Project Management: The Musical!
MPD6 Management and Professional Development
Location: Ballroom E
MONDAY, 4:15 - 5:00 p.m.
Sung to the tune of “My Favorite Things” from the Sound of Music: “Stakeholders pausing and missing their deadlines, Engineers working to tag all the headlines, Scheduling has me all tied up with strings, These are a few project management things!” — All great musicals tell stories of some sort of journey. It’s usually a tale of overcoming some type of adversity, with plot twists, occasional heartbreak, and humor. And isn’t that what a web project is? Musicals simply include songs to help move the plot along. We’re going to give an overview — with a soundtrack! — of how to best manage a website design and development project from contracting to post-launch. We’ll share tools and spreadsheets, steps to take, how to work with clients, and how project managers overcome the odds to navigate it all towards a fantastic product at the end. It’s going to be informative, and at times very very musical. Along with learning how good your immediate neighbor is at audience participation, you will learn items such as: — how to get your project organized for success right from the start — what analytics and KPIs to review — what to do when stakeholders disapprove — how to handle scope creep — how to survive a project with humor through use of the occasional show tune This session is not technical, and is great for both beginning and advanced project managers alike. A general knowledge of popular Broadway musicals is helpful, though not required. There will be one or two opportunities for sing-a-longs, and the audience should feel welcome to join in.
Presenters
Allison Manley
Account Manager, Palantir.net
Allison Manley is a recovering (and award-winning) designer who applies her creative skills to Palantir’s strategy and project management processes. Her diverse, multi-disciplinary background — which in addition to design includes glassblowing, publishing, podcasting, and figure skating and singing in an a cappella group — contributes to strong client relationships to which she offers uncommon perspective. Allison received her BFA from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri with a major in graphic design.
Joe Allen-Black
Web Strategist, Palantir.net
Joe Allen-Black is a Palantir web strategist, who loves high fives, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and coding things online. In his position, Allen-Black helps make sure projects come in on time and with no surprises. In the past, Allen-Black worked as crime reporter, developer, web editor, and product manager (all at different times). Allen-Black has a journalism degree from the University of Florida.