Book reviews

EPMS

Book Reviews

There are many relevant books for the event project manager - and they do not all have the title event management or festival management. The smart event manager uses all the available knowledge from many areas including logistics, risk management and project management. Below is a review of the literature the event manager may find relevant. A lot of the literature such as the USA Marine Logistics Manual can be found on the web. Communication, responsibility, quick decisions have been developed for years by the armed forces and there is no reason event managers can't use this experience. If war is said to be organised violence then events can be described as organised celebration.

Project management books :

5-Phase Project Management - A Practical Planning and Implementation Guide -Weiss, J. and Wysocki, R (1992),. Addison -Wiley, Reading MA 1992
This is a good introduction to the process and uses a planning a conference as an example.
A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK) PMI Standards Committee 1996 MNI Publishing North Carolina
This can be downloaded from the Internet (200 pages) and is the standard in traditional project management. Use 'PMBOK' in a search engine.
The Little Black Book of Project Management, Thomsett, M. (1990) AMACOM New York
A wonderful little introduction, easy to read and it keeps within the limits of traditional project management
The Handbook of Project-Based Management Turner, JR (1999) McGraw Hill Maidenhead
An advanced text with many of examples.
Tools and Tips for Today's Project Managers Kliem,R and Ludin,S (1999) Project Management Institute Headquarters Pennsylvania
A good dictionary of the main terms used in every day project management
Project Management Methodology - A Practical Guide for the Next Millennium, Kliem R, et al Marcel Dekker NY 1997 - is an excellent introduction to effective documented planning for projects.

Project Risk Management -Processes, Techniques and Insights Chapman C., Ward S., J Wiley 1997 - introduces the idea of continuous risk management over the project life cycle. A must read for a serious event manager

Project Management Demystified - Today's tools and techniques Geoff Reiss, E&FN Spoon second edition 1999 London - A jauntily written text that can be easily read in one or two sittings. Humour and irony combine with a solid base of project management experience to produce a work of wisdom. The author is quick to dispel the myth that PjM is about the construction industry. It has a variety of backgrounds and the resultant methodology can be used in any time based industry. He uses special events such as an exhibition and a sport event as detailed examples of this methodology in action. One of Reiss's basic concepts is that the project manager is often invisible. If the project goes smoothly and is successful then the project manager is often seen a unnecessary. How many time has we heard that with regard to an event - weddings in particular. The book is peppered with ideas for the project manager to make their management work visible to the client and stakeholders.

For those interested in hardcore project management :

Comprehensive Project Management ; Integrating, Optimisation Models, Management Principles and Computers, Badiru A. & Pulat P. A Prentice -Hall NJ 1995 - you need an understanding of operations research to get the gist of this one.

Decision Analysis in Projects Schuyler J. , PMI Communications North Carolina 1996 - not for the light reader.

If you want to order a book and do this through this website I get a little kickback - it doesn't effect your price - and I am not too sure how much is involved. Order a book through Amazon.com

If you would like the definitive book on event management (I wrote it!) then order it here : Festival and Special Event Management from Amazon.

General references - books on Events, Project Management and Systems

There are numerous references use to get the content of this site up an running. Below are most of them - a mixture of books on events , project management and systems.

Badiru A. and Pulat P. (1995). A Comprehensive Project Management; Integrating, Optimisation Models, Management Principles and Computers, Prentice -Hall NJ

Bent J. & Humphreys K. Edit (1996) Effective project management through applied cost and schedule control New York : M. Dekker

Berlonghi A.(1990). Special Event Risk Management Manual, Bookmasters Inc. Ohio.

Brown W. (2000) AntiPatterns in Project Management J. Wiley NY ISBN: 0471 36366 9

Burke R. (1992) Project Management Planning and Control J Wiley NY

Calvert M. (1995) Technology contracts : a handbook for law and business Sydney : Butterworths

Chapman C. & Ward S. (1997) Project Risk Management J Wiley Chichester UK

Cleland D. and King W. (1975). Systems Analysis and Project Management, McGraw-Hill

Cleland D.,ed. (1998) Field Guide to Project Management New York : Van Nostrand Reinhold,

Collins T. (1998). Crash : Learning form the World's Worst Computer Disasters, Simon and Schuster London

Conger S. & Mason R. (1998) Planning and Designing Effective Web Sites Course Technology Cambridge MA

Cooper A. (1999) The Inmates are Running the Asylum, Macmillan Computer Publishing Indiana

Crawford L. and Costello K. (1999) Towards A Transferable Methodology For Managing Strategic Change by Projects. In: Crawford, L. and Clarke, C.F.,(Eds.) IRNOP IV Conference - Paradoxes of Project Collaboration in the Global Economy: Interdependence, Complexity and Ambiguity, Sydney, Australia: University of Technology, Sydney

Dinsmore P. (1990) Human Factors in Project Management 2^nd Edition AMACOM NY USA

Dorner D. (1997) The Logic of Failure Addison Wesley MA

Duncan W. (1996) A Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge PMI Publishing North Carolina, full text found at : http://www.eniac.com/whitepap/project.htm

England E. & Andy Finney A., 1999 Managing Multimedia : project management for interactive media Harlow, England ; Reading, Mass. : Addison-Wesley.

