This article compiles a list of project management conferences, comprised of both project controls conferences and smaller events that planners, schedulers, and project professionals in the related field of practice can attend.
Project management conferences are a great way for project professionals to gain new skills, network, and learn more about the latest industry updates. In the fast paced world of project management, being part of these events is essential for professional upgrade and staying a relevant opinion maker.
As project management professionals continuously seek new events to enhance their skills, build valuable connections and learn from the best in the industry, we are compiling a list of the most relevant unique events they can attend. The list contains project management conferences that are relevant to the different roles within the project management domain, with focus on project controls and the planning and scheduling roles.
Note: The conferences feature a short overview and are not ranked or compared in any particular order.
If you are a project scheduler working within Engineering and Construction, Oil and Gas, Energy, Manufacturing, Defense or Government sectors are looking to attend a project management conference to meet your professional goals, from networking to improving your skills with software tools such as Primavera P6, you can find some of the unmatched forums for growth and innovation in our list below.
AACE International Conference and Expo
We start the list with the AACE the largest community of professionals from various practice areas including project controls, cost & commercial management, change management, planning & scheduling, estimating, decision & risk management, asset management, and dispute resolution.
Members of the AACE include different roles and profiles ranging from owners, contractors, and consultants from many industries, such as construction, manufacturing, engineering, infrastructure, natural resources, power generation & utilities, and government and others.
Each year the AACE along with its diverse network of charters organizes numerous different events, regional meetings and conferences.
The AACE Conference & Expo and other events always bring together the leading cost and project controls experts under one roof. The main event features technical presentations, that feature topics and best-case practices related to scheduling, that undergo a rigorous peer review process to ensure attendees receive the highest quality education.
The last 2023 edition if the conference also featured an extensive list of exhibitors including Synami with their new product PPM Core, and other companies who presented their products and challenged attendees to implement technology and innovative solutions to better manage, plan and schedule their projects.
The next main AACE Conference & Expo conference for project controls, schedulers and other project practitioners is currently scheduled to be held in person in Atlanta, GA on June 16-18, 2024.
Construction CPM Conference
The Construction CPM Conference is a three-day project management event focused on the study and training in the Critical Path Method of planning, scheduling and analysis.
Each year, this conference has been bringing together schedulers and planning professionals to converse about CPM, the latest practices from around the world, and learn about different software products that complement the Primavera suite, such as ScheduleReader, ScheduleCleaner and other tools that can help their workflows and scheduling.
The conference offers project controllers and schedulers unique opportunity to expand their skillset with many practical tips on planning, scheduling, but as well as estimating costs and risks and more.
The next edition of the Construction CPM Conference will be live, and held from January 14 – 17, 2024 in San Antonio, Texas.
Project Controls Expo
Project Controls Expos feature several different project controls conferences, and it has positioned itself as one of the leading project management events dedicated to the development and continuous advancement of Project Controls as a profession.
The Project Controls Expo events create a unique opportunity to bring the global Project Controls community together, featuring a wide range of topics, focused on ‘real-life’ project controls challenges, best practices on project planning and scheduling, covering the key projects in case study and other formats.
The expo welcomes delegates with professional background of industries such as construction, aerospace, infrastructure, oil and gas, rail/transport, as well as the pharmaceutical industry and others.
The Project Controls expos follow a similar format featuring different zones with presentations, such as Masterclass zone, Case studies zone and a Technology zone where delegates can learn all about new pm tools and technology, as well as awards ceremonies during the nights.
More information about the speakers, presentation exhibitors and other details are available through their website.
2023/2024 Dates & Locations:
- PCE Virtual (GLOBAL)
- PCE USA – September 25th-27th, Nationals Park, Washington DC
- PCE UK – November 7th-8th, Wembley Stadium, London
- PCE AUS – November 14th- 15th, MCG, Melbourne
- PCE Malaysia – (2024) – 4th- 6th March 2024, KLCC, Kuala Lumpur
- PCE Brazil – (2024) – 6 -7 March 2024, Sao Paulo, Brazil
The team behind the Project Control Expo is also organizing the Project Controls Meet events, that explore similar topics and provide a great opportunity for professional networking.
Western Winter Workshop
The Western Winter Workshop is an industry-oriented project controls conference pulling together capital program organizations, executives, contractors, consultants, innovators and technology solution professionals who share the common goal of driving successful project delivery.
With technical presentations that feature the very latest in program management, project controls and construction management tools and techniques, the Workshop provides a unique opportunity for delegates to network with key decision makers for major capital project delivery organizations as well as owners, executives, managers, engineers and many other industry professionals.
This project management related event is scheduled to take place on February 29 – March 3, 2024 at the Hyatt Regency Indian Wells Resort and Spa.
Project Management College of Scheduling
The Project Management College of Scheduling (PMCOS) is a dynamic organization of professionals dedicated to advancing the practice and profession of project planning and scheduling, and promoting the implementation of accurate, ethical schedules throughout the World.
