By Monica Voge
Courtesy: Thunderbird Project Management Club
Last Thursday, Thunderbird Project Management Club (PMC) hosted the Phoenix chapter of the Project Management Institute (PMI) as they celebrated Arizona Project Management Week. PMC’s biggest event of the year, this speaker session was one of several events held throughout Phoenix during the week. Over 20 professionals from a variety of companies and industries and around 30 T-birds attended.
The evening started with networking over drinks and snacks. Professors Bill Youngdahl and Karen Brown then each spoke on the latest topics in project management. Prof. Youngdahl’s presentation, “Dealing with Global Teams”, pointed out common cultural problems with global teams and how to minimize them, a topic relevant not only to careers in project management but also to T-bird coursework. Professor Brown gave an entertaining and informative talk on “Why Your Project Needs a Why?”
The event allowed students to add to their project management education and gave them an opportunity to talk about their experiences with working professionals in the field. As PMC president Yu-Cheng “Mandy” Chen ’13 put it, “Project Management Club aims at integrating T-birds’ professional knowledge and practical experiences. That’s why we put tons of effort into holding events with PMI.”
The Project Management Institute expressed an interest in collaborating with PMC in the near future, so be on the lookout for more great PMI/PMC events coming soon!