PMI’s New Media Council launched

ByElizabeth Harrin Last updated: General

PMI has decided that it needs a New Media Council and I’m one of seven “influential voices” (yes, they really called us that!) in the world of online project management that they have brought together for this. It’s good to see that a professional body is moving to embrace new media and Web 2.0 – PMI has recently appointed an Online Strategy and Content manager to oversee pmi.org and the direction of PMI online. In the ‘old’ days, companies would have a Webmaster, and it seems as if that role is evolving.

PMI is actually quite forward thinking. The Association for Project Management doesn’t have anyone looking at this as far as I know, and their website is pretty dire. The British Computer Society has also made a recent appointment and now has a Social Media Executive, a very nice chap who has started to send me some interesting stuff. So professional bodies are catching on to the need to reach existing and potential member through something other than their print newsletters, which is one of the objectives of the New Media Council.

The main purpose of the council is to allow PMI to communicate more easily with people who find out and learn about project management on the internet. The reverse of this coin is that we get access to information about PMI and its initatives to share with our readers. I expect that the big push at the moment for PMI is getting the word out about their Value of Project Management study and I’m sure that will feature heavily. If I had spent that many years doing research I would want to be sure I talked about it a lot.

The seven of us in the council met virtually yesterday with some PMI people on a conference call spanning every US timezone and my own on the other side of the pond. I’m really excited to say that we’ll get to meet up in person on Saturday, when the PMI Global Congress kicks off in Denver.

Yep – Denver. It’s been ages since I have been the States. Well, January. I’m really looking forward to Hershey’s Kisses, Victoria’s Secret, the bookshops, Reese’s peanut butter cups, Bath and Body Works (for fig and brown sugar shower gel – I can’t get it here unless I buy it on eBay), Frappucino, bagels with cream cheese for breakfast! Oh, and having the opportunity to discuss some serious project management topics and listen to the keynote speakers at the PMI Congress. Of course.

If you will be at the event, feel free to find me and say hello. I’ll be the short one with a British accent and dressed in the wrong clothes for the weather. What’s the weather even like in Denver this time of year? I’ll put finding out about that on my critical path for packing my suitcase…

Elizabeth Harrin wearing a pink scarf

Project manager, author, mentor

Elizabeth Harrin is a Fellow of the Association for Project Management in the UK. She holds degrees from the University of York and Roehampton University, and several project management certifications including APM PMQ. She first took her PRINCE2 Practitioner exam in 2004 and has worked extensively in project delivery for over 20 years.
Elizabeth is also the founder of the Project Management Rebels community, a mentoring group for professionals. She's written several books for project managers including Managing Multiple Projects.