Last Minute Reminder and Details ...

This is just a reminder email that the Planning and Scheduling Symposium and Awards is on Thursday 12^th July and you have registered online as a FREE day delegate!

Your badge will be available on arrival, registration is from 8.30 – 9.40am.

The conference line up is superb and our exhibitor line up is excellent!  Please do ensure you meet with everyone at their stands and learn what they can do to help you and your business!

The full conference agenda with timings and topics can be viewed here and the web site has more details on the speakers and their professional backgrounds – and our Special Guest Speaker is Alex Hibbert, author of The Long Haul and polar explorer who will tell you what planning, scheduling and risk assessment is required in his line of work !

The web site has full details and it is still possible to register colleagues and customers for the FREE Symposium!  Just click here

Many of you will be attending the evening Awards Dinner as well, bookings for this are now closed and remember it is black-tie!

Only Two Weeks to go - Update and Useful Dates

Only 2 weeks until The Planning & Scheduling Awards and Symposium - THE Occasion on 12 July 2012 to recognise and celebrate excellence in the planning, scheduling and project controls community!

Award nominations are closed and the short-listed companies with individuals or teams are (in alphabetical order):

A-One+ * Acumen * Adept Management * AMEC * Canary Wharf Contractors * Doosan Power Systems * Driver Group * EC Harris * Galliford Try * Mace Group * Network Rail * Transport for London

Winners will be announced at the evening Awards Dinner on 12 July at The Brewery!  The evening is packed with great food, speakers and entertainment!  Click here view the Agenda and book your table!

Deadline to book tables or individual tickets is 29 June!

The daytime Symposium comprises an educational and motivational conference line-up and exhibition.

Professionals will be speaking on best practices, case studies and solutions for our industry and we are also delighted to have Alex Hibbert, who holds the world record, along with teammate George Bullard, for the longest fully unsupported polar expedition in history, as our Special Guest Speaker! 

Deadline to sign up as a delegate is 6 July !

Delegate rate is FREE for the conference and parallel exhibition 
Register online now to secure your place!

Join our  Planning & Scheduling Group on Linkedin to meet other delegates that are coming to the event.  Or join the discussion on Twitter   #planningawards  #planningsymposium.

Planning & Scheduling Awards: Nominee Short List Announced

After two days of tireless work from our judging panel we are delighted to announce the companies with teams nominated for the Planning & Scheduling Awards that have been short-listed:  In alphabetcial order they are as follows:

• A-One+
• Acumen
• Adept Management
• AMEC
• Canary Wharf Contractors
• Doosan Power Systems
• Driver Group
• EC Harris
• Galliford Try
• Mace Group
• Network Rail
• Transport for London

We wish them all the best of luck and the final results will be announced at the Gala Awards Dinner on the 12th July, 2012 following the Planning & Scheduling Symposium.

There are still places available to attend the Symposium  Register Here  or the Gala Awards Dinner, for more information Click Here

Record breaking polar expedition leader, Alex Hibbert confirmed as Guest Speaker

We are absolutely delighted that Alex Hibbert,  record breaking polar expedition leader will be joining us at the Planning and Scheduling Symposium as our guest speaker after lunch.  Alex holds the record, along with teammate George Bullard, for the longest fully unsupported polar expedition in history.  An Oxford graduate, Alex led the Tiso 2008 Trans-Greenland Expedition trekking 1374 miles over 113 days over tough arctic terrain without support of any kind.

Alex’s first book, The Long Haul, published by Tricorn Books, was published in March 2010 and tells the gripping story of the 2008 Tiso Trans-Greenland Expedition.  The expedition was long and dangerous:  it would take the only suitable aeroplane in Greenland a week to pick them up in case of an emergency. They survived hidden crevasses with weak snow bridges and travelled for three weeks in a complete white out. One of Alex’s skis broke and a food depot was destroyed in one of the many ravaging storms. They survived the last ten days of their expedition on a single biscuit. The expedition chartered a new route from the Nagtivit glacier on the east coast of Greenland to Baffin Bay on the west coast. 

Preparation and planning were key.  Also, Alex chose his teammate George Bullard very carefully. He needed someone capable of enduring long periods of physical exertion as well as boredom - and most importantly someone of good, stable character.  

Alex is able to speak to audiences in a compelling and meaningful way.  Many of the challenges he has faced are relevant to business and young entrepreneurs today.  His attributes and messages include:

• Champion of traditional polar expedition techniques – a purist
• Author of ‘The Long Haul’ – no ghost writer
• Accomplished photographer with Getty Images
• Intellectual – thinking you way out of dangerous and arduous situations
• Making relationships work in challenging conditions – conflict resolution
• Maintaining integrity under stress
• Coping psychologically with endurance situations
• Risk assessment

Alex Hibbert grew up in Hampshire and graduated from St. Hugh's Oxford with a degree in biology.   After first passing selection at 16 years old, Alex joined the 2008 Royal Marines Young Officer Batch. Alex is becoming an accomplished speaker and has addressed the Oxford University Exploration Club and was a featured speaker at the 2010 Adventure Travel Show in London. Alex is a qualified polar guide. 

