Rodney Dunican's Presentation on Project Management

I am amazed that people aren't taught project management as a matter of course while they're in school. Pretty much everything is a project of one sort or another and being able to manage it (either your own time and resources or a group's) is key to getting things done effectively.

I think that everything he went over was really helpful even if I've managed projects before. His presentation was so concise and broke things down in such a way that some very obvious things were clearly articulated (rather than just being fuzzy ideas floating around in the back of my brain soup).

Most especially, I liked his take away advice (parting notes & summary) which I've sort of listed here:

• Do celebrated work (do stuff you like & are proud of)
• Almost all jobs are project based
• Billing is critical (bill by milestones not just projects)
• When it comes to instructional design, the focus of your boss/whoever hired you is not learner-centric (the business' bottom-line and stats is what's important)
• Theory and practice don't line up. So the ADDIE model isn't going to match the real world well. It's a good guide, but not the rule.
  
• You may make more $$ contracting but don't forget the other costs, such as liabilitiy and professional insurance, as well as health care, home costs, dependents, marketing yourself, etc.
• Stay in contact with your classmates, even if they don't stay in this field or your field, since a lot of work comes from word of mouth