ITHACA PAST EVENTS

 

2024

January 24, 2024 (rescheduled from January 17): Managing the Unknown (virtual)

Speaker: Elisabete Godden

A personal account of how the administration of emergency-related projects served as a springboard for lean management, design/build, and risk management innovation. Communicating with project partners, managing expectations early in the process, and setting boundaries and goals while remaining flexible were key elements of success. Above all, fostering a positive, can-do attitude, and team effort helped the process and project feel achievable within a short period of time for execution. A group activity will allow participants to brainstorm other strategies for fast-track solutions and achieving results in the face of uncertainty.

 

2023

November 7, 2023: What is a Business Relationship Manager (hybrid)

Speaker: Rebecca Joffrey

Often as project managers, we get asked to act as the representative of a particular business unit or domain. Join us for an insightful talk that delves into the dynamic and vital role of a Business Relationship Manager (BRM). In today's interconnected and fast-paced business world, the BRM plays a pivotal role in ensuring the success of organizations. Whether you're a seasoned professional looking to sharpen your BRM skills or someone curious about the responsibilities of this essential position, this event is for you.

September 12, 2023: ChatGPT Practical Prompts: A Guide for Project Managers (virtual)

Speaker: Kristian Bainey

Ready to revolutionize your project management skills? Join us as we dive into the world of ChatGPT, an incredibly powerful language model that's about to become your new best friend in assisting you in managing projects! We'll start with a warm introduction to ChatGPT, giving you the fundamentals on what it is and how it works. Then, we'll take you on a journey to explore its incredible abilities it can help with in project management in seconds with the correct prompts.
We'll show you how ChatGPT can make the foundation of project documentation like a business case or project charter a breeze for you to customize like a pro saving you endless hours. We'll also demonstrate how it can help you create summarizations, decision making analysis, critical paths, cause-and-effect diagrams, Earned value management, power/interest grids, agile user stories and more in no time.
But wait, there's more! We'll spill the beans on clever tips and tricks to make the most of ChatGPT in your daily project management tasks as well as using ChatGPT to help pass the PMP exam.
To wrap it all up, we'll host a fun and interactive learning session for you to review everything we've covered and get some hands-on experience with ChatGPT. So come along and discover how you can level up your project management skills with this game-changing AI tool!

March 15, 2023: Business Analysis for the Project Manager (virtual)

Speaker: Chris Brown

Business Analysis for Project Managers looks at the project lifecycle as a whole and identifies what business analysis processes and deliverables are important at what phases. Business analysis needs to be done on a project whether a Business Analyst (BA) is assigned or not. Very often people are doing business analysis without realizing that’s what they’re doing. If no BA is assigned to a project, then the Project Manager will need to ensure the work is being done by others, if not do it themselves. This presentation will summarize all the BA tasks that should be performed, and the deliverables that should be produced, so that the PM can ensure that structure is being brought to the business analysis process on their projects.

January 25, 2023: Walking in Others' Shoes (virtual)

Speaker: Tanya Grove

Developed by the SAGE ACT Regional Network, the Intersectionality Walk helps us to understand how a person’s multiple identities can compound advantages or disadvantages.

Participants assume realistic, multifaceted personas in simulated work-based scenarios in the Walk. Each persona has characteristics from vulnerable or minority population groups, for example, their gender, age, socioeconomic status, cultural background, disability, and sexuality.

2022

September 30, 2023: Construction and Building Design Industry Processes from Concept to Completion (virtual)

Speaker: Mike Berry

This topic is intended to give a general overview of the processes, procedures, skills, actions, etc. required for managing a construction and building design industry project from initiation to completion.

2021

October 22, 2021:  Project Management Lessons from FOLIO at Cornell... or, how implementing an open-source system that is still in development is like climbing a mountain with a 10-year old - Speaker:  Debra Howell

At the beginning of July 2021, Cornell University Library made a giant leap to the future by implementing an innovative integrated library system (ILS) called FOLIO, becoming the first large research library in the world to migrate to the platform. The journey to the successful go-live was filled with victories, road blocks, detours, and dead ends. Join Debra Howell, FOLIO project manager, as she shares her lessons learned and reflections on a project that stretched her to the limits of her knowledge, resources, and sense of humor.

2020

June 10, 2020:  Mastering the Art of Humanness in Project Management:  Serving Others Through Powerful Communications - Speaker:  Dana Lynn Bernstein

March 4, 2020:  What's Trust Got to Do With It - Speaker:  Michael Swenson

Trust and communication is the single most critical component of a successful leader and organization.  When there is high trust and communication, productivity goes up and cost goes down.  And when there is low trust and communication, productivity and innovation goes down and cost goes up.  Come learn about emotional maturity, the importance of language, and how to use a method of trust transformation with leaders, teams and individuals to build the culture you desire.

January 22, 2020:  The Tradeoff Matrix - Speaker:  Greg Busby

Shape the direction of your project by learning how to identify and balance the triple constraints.  Learn about the dimensions of and the tradeoffs between the Project Manager's triple constraints, how to help project leadership choose the driver among them by talking through different scenarios, and how to communicate the decision to the project team so that their guidance is clear.

2019

November 13, 2019:  Resiliency - Speaker:  Debra Howell

Join us to learn the six competencies that make up resiliency: self-awareness, self-regulation, optimism, mental agility, strengths of character, and connection. Participants will learn a set of skills that will enhance their effectiveness and well-being by building their mental toughness. These skills will also develop your ability to understand the thoughts, emotions, and behaviors of yourself and others.

2018

Building Successful Teams That Last

November 13, 2018

Large, International Projects: Opportunities and Challenges

June 26, 2018

Construction meets Software Implementation

April 26, 2018

Leading Projects with more Grace and Ease!

March 29, 2018

What Can PMI Do For You?

February 22, 2018

Member Mixer in Watkins Glen

January 18, 2018

2017

Strategic Management and Rapidly Changing Business Requirements

November 15, 2017

Marketing Yourself Strategically (and Successfully)

October 17, 2017

Third Annual Ithaca Branch Professional Development Day

September 15, 2017

Estimating Project Costs and Durations

June 21, 2017

Leadership

May 31, 2017

A Construction Project Management Primer

April 27, 2017

Valuing Differences to Enhance Inclusion & Collaboration

March 21, 2017

When hiring/building a team, Remember the Number 3: 1) How a Person Works, 2) Why They Do What They Do, 3) What They Know 

February 16, 2017

Aligning Mental Models: A New Perspective on Scoping Information Technology Systems

January 17, 2017

2016

An Upgrade Success Story: In Scope, On Time, Under Budget, and Happy Constituents!

November 15, 2016

Member/Guest Mixer at Three Birds, Corning, NY

November 2, 2016

Emotional Intelligence AT WORK: Reinforce your professional passion and drive!

October 20, 2016

Ithaca Branch Member/Guest Mixer at Coltivare, Ithaca, NY

September 28, 2016

Second Annual Ithaca Branch Professional Development Day

June 16, 2016

Demystifying Project Risk Management - Quantifying What You Already Know

April 19, 2016

Building Trust in Project Teams

February 24, 2016

Lessons Learned from The Commons Redesign Project

January 19, 2016

2015

Negotiation

December 16, 2015

Our Top Story Tonight: The Project Management of TV News

October 22, 2015

Project Closure

September 22, 2015

First Annual Ithaca Branch Professional Development Day

June 12, 2015

Tips and Tricks to Managing Change

March 19, 2015

Six Sigma Projects – Tips for Success

January 22, 2015

2014

Project Management that Succeeds: Learn How to Recognize Behavioral Styles

November 14, 2014