Usually when I travel anywhere outside of the Northeast, I tell people I am from Massachusetts or “outside of Boston” and people smile and nod. In rare instances granularity increases in the conversation and I eventually reveal that it’s actually “a hip little town in the western part of the state called Northampton”. Well, at DCLA, ~3000 miles from home, before 8:30am, I was 5 for 5 with people from California that not only know where Northampton is, but had visited before and had a favorite hotspot to share. Way to go Noho, you have officially been nationally recognized as geographically relevant.
Everyone was so friendly, and greeted us by name as we walked through the Campus Center. It was incredible that in the land of Hollywood, two folks from Massachusetts, could feel like celebrities. I am not sure it was only because we were the cool kids that had traveled the longest distance, this stardom and warm welcome may have been derived from the early recognition we received for IT mastery. I basically spent the first morning of the camp traveling from table to table, helping all the sponsors connect to the wifi. I know that doesn’t sound like a big deal to you, but considering the internet prowess in the room, the fact that this marketing manager type found a way to be technically useful and wave a magic connectivity wand to save the people, was pure bliss. People were genuinely super grateful and relieved to have access to the magical interwebs, I realized for techies, having internet was as important to them as my morning coffee is to me.
I learned a ton at the conference, and attended one session in particular that really resonated with me. James Smith from Image X not only brought his Project Management A-game to the podium, but did so while sporting a sweet mustache.
The project manager is at the service of the team, not the other way around. James suggested that a daily check in with the team should sound like this: “Have I met your expectations today? Did you get what you need from me? Did that do what you needed it to do? What do you want or think you need next? When do you need it by?”
We all know that in the end, a happy team = a happy client. This is very much in line with one piece of our implementation of the Maker’s Schedule within our Task-Driven Teamwork model whereby a dynamic hierarchy works, appropriately and effectively, to treat each the client, the project, and team members as the top priority. This DCLA presentation was very fitting: as we are growing our team at every position, we are especially looking for people to join our Project Management team.
If you have excellent communication skills and really advocate for both your clients and team, please consider joining us!
