Cultural Intelligence
Marie Bankuti, PMP, PCC, CPCC, Founder, Tether Free Vision
Are you managing a team of individuals from different countries, different cultural backgrounds? While research shows that diversity on teams is highly beneficial to creativity, effectiveness, and bringing out the best in each team member; if you aren’t comfortable working with and managing the various approaches, it can feel like you’re working in a foreign land yourself. Cultural nuances around directness, formality, assertiveness, body language and the like, can lead to false assumptions about motivation and engagement, resulting in decisions that further alienate. So how can you, as a PM, ensure that individual and team performance won’t suffer, causing project delays and strained relationships?
11:10am-12:00pm
Program and Project Management: Managing Evolving Organization
Erin Maskwa, PMP, Director of Project Management, Measured Progress & Pamela Oberg, PMP, Director, Client Services, Measured Progress
During this presentation, we’ll review the on-going evolution of our program and project management organizations. We’ll explain the drivers for change and resulting updates to our practices, share lessons learned, and discuss tools and other supports that have contributed to our success.
12:00pm-12:45pm
Lunch
12:45pm-1:30pm
Conflict Management and Resolution
Dave Connors, PMP, CSM, Principal, PM Intervention
Any time there is more than a single person on a team, there will likely be conflict. Conflict is unavoidable in any team setting. If managed correctly, it can be used to solidify a team and spur team members to employ a friendly competition and to enhance team cohesiveness. If not managed correctly conflict can have the opposite effect and irreparably damage the work environment and any hope for a quality product. We will examine the major causes of conflict in the workplace and discuss some methodologies to either avoid the conflict or to defuse the situation after the fact. Tools like Strength Deployment Inventory (SDI) will be introduced as a methodology to raise awareness of other’s motivations relative to our own.
1:40pm-2:30pm
Emotional Intelligence for Project Managers
Gina Abudi, MBA, Principal, Abudi Consulting Group
Being a project manager can be stressful and frustrating! Trying to keep everything moving forward while dealing with a variety of stakeholders and their numerous demands can be challenging. The ability to perceive, manage, express and use one’s emotions in a positive way can reduce those frustrations and limit the stress. This session will focus on four key skills of emotional intelligence (EQ): self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship building. Participants in this session will be able to take a self-assessment to gauge their current EQ skills.
2:40pm-3:30pm
Integrating Change Management with Project Management
Kathleen Koson, PMP, Senior Project Manager
Project Management and Change Management are distinct but complementary disciplines. If your projects involve people – in any capacity – then they are likely to benefit from at least some formal Change Management. If you are lucky, your project will have a budget for dedicated resources in each area. But chances are… you’re not that lucky most of the time. So, we’ll look at a few specific ways that PMs can dovetail some tools and techniques of Change Management with their Project Management to deliver better results during execution – and to sustain those results long after closure.
