2013 PM Parade

I was in Prague on Thursday and Friday.  I and two colleagues were invited to present at the 2013 Project Management Parade.  It is one of the largest PM conferences in Czech Republic.

Presentations were held on both days, with a networking function on Thursday night and workshops on Friday.  Both of my colleagues speak Czech but my portion was to be given in English.  I understood that there would be an interpreter provided. 

Accordingly, I had prepared my presentations to be shorter in order to provide time for the interpreter to speak.  About five minutes before I was to present I was informed that there wasn't an interpreter so I should just speak English.  Not the end of the world but I had to wing it a bit in order to stretch out the time.  Also, it was a bit unnerving looking at the audience and trying to figure out who was following what I was saying and who couldn't understand English at all. 

The first topic presented was a case study on The Modernization of the European Backbone Cloud Infrastructure by Applying Corporate PM Standards.  The second presentation was on the management of personal development within project management.  Two very riveting topics. 

I'm glad that I did it.  Not sure that I would do it again.  The only negative was the 4:30 AM train ride from Brno to Praha. 

One interesting thing was having my bio prepared in Czech.  In the USA, I would list my project management certification when working as a PM.  But I would never put "MBA" after my name.  In Central Europe, academic titles are a big deal and you have to list them.  So in the official program I was listed as - Mgr. Christopher ..., MBA, PMP / IBM.  To me it seems very odd.  I'm sure my classmates from school would chuckle if they saw it.