2025 Fall Symposium
WHEN: Friday October 17, 2025
1 full day, 8 PDU event (PDUs broken down: Power skills = 4, Ways of Working = 2, Business Acumen = 2)
TIME: 8:30am to 4:30pm Signup today by clicking Here (**space is limited; walk-ins welcome subject to availability)
LOCATION: Roanoke College - Colket Center
255 High Street, Salem, VA 24153
Phone: 540-375-2500https://www.roanoke.ed/
PRICE: Members $120.00, Non-Members $140.00, Students $90.00
Theme:Strategic Projects, Exceptional Outcomes
This theme encapulates strategic projects are carefully planned initiatives designed to achieve long-term goals and drive meaningful progress. By aligning resources, expertise, and innovative thinking, these projects create a roadmap for success, ensuring efficiency and effectiveness in execution. Exceptional outcomes, in turn, are the direct result of well-executed strategic projects—delivering measurable impact, exceeding expectations, and fostering growth. Whether in business, technology, or organizational development, the synergy between strategic planning and outstanding execution transforms challenges into opportunities and sets new benchmarks for excellence.
The Line Up |
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8:30a - 9:00a |
The Evolving Landscape of Project Management in Southwest Virginia |
Caleb Sly Project Manger, Modea Vicki Kibbe Program Manager, Anthem |
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9:00a - 9:50a |
From Vision to Value: Strategic Project Selection in a World of Priorities In today's complex organizational landscape, making the right project choices is paramount to achieving exceptional outcomes. This main panel discussion will bring together leaders from relevant employers across the Roanoke region to share their insights on strategic decision-making. Explore how they navigate competing priorities, select the most impactful projects to advance their organization's mission and vision and what tools, methodologies, or organizational structures (such as PMOs) they leverage to standardize operations and ensure strategic alignment across various business units. Gain practical wisdom on how to translate strategy into tangible results. |
Cassandra Nolan (Moderator)
Patience O'Brien Chief Transformation Officer at Member One Federal Credit Union Rory Chisholm Manager-Projects at American Electric Power |
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10:00a - 10:50a |
Building Your Project Capital: An Interactive Networking Experience Forge valuable connections early in the day with this dynamic and interactive networking session designed to expand your professional circle. Understanding that your network is a critical asset, this session will guide you through engaging activities to connect with peers, industry leaders, and potential collaborators. Whether you're an emerging professional or a seasoned expert, you'll have the opportunity to exchange insights, discover new perspectives, and build the social capital essential for navigating today's complex project environments. Continue these enriching conversations throughout the symposium! |
Alexander Scott CEO/Founder Learn-Aprende |
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11:00a - 11:50a
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Breakout Session #1A: Built for Change: A Project Manager’s Edge Projects often represent significant change (and, if successful, always end in some type of “new”). This session explores how project managers can leverage existing skills for successful change initiatives that go beyond projects. Through a blend of proven change models and best practices, we’ll discuss how to lead our teams with confidence and clarity—understanding change not as a disruption, but as a core part of the project manager’s role. |
David Duby Professor at Liberty University
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Breakout Session #1B: Expanding Perspectives to Drive Learning and Action: Lean Coffee in Practice
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Jeffrey White |
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Lunch |
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1:00p - 1:50p
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Breakout Session #2A: Brilliant strategies don’t always become exceptional outcomes. Projects fail not because teams aren’t smart or dedicated, but because leaders fall into the trap of believing myths and overlooking the fundamentals. In this session, Kevin Pannell, Navy veteran and IT PMO leader, shares insights from his book The People, Process, & Progress of Project Management on how to bust common myths and apply seven practical pillars of project success. Drawing on lessons from healthcare IT, public safety, and emergency management, Kevin provides field-tested guidance for turning strategy into results. Attendees will leave with a clear understanding of the myths to avoid, the pillars to build on, and a simple action to take back to their teams Monday morning. |
Kevin Pannell IT PMO Manager, VCU Health System
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Breakout Session #2B: Content for this session is being prepared. |
Tanya Hockett Senior Associate, The Cadmus Group |
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2:00p - 2:50p |
Orchestrating Impact: The Art of Large-Scale Regional Projects Discover the profound impact that expertly managed large-scale events can have on economic development and community growth within a region. This session will feature a compelling narrative of a significant event organized right here in the Roanoke region, showcasing its multi-faceted benefits, from attracting jobs to boosting population growth. The speaker will share an engaging story, drawing out key project management lessons learned that apply to any complex initiative. Learn how meticulous planning, stakeholder engagement, and strategic execution can transform ambitious visions into tangible successes for an entire community. |
Debora Wright Chief Strategist Vice President, Visit Virginia's Blue Ridge |
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3:00p - 3:50p |
Closing Keynote: Project Success: High-Level Findings from PMI Project Success Research What does it truly mean for a project to succeed? And who gets to decide?Join Sarah Maxwell, PMI Chapter Engagement Supervisor, for an engaging, interactive session that explores groundbreaking new research from PMI—the most comprehensive study ever conducted on the topic of Project Success. With input from nearly 10,000 project stakeholders across 141 countries and 10 industry sectors, this research brings forward a modern, inclusive, and actionable definition of success that reflects today’s dynamic project landscape.Sarah will also introduce the M.O.R.E. mindset—a new call to action for project professionals to Manage perceptions, Own success, Reassess continuously, and Expand their perspective. Whether you’re a PM, sponsor, executive, or team member, this session will challenge and inspire you to rethink how you define, deliver, and elevate project success. |
Sarah Maxwell PMI North America Chapter Engagement Supervisor
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Meet our Speakers!
Become a Sponsor!
Any questions, email the Symposium Committee
Roanoke College Map with Parking
Symposium Committee