'Your talk was gripping!' - Cee Weston-Baker, Pan Macmillan Publishing

'Thank you for your fabulous presentation last night. The people enjoyed it very much.' - Sue Lupton Consulting

'Those looking outside their own organisations for inspiration would do well to rally behind this man’s vision and be a part of something that has magic in it.' - Pen Hadow, polar explorer

'Alex not only gave an inspirational talk, he is also evidence that the spirit of genuine polar exploration is alive
and well. His willingness to share his experience and advice for young enthusiasts was especially gracious.' - Dr Ed Russell, Eton College

'Alex is a captivating and compelling speaker, rarely have we had an audience as engrossed as when Alex told of his expedition. The tale of his daring, record setting, and endurance is one not to be missed.' - Ginny Howells, President of OUEC

Join us and Alex on the 12th July at the Symposium - Register for FREE Here

Gerald Bradley, Sigma Consulting to speak at Symposium

We are delighted to announce that Gerald Bradley, Chairman, of  Sigma Consulting will be speaking at the Planning and Scheduling Symposium, 12th July 2012, London

Gerald has more than 30 years’ experience of working with Senior Management from major organisations in generating business value from investment in change. He was instrumental in formulating sigma’s methodology for identifying, managing and capturing benefits from business driven change, in particular where information and information-related activities are key components.

Gerald is a highly respected management consultant and educationalist, regularly presenting concepts for identifying, managing and capturing benefits from portfolios, programmes and projects.

At the symposium Gerald will be presenting:

Creating and sustaining value (from projects and programmes) in today’s environment
This session shows how Portfolio Management, Value Management and Benefit Realisation fit together. And then explores how this trio enables proactive and powerful strategic change – ‘fit for purpose’ in the current economic climate.


Why not take some important messages back to your key stakeholders to influence them in optimising your organisation’s portfolio and ensuring that all programmes and projects deliver real business value. Learn what tools you can use to give them the best information to make those benefit-led portfolio decisions.

This focused session explores the practical assessment and application of Benefit Delivery Confidence to support change leaders at all levels.

Register now for FREE for the Symposium.  An educational and inspiring Project and Scheduling event.  Register Here

A full programme of speakers - see ALL

University of Birmingham to Sponsor Symposium

We are delighted that the University of Birmingham will be a sponsor at the Symposium on the 12th July 2012.

The University offer a MSc in Industrial Project Management. This is a 3-year part-time course offered by The University of Birmingham in conjunction with GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). The course is developed with the continuing professional development (CPD) of practicing project managers in mind.
Course content is industry focused, covering areas such as Fast-Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG), Construction, Pharmaceuticals and Oil and Gas. Course delivery will be by academic staff alongside experienced industry project managers.

The course covers both the theory and practical application of Project Management principles, practices and tools, demonstrated using real scenarios and exercises. Students will gain both understanding and competence in applying best practice methods and techniques.

The course is modular in structure with nine intensive modules spread over two years (120 credits taught material) and a major project in the third year (60 credits). The first two years are made up of 4-5 taught modules per year. Each module is a mix of theory, practical example and coursework. Each module requires around 3 days of classroom tuition. The third year is a major project on an in-depth industrial project, managed using the principles and tools taught in the earlier two years.

For more information, visit http://www.birmingham.ac.uk/

Or come and see them, lots of other exhibitors and educational speakers at the Symposium Register Here its FREE to attend!!

Paul Bamforth of Asta Development to Speak at Symposium

We are delighted to announce that Paul Bamforth, Managing Director of Asta Development  will be presenting at the Planning and Scheduling Symposium on the 12th July.

His presentation will be entitled: 

Is Building Time into BIM a Key to Success?

Every firm in construction is watching the approach of BIM with huge interest. BIM, or building information modelling, is a crucial part of the construction strategy through which the government seeks to create high-impact changes within this vital British industry. It wants construction to follow through on its promises better, deliver greater value for money, contribute to environmental goals and ensure that its end products are fit for purpose. As a software provider to firms across the industry we, like everyone else, are working to understand what responsibilities it places on us and the new challenges it will create.

It is clear that the debate about what BIM is, and what it will take to deliver the vision of a communicating, sharing and well integrated construction industry, will continue - because BIM is here to stay. It is raising questions about what new industry dynamics will mean for different players, activities and roles. The government's purpose is to create alignment of interest between the parties that conceive and design buildings through to those that ultimately occupy and manage them. It is a holistic approach, which seeks to integrate project delivery in a somewhat similar way as do the principles of lean construction, driving out costs and inefficiencies, and focusing on customer needs

Join us on the 12th to hear Paul and many other speakers:  Register Here