On March 30, 2009 the Center of Excellence (CoE) hosted the Second Executive Breakfast inviting an extended group of industry leaders and sponsored by StockTheMind.  Twenty five attendees enjoyed networking and listening to Dr. Harold Kerzner who spoke on the topic ‘Why a PMO is valuable to your company’.  Attendees represented various industries and local companies including Burger King, Broward Health, Campus Management, Citco Technology Management, Eastern Financial Florida Credit Union, eDiets, JM Family, Kaplan University, Miami Dade County, NCCI Holdings, Peachtree Settlement, Solvis Consulting and Southern Wines and Spirits

The Company
AvMed Health Plans has been providing high-quality, affordable health coverage to Floridians for more than 35 years. The company offers employers and members a complete range of health plan options that combine access and flexibility, including their choice of physicians and hospitals. AvMed is headquartered in Miami, with offices in Fort Lauderdale, Palm Beach, Orlando, Tampa, Gainesville and Jacksonville.

We should be proud to declare that despite the global environment, our Chapter has been able to deliver a lot of quality programs increasing the real value to our members -and potential members-. Those programs -and many others that are ad portas- will show you that you are not alone, that we are here to help you and hopefully will catch your attention to get you actively involved in our chapter portfolio. Read the article below to know more about how PMI membership fees may be waived in case you have lost your job, how to take advantage of your chapter membership (large discount in our PMP classes, more educational programs with no additional cost) and how to help us in our outreach programs. Because now is the time to give even more, to do even more...

Carlos Lagares,MBA,PMP

SaaS (Software as a Service) is a new term in the market nowadays although it has been used from several years ago.  The software industry looks steady and it's looking for new ways to position products and services in the hands of those who needs to lower their operational costs and create "economics of scale".  Software market can reach now a larger population and permits to position their "product" in a faster way.

Managing our employability and sharpening our skills these days should be a professional priority if we want to remain marketable, competitive and delivering business expected business value to clients and employers in South Florida. You may find that sharpening your skills may be cost prohibiting and difficult to schedule due to work competing priorities, budget cuts, career transitions, and/or lay off events. However, make no mistake that owning your employability requires you to “re-tool” and acquired skills and knowledge by leveraging your South Florida PMI Chapter sponsored education, guest speakers, collaboration and knowledge base tools listed below.

South Florida is featured in the April Edition of Inc. Magazine as an Innovation Hot Spot, where big things happen.  The feature begins with a reminder of a great invention that occurred right here in South Florida. Although IBM is headquartered in New York, the IBM 5150 was developed in Boca Raton in 1980.  This is just one of the many innovations that make South Florida a radiant hot spot for entrepreneurs.

You have worked hard to get where you are today. Experience has given you the intuition to navigate projects within your organization.  Now is the time to formalize your education with a Project Management Professional certification from PMI. Here are just a few reasons why you should consider acting now:

I responded recently to a question that was posed about professional certifications.  The questioner asked which one would be best to pursue given his job responsibilities, the Project Management Professional (PMP) or the Six Sigma Black Belt.  My response was that he should consider both, and my arguments were as follows.