Yikes! As the Kraft Kennedy ILTA team continues to remind me, we have less than 20 business days until ILTACON 2019.
I really need to get moving.
I want to make this the best ILTACON ever. Given that I am a bit behind in the planning, I am going to need to fall back on my PMP skills (AKA, the PMBOK “Project Management Book of Knowledge”) to make this happen.
I am officially Initiating this project now.
First and most importantly, I need to get started on my Communication Plan. Having attended numerous ILTA conferences over the years, I also know that having a Risk Management plan is essential, especially when heading to Orlando in August.
Planning
Start reviewing the ILTACON 2019 session schedules. These require careful planning and execution–not to the extent of creating a Gantt chart, but I really must spend some time choosing the sessions I want to attend. With so many decisions to make, I may need to apply a RACI matrix to help me decide.
Risk Management
Planning in this area is critical to a successful conference.
Drink water. With the heat and humidity of Orlando in August, constant hydration is a must. Without adequate planning in this area you risk burning out (literally) in the first or second day of conference.
Comfortable shoes are a requirement, as always. Comfort trumps style and trendiness.
Communications Planning
So many friends and former colleagues to catch up with. This is one of the most challenging planning aspects of ILTACON. Every attendee is showered with invitations to events, lunches, dinners, and more. Some very strategic planning and communications are needed NOW!
I tend to prefer to reach out by phone when possible, especially to my former colleagues, to ensure they are attending and to capture time on their ILTACON calendars to catch up. This needs to be my No. 1 priority.
Artificial intelligence is certain to be a hot topic at ILTACON 2019: how can we apply AI to bring greater success to our projects? Definitely something to discuss with like-minded PMs while at the conference.
Let’s see, what other “Areas of Knowledge” from the PMBOK am I missing? Oh. Monitoring and Controlling. UGH! I’ve been to enough ILTACONs to know that this knowledge area is nearly impossible to plan for, much less manage. While I spent time Planning my session attendance and adding the sessions I most want to attend to my calendar, I know I will need to add some flexibility to my schedule, as I almost always end up running into a friend or colleague before a session. This adds an element of Risk that needs to be Controlled, or I’ll end up missing half the session presentation. By the way, here are some of the sessions I am interested in attending.
Going the Extra Inch: Small Solutions with Big Impact
Now Presenting! Pushing the Envelope to Gain Engagement and Retention
Using Artificial Intelligence to Automate Lawyer Work Product: It’s No Longer a Pipe Dream
Demonstrating the Value of Knowledge Management During a Recession
Using my PMP skills, I have a solid plan, hopefully. It is not officially in a Microsoft Project Schedule, but I know where I need to focus–and that my timeline is getting shorter every day….
…maybe an Agile approach will be more successful.
…come to think of it, maybe I should toss the whole project management process and start reaching out to my friends to be sure we schedule some time to catch up in Orlando.
***Dials phone***
Hi Sharon, how are you? Are you heading to ILTACON 2019? Great! Would love to catch up. How about lunch on Tuesday? Awesome. See you there!