Last week I arose early from my bed to take an early morning Virgin Train heading south to Olympia (London) to take a look around this years Project Challenge Expo. It was raining! Sunny in
Eventually arrived at
I had a plan, so immediately headed off to the Open Zone where Sue Vowler had just appeared to talk about the P3O initiative (Portfolio, Programme and Project Office). Sue, as lead author on this OGC initiative, gave a good presentation and we look forward to how this initiative will be received once it hits the streets. It will be interesting to see the uptake of training courses around the initiative and how many organisations use the framework offered. From my own point of view I didn’t see anything “new” in the framework as described, but as a point of reference I am sure it will offer a good starting point.
I was left with one concern listening to Sue as she explained how they were desperate to loosen the “support” tag as they felt this had some negative connotations. Listening further I was left with to question: As it is not “managing”, then it must be “supporting”, no matter what tag you put on it, right? Surely the trick for any Support Office is to offer excellence so nobody worries about the title; they just can’t live without the excellent service that the team provide!
Time for tea, and a scan through the exhibitors list. In all 63 exhibitors, many of them familiar faces from previous exhibitions and a mix of companies with offerings addressing different aspects of the Project Management field.
Of I went browsing some stands, engaging with others and picking off my targets for a chat about the state of the market. It was interesting to get the differing viewpoints from the people I met; some buoyant with an extremely positive view of the market whilst others were more considered about what the coming months may hold.
In terms of footfall it didn’t seem to be overly busy, none of the exhibitors seemed overworked. Each time I passed a presentation zone they seemed to be well-populated with people eager to listen to the many different topics that were on offer that day.
My work done, I headed for the door. Business cards swapped and surprisingly few goodies to take home, I had met my objectives for the day, and to be honest, was happy to be heading home. These exhibitions have a place in the annual calendar of events, but judging by the areas of interest I wonder if the format needs a refresh?
