Insights and inspiration for project professionals

For 15 years, the PMI Belgium Chapter has been promoting project management standards through its yearly congress, providing national and international speakers with a unique opportunity to share their latest experiences and developments in the field.

On 3 October, the project management community of Belgium gathered at Solvay Business School of Economics and Management in Brussels for a full day packed with traditional seminars as well as interactive and small group sessions. This year, PMI Belgium Chapter revamped its annual congress with a new name, a new format and a new concept. The PM Fair is a marketplace offering both traditional high quality lectures and keynotes, as well as networking opportunities and peer-to-peer discussions.

The invitees were first welcomed by the dean of Solvay Business School of Economics and Management, followed by inspiring opening words from PMI Belgium Chapter President Dirk Huyers.

The day then opened with a keynote presentation from Belgian Secretary of State Bart Tommelein, who provided an overview of the misuse of privacy information and, more specifically, of social media platforms. Ricardo Triana, PMP, director, immediate past chair, 2015 PMI Board of Directors, delivered the afternoon keynote presentation, exploring global trends in project management and challenging participants to answer the question "What was my contribution today to the profession?" "Make sure you can say at the end of every day: 'I was here,'" said Ricardo Triana.

During the day, attendees had the opportunity to participate in traditional sessions and interactive marketplace activities. The classic presentations were run twice in order to give everybody a chance to customise the programme to meet their learning needs. Veteran speakers such as Lars Sudmann, leadership advisor, executive and business coach, co-founder of PresMaster/Sumensys, and Harley Lovegrove, chairman of The Bayard Partnership, change management coach, author, lecturer and public speaker, generated high interest through interactive and rewarding sessions where everybody left with a sense of urgency to implement their key messages. The day also included many other interesting sessions on a broad variety of topics: an academic session presenting an overview of the current state of project management tools; cross boundaries with an extremely moving eye witness report on building emotional intelligence in Kabul, Afghanistan; or the professional journey from an IT project manager to theatre stage director.

Additionally, the interactive session "At the Speaker Corner" allowed participants to witness or practice public speaking with the experienced "Toastmasters", the leading organisation for communication and leadership skill development. In an informal and intimate atmosphere, the "Lecturer Corner" offered direct interaction amongst participants. Nader K. Rad, Kamil Mroz and Gentil Noens were the champion speakers leading those sessions. Throughout most of the day, attendees could sit down and network with their peers at the venue bar, play a game or even tweet and interact on a big twitter wall provided specifically for the occasion.

The event ended with participants sharing the learnings of the day around a drink and listening to live music. Project management definitely rocks!

This day would not be possible without the many volunteers, PMI Belgium would like to thank specifically the team that was instrumental in realizing this successful day. Read first hand impressions on the PM Fair here  and obtain more information on the event website http://www.pmfair.org.

Playing games to encourage networking. Everybody wins!

Learn from and practice with Toastmasters, the leading stand-up public speakers.

More impressions on  http://www.pmfair.org/gallery/.