Join the Web Team!  Learn new tools! Have fun!

Become deeply involved in the Chapter and contribute to process improvement!

The Operations Portfolio is led by Hakan Kutgun, and includes the Web Team, the AV Team and the Technology Team. Operations is a very fast moving Portfolio, and is responsible for all the technology that supports Chapter activities.

The Web Team supports a suite of Open Source tools built in Joomla, and supplied to us by Proteon Software.  Joomla! is an award-winning content management system (CMS), which enables you to build Web sites and powerful online applications. Many aspects, including its ease-of-use and extensibility, have made Joomla! the most popular Web site software available. Best of all, Joomla is an open source solution that is freely available to everyone.

The Web Team primarily supports the following systems for the entire Chapter:

• Website

• Registration System, integration to PayPal

• Surveys and Forms

• Calendar

• Eblasts and mailing lists

• Member DB interface with PMI global

• Forums (such as Jobs forum)

We support the entire Chapter, from sending Friday reminder emails, to troubleshooting registration issues, to updating webpages, creating the newsletter, surveys and working on special projects.  Our team is involved in nearly all Chapter initiatives in one way or another, which can be very exciting and rewarding.

Currently the Web Team is made up of the following people:

Jani Hansen is the webmaster and Team Lead.  Jani is a paid resource and has worked for the Chapter for over 12 years.  She started as Newsletter Editor under Connie Plowman, and has taken on more responsibility over the years.

Nancy Cole is Web Admin 1 and has served in this role for 3-1/2 years.  Her day job is at WebMD, and her Web Admin responsibilities are to set up Chapter meetings, Workshops and Certification Courses (web pages and registration).  She also helps with special projects.

Shancy Holland is Web Admin 2, has served in this role officially for nearly 2 years, and previously held other volunteer positions in the Chapter.  Shancy is currently working as an IT consultant.  Her Web Admin responsibilities are to set up Roundtables and assist Marketing with Sponsor needs.  She also helps with special projects.

Elizabeth Ray, PMP, CSM, is Web Admin 3 and has held this position for nearly a year.  She works as a PM consultant.  Her volunteer role centered on supporting the Annual conference in 2016, and now supports the Newsletter and Special Events.

Scott White is Web Admin 4, and has held this position for about 9 months.  He is IT Director at Bridgewell Resources in Tigard.  His current area of responsibility is supporting all the volunteer activities, implementing Google analytics and developing Google forms.

The Team’s responsibilities are growing and we need more assistance!

Each Web Admin’s tasks are focused primarily on specific processes, instead of specific tools.  This means they get to learn and use multiple tools and have ownership of a process start to finish.  Ideally we would like to bring aboard 2 new Web Admins, responsibilities TBD based on need and interest.  Web Admin volunteers should plan to commit 2-5 hours per week after training.  Our Chapter is growing fast and the influx of younger members is helping us to embrace new technology and think in new ways that is exhilarating.

Chapter members - consider applying to join the Web Team today!  If you are not afraid of technology, pay great attention to detail, take initiative, and are a team player, we’d love to hear from you.  We will train you to use these Joomla-based tools, which will enhance your resume. Neither of our current Web Admins had any experience when they began. This position does require a fair bit of training so a 2-year minimum commitment is expected. Please read the full job description on the Volunteer Opportunities web page, and feel free to reach out to anyone on the team if you have questions.

WE'VE GOT WORKSHOPS!

Workshops create a community facilitating professional growth through education.  PMI offers credential holders, both member and non-members, educational Professional Development Units (PDU's).  Our PMI PDX Chapter adds value to membership by regularly offering discounted educational Workshops.

Help our PMI PDX Workshops Director, Greg Hawkins, to better align the workshop offerings with the interests of the PMI PDX community.  His approach toward alignment is to craft broad categories of topical interest:  Basic PM, Advanced PM, Soft Skills, and the emergent Agile community. 

Our Chapter Workshop year began in September, for example, with an Advanced PM offering in 'Strategic Planning', followed by more Agile Technical Skills workshop in the area of 'Rapid Product Definition and Validation'.  This approach, suggesting four broad topic categories, is meant to stimulate your thinking.  The Workshops Director manages 5 to 8 professional development workshops for the PMI Portland Chapter each year.  We strongly desire your topic suggestions!

Keep an eye on the PMI PDX Events page for upcoming Workshops.  November offers a Soft Skill - 'Expand your Global Mindset' presented by Portland's own Line Mørkbak, who drew very positive reviews at our August Annual Conference event.

