FEATURED PRESENTATION

The Project is You: Empowered Leadership Through Personal & Professional Development

Speaker: Patrick Manifold

Every project manager knows how to manage scope, timelines, and deliverables — but what about the project that matters most? The truth is, the greatest project you will ever work on is yourself.

In this inspiring and energizing keynote, Patrick Manifold shares his remarkable journey and the hard-won lessons that shaped him into the leader, entrepreneur, and mentor he is today.
With honesty, humor, and heart, Patrick will challenge you to see leadership not as something given by title, but as something earned through growth, discipline, and authenticity.

You’ll discover why becoming the best version of yourself is not only the foundation of worthy leadership, but also the key to leaving a lasting impact on your teams, your family, your community, and the world.

This isn’t just another talk about management tools — it’s an invitation to transform the way you think, lead, live, and give.

All projects have an outcome. But this one has the most meaningful purpose and lasting impact of them all... that project is you.

SPOTLIGHT PANEL

Building tomorrow's Healthcare today: Project Management in Action

Panelists: Build NS

THE SET

Prompt, Build, Automate: The Project Manager’s New AI Skillset

Speaker: Carl Peters

Project managers are exploring AI tools like ChatGPT, but most are stopping at prompt engineering—writing one-off requests to help with emails, reports, or meeting summaries. That’s a good start, but there’s so much more we can do.

In this workshop, we will walk through what I see as the next step for project managers: going beyond prompts to build and automate with AI. I’ll share practical examples of how we can design simple AI tools, automate repetitive workflows, and start thinking more strategically about how AI fits into our projects.

This workshop is for PMs who want to move past the hype and start using AI in a more meaningful, hands-on way.

Workshop's 3 key takeaways:

• What good prompt engineering looks like—a practical guide
• How to build simple AI agents and workflows without being a developer
• What you can start automating in your projects right now

THE EDIT

Unlocking Project Success Through Continuous Improvement

Speaker: Tanya Dent

In today’s fast-paced project environments, success isn’t just about hitting milestones (yes, it’s critical) but also about evolving, adapting, and improving. In this session, we’ll explore the power of kaizen, the Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement, and how it can transform not only your workflows but your team dynamics.

Join me as I share some lessons from my own journey, highlighting where small, intentional changes led to positive results. We’ll touch on the DMAIC framework, but really hone in on the “A” -Analyze - and how asking why (five times, to be exact) can uncover root causes and spark change. 

Whether you're leading a team or contributing to one, this talk will empower you to:

🔍 Deconstruct project challenges using he 5 Whys
💡 Generate ideas through interactive collaboration
🛠 Apply approaches to your daily routines
Let’s embed kaizen into the heartbeat of your work. Let’s build a culture where continuous improvement isn’t a buzzword, but a way of life.

THE SPOTLIGHT

Managing risks in projects with new technologies like automation platforms

Speaker: Indranil Dutta and Kristoper Whidden

In this session we explore the challenges of agile projects involving application development by citizen developers and automation platforms that offer varying capacities. In the context of changing IT infrastructure and steep learning curves for staff involved, how do we find a robust way to mitigate technology risks and deliver projects on time and with the desired quality while remaining with cost boundaries?

The Financial Services department at Dalhousie University has embarked upon a journey to automate many of the manual processes so that staff can do more value-added work. Pain points were identified through introspection sessions held with the various lines of business with Financial Services and a strategic roadmap was established to enable digital transformation.

The systems team in Financial Services partnered with the university’s central IT group in a joint Innovation group to bring in Microsoft’s Power Platform as the platform for automation. In this session we will go through some of the risk mitigation steps that were taken so that projects could be delivered while the technical environment was implemented and configured.

THE SCRIPT

From Doing Agile to Being Agile: Navigating the Shift from Project Management to Product Thinking

Speaker: Andrew Mitchell

As Agile adoption increases, many organizations continue to operate with a project mindset, limiting the benefits of Agile frameworks like Scrum. This session will explore the deeper mindset shift needed to truly be Agile—moving beyond process compliance to focus on continuous value delivery, empowered teams, and sustainable flow. Designed for professionals with traditional project management backgrounds, the talk will highlight how key concepts like product thinking and flow metrics can help bridge the gap between structured plans and adaptive delivery.

THE SET

Stress-Proof Your Projects: Building Resilient Teams in High-Pressure Environments

Speaker: Vatsal Sood

As a software developer and former Agile manager, I know what it’s like to work under relentless pressure. From tight deadlines to shifting priorities, the demand for faster, better, and more efficient delivery can lead to chronic stress and burnout — not just for individuals, but for entire teams.

In this talk, I’ll share lessons from my decade-long career in tech, where I’ve seen firsthand how urgency culture can drain team morale and reduce productivity. I’ve been on both sides — as a developer pushing through long nights to meet deadlines, and as a manager trying to keep my team motivated when the pressure is constant.

Attendees will learn practical strategies for building more resilient, high-performing teams, including the 3M Break System — a simple yet powerful approach to integrating sustainable recovery into projects at the Micro, Meso, and Macro levels. We’ll also cover early warning signs of burnout and small, impactful changes that can make a big difference in long-term team well-being.

THE EDIT

Between a Rock and a Wet Place: Risk Sessions in Large Scale Hydro Projects

Speaker: Siobhan Carlson

Effective risk management and continuous improvement are crucial for the success of complex projects, particularly in the construction of hydroelectric dams, where challenges are multifaceted and wet. This presentation will explore the develpment and implementation of risk capture sessions and lessons learned using both traditional and agile project management techniques. By integrating traditional methods, such as risk registers and detailed planning, with agile practices and adaptive decision-making, we can better anticipate potential risks, enhance project flexibility, and improve overall project outcomes. The session will highlight how these combined methodologies foster a proactive approach to managing uncertainties inherent in large-scale projects and how it can make you a better facilitator.

THE SPOTLIGHT

Leveraging PMI’s New PMO Practice Guide

Speaker: Mike Frenette

The Project Management Office Global Alliance (PMOGA) was formed by Americo Pinto in 2017. For many years, PMOGA conducted PMO research in collaboration with over one hundred PMO leaders worldwide. This research culminated in the PMO Value Ring (PMOVR) Methodology.  PMI saw the value in this methodology and acquired PMOGA in December 2023. Since the acquisition, PMI has wrapped the original PMOVR methodology in robust PMI layers, created a new practice guide, a study exam, and the PMI-PMOCP certification. 

This presentation will focus on the details of PMO Value Ring Framework (PMOVR) as outlined in the new Practice Guide. Takeaways from this presentation are:

1. The fallacy of “PMO Types”
2. The PMO as an organizational unit
3. PMO Customers and their expectations
4. The PMOVR baseline elements, structural components and customer experience cycle
5. The ten steps of the value-generating PMO Flywheel.

Attendees will understand that the PMO customer is the center of the PMO Value Ring, and form the basis of everything a PMO does, including the outcomes it must achieve to satisfy its customer base, the functions it must perform to achieve them, the importance of constant confirmation from customers and the cycle of PMO renewal.