Once again, Procept sponsored a successful 6th Annual PM Paper Competition.  Founded in 2011 by Procept founder Keith Farndale, this event had students of project management courses at the post-secondary level compete in a "PM lessons learned paper competition."  This year we combined the event with our annual International Project Management Day conference in Toronto.

The 2016 event successfully concluded with the final presentations, judging, and awarding of prizes. This year, both the first place and second place teams were from Queen's University. The winning papers will be published in a forthcoming book containing finalist papers collected over the years of this competition.  For more details on the winners, visit the official web site:  www.PMPaperCompetition.com.

Finalists had to present a 15-minute PowerPoint presentation summarizing their paper's key points and answer questions for 10 minutes from the audience and the judges.  Finalists were judged both on their presentation and how well they were able to handle the audience questions.  The winning group received $1,500 in cash, with the second place team receiving $500 cash.  All finalists also received a number of books donated by our publishing partner, Multi-Media Publications Inc.

Special thanks to all those who helped out, especially Leora Stoll for her coordination of the day,  to Kevin Aguanno who was the master of ceremonies, and our distinguished judges:  Dr. Bud Lush, Dr. Vijay Verma, and Ralph Kuhn.

The International Council of Management Consulting Institutes (ICMCI) is an international body setting global standards for the management consulting profession, including the management of an international framework for certifying management consultants. In 2016, its global conference and AGM was held in Toronto, Ontario. The AGM took the first day, followed by two days of their conference where leading experts in the management consulting profession shared industry trends, techniques, and career-development strategies.

Procept was represented at this event by our Senior Consultant and Agile Practice Lead, Kevin Aguanno, who holds a Certified Management Consultant (CMC) designation from the Canadian arm of this global organization.

The event attracted hundreds of the leaders in the management consulting profession from around the world. As Procept's representative, Aguanno was able to open up negotiations for a strategic partnership with two firms that offer complementary services to Procept's offerings. While discussions will continue with these firms, Procept continues to look for opportunities to expand its reach into new industries and to grow its overseas sales.

For more information on Procept's management consulting offerings, please click on the Consulting tab on the top of this web page.

Procept would like to extend its congratulations to the winners of the 6th Annual Project Management Paper Competition, sponsored by Procept Associates Ltd.  This year, the final stage of the competition was held during the 2016 International PM Day celebration in Toronto.

The 2016 winners are:

University	Team	Topic	Status
Queen's University	Jessica Kelly, Daniel Tamming, Alison Harrod and Samantha Zareski	Calgary Peace Bridge	WINNER ! ($1,500 grand prize) +  books and bragging rights.
Queen's University	Ashish Das, Ishmeet Singh Sethi, Jeena George, Morounfolu Alabi, Tanmeet Kaur	XIX Commonwealth Games (Delhi, 2010)	Runner Up ($500 prize) +  books.

Congratulations to all the finalists!

As part of our ongoing series of webinars, join host Morley Selver on this webinar where you will discover the critical factors you need to keep in mind to improve your chances of project success. Although they seem simple enough, they can have a huge effect on any project if the team ignores them.

The webinar will examine the most important project manager behaviours, project guidelines, and the critical relationship between the four most important project constraints of scope, schedule, budget, and resources.

Register online for this free event by clicking on the button below.

Register Online

Returning to speak at Construct Canada 2016, North America's largest conference for design, construction and real estate, Procept senior consultant Darya Duma will present "Managing Project Challenges Successfully: Building Risk Responses in Your Execution Plan" on November 30, 2016 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Toronto, Canada.

Presentation Description

Once you have identified a project’s risks, what to do about them? The default response to project challenges for most organizations is to build in bottom line contingency in the schedule and budget. This is often proven to be an inadequate and sometimes expensive response. The presentation will offer a process for identifying and discussing project challenges as risks, conducting an objective analysis, and choosing appropriate responses, which may include a measured and defendable contingency amount. The concepts will be illustrated and supported with case studies.

For more information, go to the official conference web site by clicking on the button below.

Visit Web Site

Carlo Barrettara, president of Procept Associates Ltd., is pleased to announce that Procept Associates Ltd. has purchased the business operations and assets of Practical Management Instruction (PMI) in an all-cash deal. PMI is one of the oldest management training companies in the USA, starting its operations in California in 1965.

PMI is well known in the training industry for pioneering work in the field of androgogy — the study of how adults learn. PMI has certified thousands of trainers over the years in training needs analysis, instructional design, and effective classroom delivery. PMI's other main line of business is training managers and supervisors how to perform their critical role.

Over 50 years, PMI has taught more than 1,000,000 adult learners for more than 17,000 corporate, non-profit, and government clients. Procept is pleased to add PMI's stable of talent and time-tested courses to its lineup. "The new courses," says Barrettara, "are complementary to our existing catalog with very little overlap. We expect great synergies and look forward to the higher profile this will give to Procept's offerings in the USA market."

Procept acquired PMI on July 1, 2016 and expects to have the business fully integrated into Procept's operations by the end of the year. The PMI brand will continue as an operating division of Procept USA LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Procept Associates Ltd.

For more details, visit Procept's information on its new Practical Management Instruction business.

The Knights of Columbus Council 8951 Annual Charity Golf Tournament was started in 2013 in Port Perry, Ontario. Since its inception, Procept has been involved in this event. For the first two years, one of Procept's associates was on the organizing committee for the event and a company related to Procept provided many prizes for the fundraising event.

Starting in the 4th annual event, Procept sponsored the event directly, and has done so ever since. If you are interested in supporting a good cause and enjoying a round of golf, please visit the Knights of Columbus web site to find out how to get tickets.

The event raises money for the Knights of Columbus, a charitable fraternal organization who contributes money to many local, regional, and national causes including the local food bank, the local hospital, and various other charities, and the sponsorship of a family of Syrian refugees.

Visit the KofC #8951 Web Site

Procept associate Dr. Mark Kozak-Holland discusses the theoretical frameworks underlying the discipline of project management and reveals the inherent weaknesses and biases we often overlook in our models. A fascinating topic for project management professionals and students of the subject.

Recorded at the 5th Annual PM Paper Competition in Toronto, Canada in September 2015.

Procept Associates senior consultant Morley Selver provides an overview of contract management for field personnel on construction/engineering projects in this one-hour webinar. This webinar is an overview of the concepts, taken from Procept's 2-day course of the same title, available in classroom and self-paced online format.

Eager anticipation is in the air as Procept Associates Ltd. proudly announces a new partnership with the University of Prince Edward Island to deliver Procept's project management courses through the university.

With the first course delivery in May 2016 of Procept's popular Project Management Essentials course, the new partnership extends Procept's courses to another university. Further courses are scheduled for fall 2016 and into spring 2017.

Special thanks go out to Procept's Atlantic Region Lead, Janice Petley, for her tireless efforts to maintain Procept's lead position in the Atlantic provinces.