Ernie has served the organization as Conference Committee Chair, as a member of the board, and most recently, for two years as board chair. Ernie provided leadership in these key roles during the pandemic which created some major challenges (and opportunities). He helped lead the successful shift from an in-person conference to a well-received virtual format and within a compressed planning time frame. As a member of the board and as board chair, he has worked successfully with the PDMA leadership team to put PDMA in the best operational and financial shape in many years. While Ernie is ending his term on the PDMA Board of Directors, we will continue our work with him in his new role as PDMA Foundation Chair! The Foundation exists to fund research and education, and Ernie will help the Foundation enhance and pursue its mission. Thank you for all of your good work, leadership, and friendship, Ernie!

Sudhi has been a strong supporter and promoter of PDMA’s certification program as VP Certification and in his role on the PDMA Board. Sudhi did a fantastic job on the certification front, leading the group to understand and define the markets for the program and understanding and learning from the demographics of those currently involved in the program. He was also a conference presenter and an all-around great person to work with. As with Ernie, we needn’t be too sad over the end of Sudhi’s board term — as he will continue to assist with certification program work, and at a very interesting time. We just completed a massive course material design project that is ready for rollout and we continue our work with PMI on micro certifications for project development and product innovation. Thank you, Sudhi, for all your great work; we look forward to our continued work with you!

In technology-rich and design-sensitive marketplaces, the success of a product is often measured by how well it differentiates (and how well that differentiation is safeguarded). Even products developed by talented engineers and gifted designers are not automatically destined for success — products can be functional and beautiful but still fail to enjoy long-term success if they fail to differentiate in the marketplace.

In this session, Joshua’s case studies of iconic products illustrate a practical framework for developing consumer products that are unique and differentiated from competing product offerings. These case studies, ranging from products beloved for many decades to new products just introduced, reveal a pragmatic strategy that can be built into staged product development processes, so that protected differentiation becomes a specific deliverable of the development effort.

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