Author: Joachim Dehais, PMP
Retrospective on the PM Fair in Antwerp, Belgium
Today we bring you a touch of the exotic, of the different, and yet of something close to home.
The Belgian chapter of PMI has just wrapped up its yearly conference, this time in shimmering Antwerp.
Some of the finest painters of Europe lived their projects there, and the cathedral is a wonder, who would have taken many of us to deliver.
Now you tell me, we all know cathedrals were never done on schedule or budget, so don't waste my time and tell me about the conference.
A word of context first, the PMI Belgium chapter is about 1000 members strong, and has existed for 26 years.
The chapter boasts trilingual articles and events, and attracts attendees from Belgium, the Netherlands, France, and Luxembourg.
The conference itself was organised with a tight knit team bent on laughing their way through, all the way from January to October.
Preceded by a speakers-only networking dinner, the conference started "sur les chapeaux de roue" with some 135 attendees ready for the day's program.
The team chose the opposite approach to ours: where we focused on technology and A.I., they broadened to people and practice.
This meant the program allowed for an equally broad choice in speakers and tastes.
No spoilers of course, you had to be there to meet the speakers.
But this I shall say: learning is a forever-path, be it personal leadership, team culture, stakeholder management, with also of course best practice and the elusive discipline.
With the lovely touch from the partners and sponsors, who led challenges incentivising the attendees to network, the event was a success.
The dimming light of the sun indicated it was time to go home, to Amsterdam, Gent, Brussels, Lille, or wherever we were from.
I finished the night with a customary carton of fries and some haring, reflecting on the day's lessons and preparing to meet some of the connections again.