As we move into 2017, some workshop ideas touch on SCRUM (in the Agile community), Great Project Leadership (a Basic PM topic), and a hint of CMMI (Advanced PMs may have heard of this acronym).  Again, the PMI PDX Professional Development Volunteers are committed to soliciting your Workshop topic ideas, or the names of particularly effective and inspirational presenters.

Please drop a note to workshop@pmi-portland.org and share your thoughts.  What's topical in your bit of the PM world?

See current offerings at http://www.pmi-portland.org/activities/workshops

Reaching out about Outreach

by Greg Spehar, VP of Outreach

As we start a new PMI Portland Chapter Season, we find ourselves in a great place where the chapter has grown substantially in the past several years in both numbers and in leadership. With that growth we are now in a place to be able to invest in our Outreach efforts. To help the membership understand the overall goals of Outreach, this article will address those important points.

As a Portfolio for the Portland PMI Chapter, the purpose of the Outreach Portfolio is to get the word out about Project Management as a Profession as well as the resources we provide to the community as a whole. With the hope that people will find interest and join our community in any number of ways. In short the Outreach Portfolio for the PMI Chapter of Portland Oregon has the responsibility to further the profession of Project Management by serving and building relationships with entities and organizations outside of the immediate PMI Membership and close relationships. With this effort, the goal would be to recruit and retain new members by supporting the organizations that support our membership.

To achieve this objective we have split the Portfolio into different working groups that perform separate roles for our outreach efforts. Those include the following:

1. Corporate Outreach – Reaching out to Corporations and Non-profits where the PMI Membership serves to obtain feedback and to grow the PM Value over time.
2. Academic Outreach – Reaching out to Academic Institutions that teach to the prospective PMI Membership to obtain feedback and to provide resources to the Academic Institutions.
3. Community Outreach – Reaching out to the Community to provide volunteer opportunities for the Membership and to provide volunteer services to help the community.
4. Association Outreach – Reaching out to Associations in the Portland Community to help promote the PMI Membership and the Project Management Profession.
5. Jobs – Provide opportunities for companies and recruiting companies a place to post jobs.
6. Toastmasters – Opportunity to provide PMI Membership the opportunity to improve their speaking skills.
7. Assistant VP of Outreach – This position supports the VP of Outreach by supporting the overall portfolio by assisting Directors when needed and doing special projects if required.

There is also the additional Outreach Component that we currently help support with the Marketing Team, that is the Veterans group where we help to support the training and integration of our Veterans into the Project Management Industry through the PMI approach.

Additionally, we have implemented a number of supporting roles that help shore up and support all of these different initiatives. These new roles are intended to provide the context and determination we have a good fit with the volunteer and the position. We are excited for this new approach that provides a clear path to success for this group.

As you can see, there is much on our plate this year, please consider helping so that we can really get the word out about our industry and about Portland PMI specifically. Your interest and efforts will forever leave a lasting impact on the operations and efforts of this chapter.

Greg Spehar, VP of Outreach

PMI Portland Chapter Sponsors 4-Day PMP Boot Camp

December 5-8, 2016

Around the world, 80 percent of project manager job descriptions require, or “strongly advise” that you hold the PMP credential. Your PMP opens doors for income and career opportunities that will otherwise be closed to you.

If you are new to project management, the Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) will open the door for entry-level project positions. You’ll be on your way to the experience you need to apply for the PMP exam.

Many Chapter members asked if we could sponsor PMP/CAPM bootcamp training in four consecutive days. PMI Portland Chapter is partnering with Goss Consulting to meet your needs. Mike Goss, PMP, DTM has taught 4-day PMP boot camps in Portland and Seattle since 2014.

For this career door-opening course, Mike includes an authorized trainer of one of the highest-rated training kits in the world, Andy Crowe’s Velociteach PMP Student Kit. The kit includes these powerful tools:

• Andy’s textbook: How to Pass the PMP Exam on Your First Try. Over 250,000 copies are in circulation worldwide

• Flash cards, to sharpen your knowledge of definitions and key points

• A laminated quick-reference guide

• Online training (35 hours) with practice quizzes

• Online 200-question simulated exam

• 6-CD set of conversations about how to pass the exam

• Printed student manual, containing course slides, quizzes and practice exam

In addition to the Velociteach learning tools, Mike also furnishes a copy of the Project Management Book of Knowledge (PMBOK), Fifth Edition to his students.

A maximum of 15 seats are planned, on a first-come, first-served basis.  Registration closes November 13 so don't delay!  

Register now at http://pmi-portland.org/activities/certification/719-pmp-capm-bootcamp.