2022 Spring Virtual Conference

PMI Portland Conferences have provided professionals premier educational experiences in project management for 21 years. You are invited to this year's Spring Conference, with the theme LEAP: Learn from the past, engage in today, adapt for tomorrow, plan for the future.  Join us, as we gather with the best in the profession to expand your knowledge, make connections, and elevate each other.

 

Meet the 2022 Spring Conference Speakers

KEYNOTE SPEECH & BREAKOUT SESSION 1, ROOM 1 of 3: 

Karin Hurt and David Dye

Karin and David started out on separate paths, only to be brought together by their shared passion via the internet. Realizing they were writing the same book, they decided to collaborate. At the time, David was living in Colorado and Karin was in Maryland: Further evidence that you can nurture creativity and trust within a remote team. Soon the book was complete, and they realized that they had fallen in love somewhere along the way. They married and merged their businesses, becoming an unstoppable power team. 

Their keynote presentation will provide techniques to empower our own strengths, to face our FOSU (fear of speaking up),to have tough conversations, and to address performance challenges - even during difficult situations. Their talk will help your team find better solutions and ideas that will position them to be more likely to be heard. 

Join them after the keynote for a deeper dive in one of the break-out sessions: Learn more about communication techniques and tools to keep your team focused on what matters most, about practical ways to build more confidence and competence in your project team, and more techniques to empower better decisions and to solve problems on their own. 

 

BREAKOUT SESSIONS 

BREAKOUT SESSION 1, ROOM 2 of 3: 

PMI PORTLAND, MEMBERSHIP PORTFOLIO

with Penelope Luedtke, PMP

Leap into the PMI Portland Membership portfolio breakout room, where our VP of Membership Penelope Luedtke will discuss PMI certification and membership success stories. She will answer any questions you may have about leveraging your PMI membership, and understanding all the perks we might not be utilizing as PMI Portland Chapter members.

 

BREAKOUT SESSIONS 

BREAKOUT SESSION 1, ROOM 3 of 3: 

Liz Lockhart, PMP, PMI-ACP

PMI Portland is excited to have among the speakers this year - Liz Lockhart, the Sr. Director of PMO & Training at Smarsh. Liz leads at the intersection of people and projects, strategies and execution. She holds an MBA from the University of Portland, and is pursuing a Doctorate in Organizational Change and Leadership at the USC Rossier School of Education. 

Liz holds numerous scrum and project management-related certifications, including the PMP, the PMI-ACP, the Certified Scrum Professional (CSP-SM), and an SPHR from the HR Certification Institute, to round out the people-focused side of her work. Liz has fifteen years of experience leading teams in education, consulting, and technology firms. Liz will help us up-level the way we are seen, the way we are heard, and the way we are understood in virtual environments. 

The best place to reach Liz is via LinkedIn.

 

BREAKOUT SESSIONS 

BREAKOUT SESSION 2, ROOM 1 of 3: INDUSTRY PANEL

 PROJECT MANAGER’S PATH INTO THE CYBERSECURITY 

Panelist 1: Sheldon Philips, PMP

Sheldon has authored nine books on spreadsheet applications, has developed a number of applications that are used in the travel industry and in fleet management, is an expert at systems training (web-based or in-person), and is a professional management coach. Sheldon specializes in cybersecurity, compliance, pre-audit preparation, and IT infrastructure implementation, and is currently the Director of Cybersecurity & Compliance at Covenant Technology Solutions, Inc.

Sheldon has over 40 years of experience as a technologist and project manager and volunteers as the PMI Portland’s Director of Mentoring.

BREAKOUT SESSIONS 

BREAKOUT SESSION 2, ROOM 1 of 3: INDUSTRY PANEL

 PROJECT MANAGER’S PATH INTO THE CYBERSECURITY 

Panelist 2: Matt Lee, CISSP, CSSP, CCSK, CFR

Matt is a cybersecurity evangelist, white-hat hacker, and a noted speaker on cybersecurity issues.  He sits on the board of several Fortune 1000 companies, and hosts a series of weekly podcasts around cybersecurity topics.  Matt has been a business owner and IT specialist for the past 17 years.

Currently, he is the Senior Director of Security and Compliance at PAX8.

BREAKOUT SESSIONS 

BREAKOUT SESSION 2, ROOM 1 of 3: INDUSTRY PANEL

 PROJECT MANAGER’S PATH INTO THE CYBERSECURITY 

Panelist 3: Nathan Taylor

Nathan spends much of his time designing cloud architecture and security solutions for clients, leading engineering projects, and driving business outcomes leveraging technology.  He is very active in enabling cyber defensibility, and is often asked to speak on the emerging cloud security technologies, and on the best practices in the outsourced IT industry. 

