Project management signifcantly enhances an organisation’s value. HP recognised this early on and understood that, in order to successfully drive business growth, profits and customer satisfaction, project management needed to be at the core of its business strategy. Implementing and sustaining a robust project management model has facilitated more structure and standardisation, which has ultimately increased ROI for the firm. Renee’s executive perspective will reveal the importance and value of project management to any business.Through her HP experience, Renee’s presentation will highlight the components required to successfully implement and sustain a global project management organisation.

As the Vice President of the Engagement Program Management Office for Hewlett-Packard Services Worldwide, Renee is responsible for defining the overall business practices, methods, tools, infrastructure and competency development programmes necessary to support project managers in their efforts to sell and deliver successful solutions to HP customers. Leading HP Service’s worldwide PMO for the past six years, Renee was responsible for building the office into the global organisation that it is today. As part of this role, Renee oversees a portfolio of more than 3,000 projects a year, which contribute to the $US13 billion annual revenue for HP Services. Joining HP as a result of the acquisition of Compaq in 2002, Renee built on morethan 27 years of industry experience. Prior to HP’s takeover of Compaq, Renee held various line management, selling and project management positions at Digital Equipment Corporation. Renee holds a bachelor’s degree in industrial and systems engineeringfrom the University of Michigan.

 

In his roles as a Minister of the Crown and Mayor of Auckland, John has been involved in many major projects, some political and many controversial. While many have been successful, others – such as the Auckland eastern motorway corridor – have run into problems. Also, as a private business person, John has been involved in many more projects including successful business start ups. Sharing with us some of his experiences around these projects, John will talk about the high level issues of championing and governance that can be the key to project success or failure.

John Banks began his political career in local-body politics with election to the Birkenhead Borough Council. In the 1978 general election, John Banks stood as the National Party candidate for the Roskill electorate, but unsuccessfully. In the 1981 election, he stood in a different seat, Whangarei, and won. He would retain this seat for the remainder of his parliamentary career.

Regan is an outstanding New Zealander who, in recent years, has worked under secondment to UNHCR on emergency relief projects such as building refugee camps in the Sudan and Pakistan. Most recently, he has been involved in disaster relief and reconstruction programmes in tsunami-ravaged Aceh, Indonesia. With a background in engineering, Regan has worked in senior management and project management roles for major consulting practices in New Zealand, Australia, Brunei and the US. Regan will present his perspective on the project management skills gained from working in situations involving large numbers of traumatised people– projects requiring high levels of technical organisation and clearstandards of accountability.

With over 25 years experience in structural design/management prior to joining Unitec, Regan has also completed three RedR Humanitarian assignments for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) planning, building and managing refugee camps in West Timor (1999-2000), Pakistan (2001-2002), Syria (2003) and in post-tsunami Aceh, Indonesia (2005). Regan has a range of major design achievements including the Eagles Stadium, Philadelphia ($US350M); the Federal Bld, San Francisco ($US50M); Natural Ventilation for Schools, Singapore ($S1.5B); and the Le Defi Base America’s Cup, Auckland ($NZ2M). The holder of a variety of degrees – including a bachelorate and masters in civil engineering, a masters and PhD in architecture, and an MBA – Regan’s research interests include the engineering and architectural aspects of humanitarian research, design process creativity and Maori identity.

 

As a freelance producer with over 20 years’ industry experience, Catherine has ?lmed and managed projects throughout New Zealand, the Pacific, Asia and Europe. Working across the board in feature films, television series, commercials and documentaries, Catherine has more recently been involved in producing a DVD with Anne Geddes and Celine Dion. Having recently returned from Sri Lanka, developing a documentary on New Zealand aid monies and post-tsunami fishing communities, Catherine has also lately managed sequence filming for Weta Workshop’s upcoming feature, The Legend of Zorro. Catherine’s presentation will focus on the challenges of film projects, where creative ideas, volatile personalities and leading-edge technology are brought together within tight constraints of time and budget. Launching into her film career during the early 1980s, Catherine’s first project was a NZ-US co-production called Savage Islands starring The Fugitive’s Tommy Lee Jones.

In 2000, Catherine commenced a 14 month project as New Zealand production manager on the Martin Campbell-directed Vertical Limit, starring Chris O’Donnell and Bill Paxton. By 2003, Catherine was in Thailand for eight months working as Line Producer on the drama Beyond Borders, which starred Tomb Raider’s Angelina Jolie and Clive Owen of King Arthur fame. Most recently, Catherine was involved in scouting the New Zealand landscape with internationally-acclaimed producer, director and actor Danny DeVito while researching feature film locations. Each of these projects required the cooperation and collaboration of many stakeholders and agents, often in situations complicated by language and cultural barriers, yet a successful outcome was achieved in each case.