Exclusive PPM Summit
On November the 19th Odysseus celebrated its 10th anniversary together with 150 Friends of Odysseus during the very first PPM Summit:
Focus on what matters!
"Project & Portfolio Management: Your Roadmap to the Future"
Upon arrival all participants were welcomed with their very own copy of the PPM binder, which contains information on Project and Portfolio Management (PPM), including whitepapers, articles and useful tools like the PPM Maturity assessment and Gartner's Magic Quadrant for PPM.
After enjoying a light lunch and a freshly made fruit shake, the master of ceremonies for the day, Henk Korevaar, invited our guests for an introduction to the day's program. He started by asking Sander Treur, managing director of Odysseus, on stage to motivate why we had decided to organize the PPM Summit. Sander explained that Odysseus wanted to celebrate its 10th anniversary with more than just a party and to give something back to all of its "friends". PPM is still quite a young field of expertise and in order for it to mature, it requires an active community of professionals working together in one way or another. The PPM Summit is the official kick-off of the Friends of Odysseus network and Sander invited all participants to combine forces in this community and share knowledge and experience with one another to further professionalize PPM.
Henk also inquired as to why SOS Children's Villages was present at the Summit. Sander: "They are celebrating their 60th anniversary this year and although we still have a long way to go compared to them, it is great that we both have something to celebrate! SOS has ambitious goals: they focus on the future, work on sustainable solutions and invest in the lives of many children around the world. We have this at heart and therefore want to offer SOS a stage to broadcast their message and also support them with a financial contribution."
The first keynote speaker of the day was Benedetto Paijmans. He enthused Summit attendees by providing insights into the past, present and future of PPM. From the Newtonian Paradigm and Frederick Taylors Scientific Management to today's methods such as Prince2 and P3O. Benedetto concluded his presentation with some considerations as to how we can continue to mature and improve PPM.
Following the first keynote speaker were two parallel sessions: one by Evert Bos of ACS and the other by Ton Nijland of Odysseus. Evert discussed how programs can be executed successfully and why they should be aligned to a company's strategy. Ton gave the participants some starting points for prioritization and selection of projects in a portfolio. He also highlighted a best practice on how a PPM tool can support your selection process.
After a short break, Carlos Morales of Deloitte and Jeroen Langevoort of NXP hosted the next parallel sessions. Carlos elaborated on how PPM can help your organization to achieve its strategic objectives and further reduce costs by focusing resources on what matters most. Jeroen provided some refreshing insights on how PPM can be applied in the New Product Development (NPD) sector.
Meanwhile the caterers had prepared our walking dinner of several freshly made amuses. The much welcome break was used to eat, drink to meet some new "friends". Vincent van Leth provided the entertainment and surprised guests with some humorous tricks and magical moments.
Rounding off the official program was the second keynote speaker of the day: Annemarie van Gaal. She is the cofounder of one of the largest publishing firms in Russia (Independent Media), was one of the co-investors starring in the Dutch version of the TV program Dragon's Den and is also ambassador for SOS Children's Villages. During her inspiring speech, she linked her experience as an investor to making the right choices in a project portfolio.
After Annemarie's presentation, Sander Treur presented her with a check for 5000 euro, which she gratefully accepted on behalf of SOS Children's Villages.
Comedian Paul Smit wrapped up the evening. In his own comedic style, he presented us the seven competences of a super manager and sang a song summing up the day's events.
The feedback from our visitors was that they had an enjoyable and educational day. We would like to thank all our friends and the speakers for sharing their knowledge and experience and making the Odysseus 2009 PPM Summit a great success!