Welcome to the asapm June 2007 email Newsletter!

This is an Opt-in Newsletter from asapm, the American Society for the Advancement of Project Management. We produce it in the even-numbered months: February, April, June, and so on. Subscribe/unsubscribe information is at the end of this Newsletter. This Newsletter is in html, with links to the asapm website. Enjoy!

In This Issue
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1. PrezSays: From Project to Patent to Delivering an Invention
2. asapm 2007 Board Elections; Members to Vote
3. October 18, 2007 asapm Virtual Congress Update
4. Suresh Malladi: Competing Against Incumbent Vendors and Big Players--Stick to Your Guns
5. IIR ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts, 19-22 June 2007; Boston MA
6. PMCert Holds June Interviews for asapm Certified Senior Project Manager
7. Updates: Members-Only Area, Special Monographs, Jobs Board

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1. PrezSays: From Project to Patent to Delivering an Invention
The single greatest purpose of getting a patent for an invention is to make money. The time, effort, and money spent to obtain a patent should have a solid return. It may be a gamble to obtain and produce the invention, but there must be an expectation of a return on the investment. Thus bringing an invention to market is yet another variety of project.

This is from the introduction to asapm President Lew Ireland's latest PrezSays. To see Lew's article, click here.

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2. asapm 2007 Board Elections; Members to Vote
The asapm Board positions up for election in 2007 are Vice President and Director of Standards. The preferred path to the Board is for each member to first serve on one of the Project Teams (our term for committees) in the areas you are interested in. There are many areas, as you explore the exciting things in which asapm is involved. Each year, approximately one-third of the asapm offices open for nominations.

Larry Kueppers, PMP, has agreed to run for the office of asapm Director of Standards. In recognition of his eagerness to serve, and his participation in the recent Board Meeting in Colorado Springs, we have appointed him to fill the remaining term of Bill Duncan, through this month. Bill took on the role of PMCert Chair last year, and the Director of Standards position has been open ever since. See more about Larry at: his Meet Our Board page; or, see Larry's qualifications and goals for the position.

We are still recruiting candidates to succeed Stacy Goff as Vice President. Stacy has served in this role for two terms, and because of a restriction in our bylaws, cannot serve another term. Members will receive an voting ballot in the next week for the terms beginning July 1, 2007.

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3. October 18 2007 asapm Virtual Congress Update
We promised an update on the techology resolution for our Virtual Congress, and here it is: We have found several ways to marry the Television-oriented Videoconferencing capabilities with Desktop WebConferencing. Thus our ambition to bring together University locations with asapm members and friends at workstations is workable.

While we continue to plan the agenda and timings for our 3-hour Congress October 18, we are allowing asapm members and friends to reserve your seats in the Congress. This is especially important because one of the speakers, Les Squires, founder of GroupCommons, a collaboration organization, will be contacting us all to see how each of us would like to explore and participate in the world of collaboration represented by this unique Congress.

We will continue to post updates to the Congress site as they unfold. For example, asapm member Dan Myers, of Requirements Solution Group, has offered his company's experience with WebEx as an alternative way to establish full participation in the Congress; that is one option we are continuing to explore, to achieve our ambition of combining the best of Academic Research with Industry Practice.

In the meantime, we encourage asapm members and friends to register now for this unique Congress; you need not pay until we make our decisions on the technology (the fees will be the same or less than the prices quoted on the Congress site). There has never been done anything like this Virtual Congress, and you can reserve your seat before they are all gone!

asapm 2007: Managing Virtual Team Projects and Processes

Register Now! See the Congress Registration Information

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4. Suresh Malladi: Competing Against Incumbent Vendors and Big Players--Stick to Your Guns
When you bid for projects in organizations, it is not an uncommon scenario where you may need to compete against incumbent vendors and some times against players much bigger than you. The incumbent vendors may hold the status of preferred vendors as they may have served your prospective client for quite some time. In such a scenario, you are going to bid your case against those vendors.

This article highlights some pearls and pitfalls from my experience that can serve when bidding against existing vendors or against big players. To read Suresh's latest article, click here.

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5. IIR ProjectWorld & World Congress for Business Analysts, 19-22 June 2007; Boston MA
asapm is helping to promote this stellar conference, presented by IIR, Institute for International Research, and to be held 19-22 June at Marriott Copley Place, Boston, MA. For the event Website: ProjectWorld.

