I highly recommend attending the Microsoft Project Conference in the spring if you can… especially if you are implementing Microsoft Project Server next year. There are lots of educational and networking opportunities, and you can speak with the experts to get help, pick up some tips, or learn about some of the many pitfalls to avoid.
The next question is this: How many people can you send? It’s not only a matter of cost (registration fees, travel expenses, etc.), but also lost work days. It may not make sense to send all of your PMs for those reasons, but certainly send some of your key folks who will be implementing and supporting the system, and perhaps one or two key stakeholders or business champions. There are technical tracks for the people who will implement and support your system on an ongoing basis, and there are business and process related tracks for the stakeholders and decision makers.
As the even draws closer, you will be able to visit the Project Conference web site (https://www.msprojectconference.com) and view detailed agendas and topic descriptions.
For the people who WILL be attending, there will be a ton of information presented, so be ready to take plenty of notes and pick up literature to share with everyone else afterward. In past years, Project Conference attendees also received a DVD with session videos, but those usually aren’t shipped until several months afterward.
Stop by the EPM Architects booth and say Hi, and check out my session, ‘Managing Resource Supply and Demand with Microsoft Project Server 2010‘.
