PDMA Connections - July 2024

It's time to register! Our early bird deadline is July 25 — take advantage of the savings! Gear up for an incredible experience in St. Louis as we bring you four action-packed days of education, innovation, and networking opportunities.

Discover your innovation path at the PDMA Conference with specially tailored journey tracks: Ideation & Discovery, Development & Delivery, and Innovation Governance & Tools.
Customize your experience by following one track from start to finish, or mix sessions across tracks to suit your unique professional needs.

Whether you're looking to ignite your creativity, streamline your processes, or integrate cutting-edge AI technology into your products, the PDMA Conference is your gateway to advancing not just your career, but also the capabilities of your organization. Join us as we explore new frontiers in innovation and lay down the foundations for the products of tomorrow.

PDMA’s Global Student Innovation Challenge 2024 Finalists have been selected.

Preliminary judging is complete! The E-Walk: A Stimulation-Based Solution to Foot Drop from Clemson University, USA, PowerHouse from Technical University Berlin, Germany, and Bloom Speculum from Clemson University, USA will present at PDMA’s Inspire Innovation Conference and JPIM Research Forum, September 14-17 in St. Louis to determine 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prize money and bragging rights.

Congratulations to all 125 students representing 15 universities, 19 professors and 34 teams from 8 countries that submitted their understanding of product development to compete for prize monies by submitting a product/service/software idea and detailing the unique value proposition, financial assessment, evidence of demand, and mockup or embodiment of product.

Recent kHUB Postings:

While conflicts like those between Jim and Dwight from The Office may entertain, real-world applications of DISC offer invaluable insights into workplace dynamics, fostering a more cohesive and productive environment. Despite potential conflicts, diverse personality styles are crucial for balanced team dynamics. Each style contributes differently—grounding decisions (C), driving progress (D), and fostering creativity (I)—leading to more robust outcomes. This kHUB article (The Frustration Of The Product Manager Explained by guest contributor Toby Adamson) walks us through the theory and utilization of DISC to apply to your own product development teams. Ms. Adamson shows how it is essential to have a diverse team in terms of both ideas and styles to be successful. The high C keeps you grounded. The high D keeps you moving, and the high I keeps things fun and creative. If the team were all one style, the result could be catastrophic. The important element is to recognize the differences and have this language to explain the conflicts and thus help avoid future conflicts. If you see conflicts with colleagues or co-workers and / or are unhappy in your job, DISC is a great tool to help you understand yourself and others better and improve your outcomes and relationships.
In this kHUB Portfolio Management webcast, The Future of Digitalizing your Innovation Portfolio, Paul Heller of Sopheon Corporation shares information on Innovation Portfolio Management. He proposes moving beyond tools such as Microsoft Excel for portfolio management to digitalize and manage portfolios more effectively, especially for innovation products and projects. Paul introduces best practices derived from extensive experience across numerous companies and demonstrates how tools beyond Excel can facilitate scalable portfolio management. Furthermore, he explores the potential future of portfolio management enhanced by AI, highlighting how AI technologies can optimize and streamline portfolio processes for better outcomes. Discover how automating routine tasks with AI frees up valuable time, allowing you to focus on strategic growth and product leadership.
PDMA’s local chapters continue to hold online events. We post the recordings and presentations from the local events on kHUB’s Local Chapter Content On Demand for you to access and view at your convenience. Check out the following recent presentations:

· Minnesota Chapter – May 15, 2024: Getting Senior Executives to Support Your Product Initiative

· St. Louis Chapter – May 16, 2024: Leading Product Led Change: How to Move Away from Marketing/Sales Led

· St. Louis Chapter – June 13, 2024: Building Inclusive Products: Why Web Accessibility Equals Customer-Centricity

· Carolinas Chapter – July 9, 2024: Design Thinking

PDMA is growing! Meet and connect with our new members by signing into the PDMA community on our website.

PDMA welcomed these new members in June 2024. We look forward to working with you!

Individual Members

Evan Azer
Max Beck
Raveesh Budania
Patricia Constante
Marina Drazic
Alan Halassa
Adrienne Guzman
Andy Hoag
Bobby Jewell
Darcy Kirkpatrick
misty laporte
Thatcher Nakimuli
John Stephens
Kristin Waldo
Elaine You

Academic Members

Lijian Gao
Yuwei Sun
Shih-Te Tang
Xibai Wang

Student Members
Lukas Ellmann
Sebastian Esch
Christoph Hackstein
Jayakumar K
Jana Kaus
Lei Li
Janelle Taylor
Kunal Vasavada
Nan Wang
Siying Zhang

Are you looking to become more involved in PDMA? We’re looking for you! We want to expand kHUB’s network of curators/editorial board. PDMA kHUB is the centralized digital content management and access platform for the extensive PDMA Body of Knowledge. The kHUB editorial board is responsible for content aggregation, curation, and creation for the key areas. kHUB offers easy access and brings to life PDMA thought leadership in a way that showcases our unique expertise and enduring impact for product development and innovation management professionals throughout their careers.

Learn more here, fill out this form and/or contact Sue Burek, kHUB administrator (sburek@pdma.org, 585-314-4611)