Nathan has over 20 years experience in the IT industry, and is currently serving as the CTO of machineLOGIC.

Participants will walk away from this Panel discussion with a greater understanding of the size and nature of the cybersecurity industry, the roles and opportunities therein, and of a pathway for project managers to break into the industry.

 

BREAKOUT SESSION 2, ROOM 2 of 3: 

The Changing Threat Landscape and How Organizations Need to Respond

Trey Blalock

 

PMI Portland is excited to introduce Trey Blalock, a highly respected security specialist who has worked extensively in almost every security domain and for some of the largest corporations and governments in the world, and is a frequent guest on television and podcasts. Trey currently serves on several forensic, red-teaming and penetration-testing advisory boards, has recently served as the CISO for Coinstar and is currently the CISO of Cognira. 

Specializing in defending large-scale systems from advanced threat actors, Trey has trained thousands of people on advanced security topics, managed all aspects of security for one of the world's largest financial transaction hubs, performed hundreds of penetration tests for Fortune 500 companies, and has performed forensics for several high-profile cases such as "Donald Vance vs. Donald Rumsfeld." 

Trey will provide the audience with a wide range of knowledge and tools to help them become more effective at managing security processes on large projects. He will also share insights into the damage incurred when key security processes are ignored during project development.

He will empower those working with large supply chains or advanced security organizations to understand legal, compliance, security and threat-specific risks that can impact their organization.

 

BREAKOUT SESSIONS 

BREAKOUT SESSION 2, ROOM 3 of 3: AGILE PM ROUNDTABLE

PMBOK© - Seventh Edition has evolved considerably from the previous edition, integrating concepts and values from the Agile software development methodology. Project managers are now asked to focus on applying principles in addition to executing processes, in order to navigate volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity in our projects, our people, and our world. Join the panelists as they discuss the Intersection of Project Management and Agile thinking in light of the evolution of the PMBOK© 

Panelist 1: Jean Richardson, PMP, PMI-ACP

Jean has thousands of hours of coaching Agile methodology and project leadership at government, non-profit, and for-profit organizations to her credit; her experience and career path have spanned both traditional and Agile methods, frameworks, and cultural perspectives. She has formerly volunteered as the vice president of professional development for PMI Portland.

Jean authored The Preservation of the Agile Heart: From Mindset to Consciousness and the designed The Pervasive Leadership model, the latter designed to help leaders set a collaborative context while still meeting their own stewardship responsibilities to the organization. Apart from these, she has published hundreds of articles, conference papers, and blog posts on the topics of Agile methodology, project management, the sociology of work, collaboration, the care of dogs, and hospice. Her master’s thesis (available at her website azuregate.net) focused on the organizational and cultural utility of Agile methods when viewed through the theoretical perspectives of leadership and systems theories.

An accomplished poet, her work has appeared in several anthologies, and she is working with collaborators on the second edition of a poetry anthology of work by four Oregon women poets and on her own on a book on agile leadership. 

BREAKOUT SESSIONS 

BREAKOUT SESSION 2, ROOM 3 of 3: AGILE PM ROUNDTABLE

Panelist 2: Brian Kronstad, MS, PMP, PMI-ACP, CSP

Brian Kronstad is a project management consultant specializing in Agile development projects and software quality assurance, with over 35 years of experience in the software industry. 

He has served as the co-chair of the Quality Assurance forum at the Technology Association of Oregon (TAO), as a panelist speaker at the PNSQC on Quality Assurance, as a speaker on Agile metrics at the TAO, and is an Agile Certified Practitioner (PMI-ACP) instructor for PMI Portland. 

Brian holds a Master of Science degree in computer science and has certification in project management (PMP, PMI-ACP) and change management (Prosci ADKAR). He is passionate about applying agile techniques to successfully deliver high-value products and services to clients and advancing agile disciplines within the project management community.

BREAKOUT SESSIONS 

BREAKOUT SESSION 2, ROOM 3 of 3: AGILE PM ROUNDTABLE

Panelist 3: David Whitlock, PMI-ACP, CSM

David leads up the Agility Enablement Team for Tripwire, Inc. in Portland, OR.  He helps people in different roles understand their work, understand how to deliver excellent results, and learn from their experiences. He has volunteered with the Portland PMI chapter for over five years, helping people prepare for the PMI-ACP certification and exploring how Project Managers can apply Agile principles and practices to their work. 

David is an adjunct lecturer with the Computer Science department at Portland State University where he has been teaching Advanced Programming with Java for many years.