Login   Register

Follow Frank on Twitter
Preview of the IPM Day Meeting Opener Video

IPM Day DVD Information

International Project Management Day DVD

The International Project Management Day DVD includes everything you need to launch your International Project Management Day event. The DVD includes the following:

  • 10-minute meeting opener video
  • 4-minute inspirational photo/music show, Leadership with a View
  • Original recording of the Project Manager Blues, written and sung by IPM Day Founder, Frank P. Saladis
  • IPM Day PowerPoint template with optional presentation content
  • Meeting planning suggestions, and much more

If you would like to use the the DVD for your event, please go to our ordering site.

 

You may have an IPM day event at no cost. However, the license fee to use the IPM Day DVD is as noted below:

  • $85 for use for one event
  • $170 for unlimited events use

 

Planning a Successful IPM Day Event
Whether your event is small or large, these ten steps will help get you started and keep you motivated and well-organized.

  1. Form an event committee

Depending on the size of the event you are organizing, you may want to consider forming a committee. Identifying colleagues and volunteers to fill roles such as chair, treasurer, and facilitator, may help. As well, recruiting members with special skills, such as marketing and promotion, may also make a difference in the success of your event. Be sure to recruit a team of enthusiastic people to help you.
 

  1. Develop your concept

Brainstorm ideas that are fun, unique, and will excite you about organizing your IPMD. We have some ideas you might start with listed in the column to the right.
 

 

  1. Choose your event

From the list that your committee has developed decide on what concept will appeal the most to your target audience. Come up with a catchy event name and subtitle that will attract participation.
 

  1. Establish the time, location, and format

Reserve the location/venue and further plan the specific timing, registration process, meeting format, room layout, any desired food and beverages, and the meeting agenda. For example, determine if you will be kicking off your event with the IPMD video.
 
 
Check with other area schedules to try to reduce time conflicts as much as possible.
 

  1. Submit your event

Complete the IPMD event form and submit it to Successful Projects, 3120 South Avenue, La Crosse, WI 54601. Remember to also submit the IPMD DVD license payment fee if content from the DVD is being used.
 

  1. Organize your event details

Organization is the key to any successful event planning. Make a list of who is responsible for what tasks. Consider using a responsibility assignment matrix (RAM).
 

  1. Plan a timetable

Develop a timeline of important tasks and due dates, working backwards from the day of the event will help you to plan appropriate deadlines. Be mindful of your critical path.
 

  1. Promote your event

The marketing will be a key to event attendance. Consider using personal individual invitations, press releases, advertising through posters and social media, and any other format that is effective for your particular audience.
 

  1. Have fun hosting your event

The day of your IPMD event should run smoothly as long as you have handled this as a professional project (which we trust you will). Remember to remain flexible for changes and to ensure that the audience as well as the organizing committee all have fun and are recognized and appreciated for their contributions not only to the event but also for their project management work overall.
 
 

  1. Wrap up

As with every other project, closure needs to be handled as formally and professionally as all of the other steps. Collect your best practices and lessons learned to help lay the groundwork for a successful IPMD event next year.
 
 
 
 
 

International Institute of Learning
Theme ideas
Brainstorm ideas that are fun, unique, and will excite you about organizing your IPMD. Here are some concept ideas:
  • Pick a foreign country and use that culture for your theme. Serve the culture’s food, decorate accordingly, and have the event hosts or food servers dress in costume.
  • Select a landmark project as your theme.
  • Go sci fi. Outdo the others by making your event a GALACTIC project management day. Consider decorating like Star Trek, Avatar, or another sci fi theme.
  • An elegant event. Celebrate by dressing formally and having your own awards banquet.
Tips on Getting Your Event Sponsored

Sponsorship is when an organization decides to give you money in exchange for a marketing presence at your IPM Day event. Most sponsor connections come from your communities member or board members personal connections. But sponsors can be found through advertising, social media, database lists, and cold calling.

 

Corporations could be interested in a variety of the benefits they could receive through sponsoring your IPM Day event:

  • You have a good cause, in line with the companies desire to support and promote project management
  • Brand awareness building through display of products or interactions with people at a display table at your event.
  • To overcome negative PR about their brand or failed projects their organization has been associated with.
  • To encourage participation in project management education with employees and customers in their organization

Start by defining what the sponsorship offerings could be with your event. Here are just some of the examples:

  • Display tables
  • Banners
  • Ads in the event printed materials
  • Ads on the event invitations and/or registration web site or informational web site
  • Give aways with their company brand/logo
  • Spokesperson opportunities between event speakers

 

 Ideally you want to start seeking sponsorships 4-6 months before your IPM Day event. That generally means May - July will be the best time to push hard on the sponsorships.

 

Mistakes to Avoid

Beware these common mistakes to avoid problems with your event

  1. Starting too late. Be sure to give yourself ample time to promote your IPM Day event. A good rule of thumb is at least 90-120 days for a medium-sized event with about 75 attendees.

     

  2. Competing with Yourself. Participants can usually only take limited time out of their work schedules for this type of event. When too many similar events are planned close to each other, they start to dilute attendence at the individual events. Instead of making your IPM Day an additional event, make it your Professional Development Days or PMI Chapter meeting for its timeframe.

     

  3. Recreating the wheel. Connect with www.internationalpmday.org contacts and other event organizers to utilize some of the other IPM Day event assets that are currently available. Organizations all over the world have been putting on IPM Day events for years and you can and should benefit from their best practices and lessons learned.

     

  4. Neglecting to get a proclamation. The positive public relations that a governmental IPM Day proclamation provides to your event should not be missed. The proclamation usually will help provide media coverage opportunities for your event and it will help build goodwill for the project managers in your organization and community at the same time.

 

IPM Day Greeting Cards

An assortment of five different 5" x 7" glossy note cards on heavy card stock with plain white envelopes. One each of the following:
 

 Front cover color photograph of Delicate Arch, Utah, with quote: "Great achievements stand long past the final team meeting."

 Front cover color photograph of Joan of Arc, Paris, France with quote: "Leadership is the art of mobilizing others to struggle for shared aspirations."

 Front cover color photograph of Charles Bridge, Prague, Czech Republic, with quote: "Teamwork: The Bridge to Success."

 Front cover color photograph of two dogs swimming together and sharing a stick, with quote: "Teamwork is working together to achieve the same goals."

 Front cover color photograph of Salzburg, Austria, with quote: "Sound principles and competent execution create a last presence."

Each card acknowledges International Project Management Day on the reverse of each card. Blank inside.
 


Suitable as a thank you, acknowledgment or for any occasion. Part of the "Project Leadership with a View" series of cards, books and other products.

 

Click here to order IPM Day Greeting cards.
Copyright 2011    |   Privacy Statement   |   Terms Of Use