The PMCOS 2023 6th Annual Conference is titled: Scheduling: The Smartest Bet in Town… Viva Las Vegas and is scheduled to take place in Las Vegas.
Project Control Summit
Project Control Summit is a global conference in project controls whose goal is to gather project professionals from around the globe and provide them with unique learning and network experience.
Each year the conference presents a rich agenda filled with insights from leading industry experts on a wide array of project controls topics, including planning and scheduling.
A recording of 2023 year’s event with the technical sessions is available and the dates for the next event have been announced, with the conference scheduled to take place in the in the city of Galveston Island, Texas, United States from April 29th to May 1st, 2024.
CMAA Conferences
The Construction Management Association of America is an industry association dedicated to the practice of professional construction management and offers different learning and development opportunities for professionals involved in managing construction projects.
Each year, CMAA is a host to different events, including two major national gatherings, the CMAA Focus and the CMAA annual conference.
Global Primavera P6 Conferences
As Oracle’s Primavera P6 is one of the project planning and scheduling practitioner’s most popular and widely used tool, it is featured in the larger part of the abovementioned conferences.
In addition, we would like to mention a few project management events that explore Primavera as their main topic:
Primavera User Community Day – Germany
Each year, the Primavera community in Germany, gathers for a themed project management event dedicated to Primavera, featuring presentations related to project management with Primavera and other tools.
The next Primavera Community Day is announced to take place on November 9th, 2023, in Nuremberg, under the motto “Navigating Change Together: How Primavera and technologies are driving change in Project Management, society, and Business”.
Delegates will look forward to an exciting program with presentations from industry experts, and plenty of networking opportunities with other Primavera users.
PM Days by XPMsoft – Germany
XPM Soft is a project management consultancy based in Landshut, Germany, organizing the Project Management days event, a two-day project management event that is all about Primavera.
The gathering will feature interesting presentations from their customers, the XPMsoft team, as well as news from software providers such as Oracle, but as well as Deltek and Synami, whose software tools such as ScheduleReader, ScheduleCleaner and PPM Core that are used by planners and schedulers working in the Primavera project environment.
PMIS’s Primavera User Conference – Ireland
PMIS is a company that has worked in many different sectors from utilities and oil & gas to defence forces and engineering right across the globe, and in their service, portfolio additionally provides training and implementation of the Primavera solutions.
This year, their Primavera User Conference aims to bring together the subject matter experts within the Oracle Primavera family who work on complex projects and deliver substantial infrastructure, local government and commercial projects across the globe, in Dublin, Ireland.
Furthermore, a wide range of topics from workflows and best practice solutions to soft skills, diversity, and scaling are delivered from interesting expert speakers.
Webinars
Last on the list we have a webinar mention focused on themes related to the scheduling practices and primavera.
Primavera Environment: Tools that can enhance your project management communication
If you are a project professional that is managing projects with the Primavera software, then this project management event is a right fit for you.
The free webinar provides an overview of two software tools, ScheduleReader and ScheduleCleaner and how they can be used in complement to your Primavera P6 tools while managing projects of large magnitude.
About ScheduleReader
ScheduleReader is a standalone software that dynamically presents project data from XER and XML schedules exported from Oracle® Primavera® P6®.
Users can easily filter and organize their activities in the schedule and even propose activity feedback from the field through the applications interface.
ScheduleReader is widely used as an alternative to viewing project data in static PDF printouts or Excel files by non-schedulers who only wish to review a schedule, to schedulers and project controls who need quick access to view schedule data, create reports or perform different analysis. Simply put, this application provides a more sophisticated way of viewing and communicating schedule information that leads to improved workflows and efficiency.
A 15-day free trial of the application is available for download.
About ScheduleCleaner
ScheduleCleaner is a must-have tool for any project planner and scheduler who is working with the Primavera P6 software and receives multiple contractor’s schedules.
This easy-to-use tool allows the user to remove, convert or anonymize sensitive data within XER and XML project files, before the schedule is shared to a project stakeholder both within or outside company/project environment or imported into a P6 database.
Over 80 categories of project data, such as costs, units, POBS and risks and other can be removed from the schedule, while at the same time, data such as Global Activity Codes, and Global Calendars can be converted into Project level, and vice-versa.
A free trial of the ScheduleCleaner application can be requested, and you can additionally learn more about these two innovative tools that complement the Primavera project environment by watching the webinar recording.
Final Thoughts
Attending different project management conferences can help you to expand your technical knowledge and learn more about the latest industry trends, best practices, and new software solutions to further advance in your career.
At the same time, during these project management events you can benefit from networking with like-minded people and practitioners in your field of profession who share similar professional challenges like you.
We hope that this list will help you find some project management conferences that explore topics aimed towards the scheduling part of the profession that you can attend in the year 2023 and 2024!
If we missed an interesting event, feel free to share your suggestions with us at [email protected] and we will make sure to update this list and the project controls conferences list with more entries.