Inspiring Innovation and Connecting with Our Global Community
Coming home from the Leadership Institute Meeting (#PMILIM) in Lisbon we are energized by the wealth of knowledge, inspiration, and connections. This event was a remarkable opportunity to meet peers from across Europe and the Middle East, learn from their stories and proudly showcase the milestones our own chapter has achieved.
Marketing the "Biggest Summit": Venci and Teodora’s Success
One of the highlights of the event was the breakout session delivered by our very own Venci Lukanov (VP Marketing) and Teodora Todorova (VP Communications & Social Networks). Titled “Behind the Marketing Scenes of Europe’s Biggest Project Management Summit,” their presentation was a resounding success.
Drawing on the PMI culture value “Together we can,” they shared the inner workings of the marketing strategy used to deliver our flagship event and enable a massive summit team to keep their momentum. Attendees were provided with real-life learning objectives, including:
- Content Creation Strategies: Describing the approaches used to market a large-scale event and deliver the desired message to the correct audience.
- Stakeholder Coordination: Analyzing the challenges of managing diverse stakeholder groups and the adaptive techniques used to overcome them.
- Structure Before Creativity: Demonstrating how a strong structure, including a unified brand identity and a master marketing calendar, actually enables greater creativity.
Their presentation emphasized that marketing is ultimately about human connection, moving beyond mere ads and campaigns to foster real engagement within the project management community.
Annual Planning and "Lego Serious Play": Aneliya Chervenova on Leadership
Our Chapter President, Aneliya Chervenova, represented us on a high-energy panel during the “Chapter Leader Live!” general session. This session was designed for chapter leaders to share authentic, “front-line” leadership stories.
Aneliya shared insights into our chapter’s strategic journey, specifically focusing on the creation of our annual plan. She highlighted the LEGO Serious Play workshop we conducted earlier this year, an innovative approach that helped our board visualize goals and align on our mission to “inspire, support, and empower” the community.
Her stories aligned perfectly with the session’s focus on bringing the PMI value “Be Welcoming” to life. By sharing these honest reflections, she helped other chapter leaders recognize the impact of intentional, welcoming leadership behaviors on member retention and volunteer growth.
Empowering the Future: Katya Nikolova and the Student Club
Representing the vibrant future of our profession, Katya Nikolova represented the PMI Bulgaria Student Club at the meeting. She participated in the session “Creating a Roadmap for Successful Student Engagement: Examples from Chapter Student Clubs,” where she joined other young leaders to discuss building meaningful connections between chapters, students, and academic institutions.
During this engagement, Katya contributed to the dialogue on how to “creatively use resources to inspire and design engaging learning opportunities for students”. This session was a vital platform for analyzing successful student engagement activities and best practices used by other chapters, helping us further mature our own academic outreach plans.
Learning from the Global Chapter Network
Beyond our own contributions, the experience was deeply educational. We learned how other chapters are embedding inclusive strategies into their programs and communications. The networking sessions allowed us to exchange ideas on:
- Volunteer Governance: Comparing structures that balance board oversight with team-lead execution.
- The “4 Rs” of Volunteer Success: Recruitment, Retention, Recognition, and Relationships.
- Adaptive Leadership: How to navigate “chaos” by staying flexible and learning every year.
Bringing the Spirit of Lisbon Home
We return to Bulgaria with a renewed sense of purpose. As a Finalist for the 2025 PMI Chapter of the Year, the insights from Lisbon will fuel our efforts as we prepare for the upcoming PM Summit 2026. We are more committed than ever to serving as a “catalyst for project excellence” and a vibrant forum for the exchange of ideas
