By Karen Jacobs, PMP

PMI Atlanta Chapter brought its Entertainment Forum back into the limelight on March 28. Craig Dominey, manager for Camera Ready Georgia in the state Film Office, and location specialist Ben McIver took the virtual stage to discuss the meteoric rise of Georgia's film industry. They painted a vivid picture of Georgia's journey from a humble backdrop for films to a thriving hub for cinematic productions.

Dominey reminisced about the roots of the state's film industry. "We owe our existence to the movie 'Deliverance' with Burt Reynolds," he declared. The film, shot in Rabun County in northern Georgia, sparked the 1973 formation of a state Fim, Video, and Music Office by former President Jimmy Carter, who was then Georgia’s governor. Since then, the state has blossomed into one of the top three US production markets alongside LA and New York, distinguished by its diverse range of landscapes and state-of-the-art infrastructure.

The industry’s investment has been bolstered by the state’s tax incentive program, which grants income tax credits for up to 30% of the cost of TV or film production.

The city of Senoia has been a key beneficiary, crediting its growth to “The Walking Dead” that was filmed there. As a result, many local businesses have opened, and the city is a popular tourist spot. “It’s kind of a poster child for the impact film and tourism can have on a community,” Dominey said. The city of Covington, site of the shows “The Vampire Diaries” and “In the Heat of the Night,” has also gained fame and fortune from the film industry.

Ben McIver, senior location manager with Entertainment Partners in Atlanta, said Georgia’s stage space for shows is now comparable to that of Southern California, and the state has drawn film crews to relocate from other film hub cities. “That tax incentive dollar multiplies in ways that people don’t really think about,” he said.  He also said the growth of Atlanta’s airport played a role in the entertainment industry’s success in the state as well.

McIver acknowledged the benefits of project management expertise in his job, particularly in communication, organization, and stakeholder management. However, he cited challenges of fitting formal project management structure into the fast-paced world of film production. Agile practices, retrospectives, and daily standup meetings are other project management activities McIver said he finds helpful in his job.

See a list of upcoming events on the PMI Atlanta Chapter website.

Written by: Catherine Binuya, Ed.D.

Presentation Overview 

William Brown, PMP, has a background in civil engineering technology. He has real-world field experience of 20 years as owner and owner representative in project construction across Georgia and Tennessee. 

William Brown is the CEO of Plan View Drone Aerials (PDVA), founded in 2020. “PDVA has its sights on further supporting the surveying and engineering industries through photogrammetry, quantity surveying, mapping, asset documentation, and project management services.” – PDVA Statement of Qualifications (SOQ). 

Takeaways

• Business value in Architecture, Engineering, Construction:
  • Construction, Engineering, and Inspection (CEI) observations
  • GIS and surveying
  • Design and Digital Twin 3-D modeling
  • Able to document progress with same vantage point
    • Work with client to integrate schedule
    • Focus on phase gates and milestones
    • Improve communication from linear to horizontal
  • Monitoring and Controlling
    
    • Document control—mobile applications built specifically for construction field
    • Customizable daily reports with annotations
    • Lower and manage mitigation claims with detailed information about build site and progress
    • Communicate with stakeholders, align with construction baseline schedule
  •  Managing cost considerations and cost proposal budgeting
    • Manned-team observations vs. subscription drone services
• Requires management of risks
  
  • Known Risks: airspace, anticipated weather, site conditions, overhead obstructions, delayed/rescheduled flights
  • Unknown Risks: actual field progress, actual weather, temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) such as for emergencies or national security

Next Event

Join us at the next PMI Atlanta AEC Forum on Tuesday, April 9, 2024

Keynote Presentation: “Impact of SEC’s Climate Disclosure Rules on PMI Professionals” by Elba Pareja-Gallagher

Register at www.pmiatlanta.org/events/event-calendar 

Event Pictures

Written by: Alex Leonard, PMP

Can you imagine an agile country? What if the values of agile could lead the social impact? Can we use Agile in the entire government to improve a country?

Presentation Overview 

On March 19, 2024, the PMI Atlanta Chapter Agile Forum attendees met virtually as Rocío Briceño presented on “Social Impact Agile: How Agile is Used to Improve the World”. During her presentation Rocío discussed how agile project management can be used to manage social governance projects.

To set the stage, Rocío began discussing the problems that big companies and country governments have. She emphasized that when you look at these problems closely, they are not all too unsimilar. The key to dealing with these problems is not to focus on all that is wrong, but instead, focus on the solution. And that is where Social Impact (SI) Agile comes into play. In the SI Agile Manifesto, there are five commitments:

1. Share clear objectives
2. Actively involve beneficiaries
3. Action teams with social passion
4. Be transparent
5. Provide visible and frequent results

These five commitments are the pillars of SI Agile. While you concentrate on solutions, you will uncover problems, but they are not your focus. The solution to addressing country governance problems lies in the united application of the SI Agile commitments. During the event, Rocío walked us through a case study explaining how SI Agile was applied to solve solutions in Chile and the National Army of Columbia. Furthermore, she explained how the five SI Agile commitments, and a combination of agile frameworks and approaches, were used in a plan to put the entire country of Costa Rica on the path to progress and well-being while humming to the social mantra of “pura vida” which means “everything is going to be alright”!

Takeaways

• Agile frameworks and approaches are not limited to the business sector; they can also be used successfully in a social governance context.
• When we work together in a unified way, there is no national problem to big that cannot be solved with the commitment and resilience of the people.

Next Event

Join us at the next in-person PMI Atlanta Agile Forum at Motion Recruitment on Tuesday, April 16, 2024

Keynote Presentation: “The Agile Lifestyle” by Emanuella Altidor

Register at www.pmiatlanta.org/events/event-calendar 

Event Pictures

By Karen Jacobs, PMP

PMI Atlanta’s first in-person Chapter meeting at Maggiano's, held on March 11, served up a warm welcome for newcomers and a keynote address full of lessons from great leaders past and present. 

Our members and guests enjoyed a delightful meal with rigatoni, baked cod, and eggplant parmesan served family style at Maggiano’s Little Italy at Perimeter Mall—the Chapter’s new venue for in-person Chapter Meetings. Dessert was strawberry cheesecake and a rich chocolate layer cake.

Dick Teters, founder and executive director of The Center for Accountable Leaders and a professor at Kennesaw State University’s Coles College of Business, delivered the keynote address focused on Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle concept of inspiring action and its applicability in project management.

He highlighted the importance of knowing “the why” behind ambitious goals, pointing out the examples of notable figures such as former President John F. Kennedy, who led the charge for the US space program to land a man on the moon, and entrepreneur Elon Musk’s current goal to build a Starship rocket that could transform space travel. He discussed the differing approaches of explorers Roald Amundsen and Robert Falcon Scott to their 1911 expeditions to the South Pole, with Amundsen’s team using better navigation and traveling every day regardless of weather in the freezing Antarctic, while Scott’s team operated only in good weather. The efforts of Amundsen’s team ended in triumph with his team being the first to reach the Earth’s southernmost point, while Scott’s team died on the return journey home. Teters’ point was that planning and preparation can make a difference.

The meeting included announcements of available volunteer positions, including in-person and virtual meeting facilitators for the operations team; facilitators for newcomer sessions for the engagement team; and social media and content managers for the marketing team.

Our next in-person Chapter Meeting will be held Monday, May 20, 2024 at Maggiano's Little Italy. Be sure to register today!