Today project managers practice their profession in a dynamic range of industries; from local government to media and even environmental conservation. At the Center of Excellence in Project Management we strive to keep up with the latest opportunities and trends. Here are just some of the exciting things that are happening in our profession:

• Save the Planet through Project Management! August 2012 is “green IT/management” month, according to Ganthead.com, the online community for project managers in information technology. Ganthead.com is celebrating with features like “Bringing Data Centers into the Green” and “Going Green on a Budget.”

“It does help the bottom line to be more efficient. What we’re all about as project managers is managing resources, and one of those resources is the environment,” said Dave Shirley, co-author of Green Project Management, in a video interview now available on Ganthead.com.

• Green Project Management Can Save Millions, according to a video case study from EarthPM.com. Town leaders in Quito, Equador, planned to build an expensive water filtration plant. Instead they created a fund to invest in upstream conservation, which prevented agricultural run-off from tainting Quito’s water supply. “It’s not organized as an environmental initiative; it’s organized as a lower cost way to secure clean water,” said Mark Tercek, CEO of the Nature Conservancy.

• Looking for a job in local government? The public sector is beginning to rely on the efficiencies that only the methods of a trained project manager can provide, according to a story in the August issue of PM Network, published by the Project Management Institute.

• Fast Times Need Faster Software. As the projects they manage become more complex, project managers rely more and more on collaboration software, such as Microsoft SharePoint, which allow users to share documents and information in a controlled way, according to “10 Hot Project Management Trends,” a story on Baseline Magazine.

• PMI October Symposium. The New York City chapter of the Project Management Institute will hold its 2012 Symposium October 26, 2012, at the New York headquarters of Credit Suisse. This year’s theme is “Reach New Heights!” Speakers will include Joe Daniels, President of the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, and Jeremy Sutton, Global Head of IT Program Services for Credit Suisse.