For more information, including the full conference agenda, please visit the event website: www.iirusa.com. And, asapm members receive a discount: enter code XM1926ASAPM to receive your discount when you sign up!

Additional asapm-Partnered IIR Events in 2007
• ProjectWorld 13-16 November 2007: Anaheim, CA, website: ProjectWorld; hear Stacy Goff speak on Tracking for Results!

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6. PMCert Holds June Interviews for asapm Certified Senior Project Manager
PMCert, asapm's independent certification body, will hold assessment interviews later this month for candidates for asapm's Senior Project Manager credential. This certification is equivalent to IPMA's Level B and to GAPPS Level 2.

To be eligible, candidates must meet minimum standards for the management complexity of their projects, and for how much time they have spent managing such projects over the past 5 years. They must also provide documentary evidence that they have met 100% of the 64 defined performance criteria. Although widely used throughout the rest of the world, this performance-based approach is unique in the USA.

Do you think that you are competent as a PM? Do you think that you could prove it to the satisfaction of an independent assessor? If so, be sure to download the Stage 1 Application and submit it as soon as possible to ensure that you will have enough time to prepare your portfolio of evidence before the next round of interviews. Watch the PMCert website for dates and locations.

In addition, applications for asapm's Project Manager credential, equivalent to IPMA Level C and GAPPS Level 1, will be available on the website soon. Assessment interviews for this level of competence assessment will be held at the same time as the Senior Project Manager interviews.

Organizations that wish to have multiple project managers assessed in one location may be eligible for reduced rates. Contact Bill Duncan, PMCert Chair, for more information.

We have also held multiple exams for our knowledge-based credential, equivalent to IPMA Level D. With much of the scoring based on open-ended essay questions, this examination provides a high degree of assurance that the successful candidate is truly knowledgeable about the discipline of project management.

Explore the PMCert website for more information about certifying PM Competence; review the asapm website for tools and insights into developing PM Competence.

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7. Updates: Members-Only Area, Special Monographs, Jobs Board
Members-Only Area: In the last newsletter we posted information about our new wiki-based update to our Members-Only area, and the reaction has been tremendous! Among the posted requests: More Jobs in the Jobs Board. The result? See below.

To reward those who have explored the Members-Only Area, we have posted a range of resources, from Bob Youker's Six-weekWorld Bank PM Curriculum, to several Monographs from Stacy Goff's PM Consulting firm, ProjectExperts. For those who do not have access to the asapm Members Only section, see this link for the PM Methods Improvement Plan. This document has been used by hundreds of organizations for over 16 years to measurably improve their project management methods and skills.

More Events:
Nordnet 2007 – Projects under Risk
The conference Nordnet 2007 – Projects under Risk , will take place in Reykjavik, Iceland on the 26th to the 28th of September. The conference will be split into three streams, State of the Art, Research and Innovation where scholars, experienced project managers and other professionals will discuss the topic from various points of view. Themes to be covered include: High risk investment assessment, geothermal deep drilling, a new high tech hospital project and many more. A draft of the schedule is available on the conference website www.congress.is/nordnet2007  and the full schedule will be confirmed by the 15th of August. The official language of the conference will be English.

And, Watch this Fall for ProjectSummit/Business Analyst World, where asapm Board Members speak at three different conferences!

Jobs Board: We have had a surge of interest from companies posting jobs. See the Jobs Board for the latest, including a VP of Program Management for a top Internet/Media/Graphic Design firm in Boston. Also new on the Jobs Board are three different PMO specialties for a NorthEast Insurance company. Finally, a worldwideConstruction/Environmental Claims Consulting Firm seeks a number of qualified candidates for postions, including Director, Business Development for its offices in Los Angeles, Chicago and New York (three separate positions), and a Senior Claims Consultant for its offices in Los Angeles and New York (two separate positions). Seeking a candidate who has experience in construction management and / or project scheduling coupled with a background in construction dispute-related services.

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asapm: American Society for the Advancement of Project Management. We are a non-profit organization, staffed with volunteers who are dedicated to improving the practice of Project Management. asapm is a registered trademark, and PMCert is a service mark of the American Society for the Advancement of Project Management.

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Stacy Goff, PMP
asapm Vice President 2001-2007