Epple, A. (1997) Organising Scientific Meetings Cambridge University Press UK

Evans P. & Wurster T., (2000) Blown to Bits Harvard Business School Press Boston MA USA

Frame J & Block T, 1998 The Project Office-A Key to Managing Projects Effectively Crisp Publication Menlo Park, CA,

Gleick J., (1999)Faster Little Brown and Company London UK

Goldblatt J (1997) Special Events Best Practices in Modern Event Management Van Nostrand Reinhold NY

Goldratt E. (1997) Critical Chain, North River Press MA

Gray C. & Larson E. (2000) Project management : the managerial process /Boston Irwin/McGraw-Hill

James P. Lewis P (2000) 2 ed The project manager's desk reference : a comprehensive guide to project planning, scheduling, evaluation, and systems NY McGraw-Hill

Kerzner H. (1998) Project Management : A Systems Approach to Planning, Scheduling and Controlling , J.Wiley NY, 6th Edition

Kharbanda O.P. and Stallworthy E.A. (1983) How to learn from Project Disasters Gower Aldershot

Kirkwood C., (1997) Strategic Decision Making Multiobjective Decision Analysis with Spreadsheets Wadsworth Publishing Company California USA

Kleindorfer.P, Kunreuther H., Schoemaker P. (1993) Decision Sciences : An Integrative Perspective Cambridge University Press Cambridge UK

Kliem R, et al (1997) Project Management Methodology - A Practical Guide for the Next Millennium, Marcel Dekker NY 1997 - is an excellent introduction to effective documented planning for projects.

Kliem R. & Ludin I. (1997) Reducing project risk Brookfield VT Gower

Kliem,R and Ludin,S (1999)Tools and Tips for Today's Project Managers Project Management Institute Headquarters Pennsylvania A good dictionary of the main terms used in every day project management

Leach L.(2000) Critical Chain Project Management, Artech House MA

Lientz B.& Rea K. (1995) Project management for the 21st century / Imprint San Diego : Academic Press

Malouf L. (1999) Behind the Scenes at Special Events J Wiley NY

Marsh P., (1989) Successful Bidding and Tendering Gower Publishing Company Brookfield Vermont

Martin M et al (1990) Contract Administration for the Project Manager Project Management Institute PA USA

McDonnell I., Allen J. O'Toole W. (1999) Festival and Special Event Management J Wiley Brisbane

McLeod G. & Smith D. (1996) Managing Information Technology Projects ITP MA USA

Modell M., A Professional's Guide to Systems Analysis McGraw-Hill 2ed 1996 NY

Morris P.W.(1999) The Management of Projects : the new model http://www.umist.ac.uk/CRMP/management_of_projects.htm

Nicholas J. (1990) Managing business and engineering projects : concepts and implementation London : Prentice-Hall International

Nielsen J (2000) Designing Web Usability New Riders Publishing Indianna USA

O'Shea J. and Madigan C.(1997) Dangerous Company, Nicholas Brealey Publishing London

Perlman A. No Bull Object Technology for Executives, Cambridge University Press 1999 Cambridge UK

Pinto J. & Trailer J Edit 1999 Essentials of project control PA : Project Management Institute

Port-Roth B., (1993) Proposal Development; How to Respond and Win the Bid Oasis Press OR

Project Management Forum : http://www.pmforum.org/

Project Management Institute (2000 )Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge, Project Management Institute PA USA

Reid A., 1999 Project Management : getting it right Boca Raton, Fl. : CRC Press

Reiss G., Project Management Demystified - Today's tools and techniques Geoff Reiss, E&FN Spoon second edition 1999 London -

Satzinger J., Orvik T., The Object-Oriented Approach : Concepts, Modeling and System Development Course Technology International Thomas Publishing Cambridge MA USA 1996

Schuyler J. (1996) Decision Analysis in Projects, PMI Communications North Carolina

Shenk D., (1997) Data Smog Abacus London UK

Sherden W. (1998) The Fortune Sellers J. Wiley NY USA

Stoll C. (1995) Silicon Snake Oil Macmillan London UK

The Project Management Institute has recently (1999) released its Project Management Software Survey ISBN 1-880410-52-4 (available form their web site www.pmi.org)

Thomsett, M. (1990) The Little Black Book of Project Management, AMACOM New York

Tiwana A., The Knowledge Management Tools Kit : Practical Techniques for Building a Knowledge Management System Prentice Hall 2000 NJ

Traffic Management for Special Events (1999) Available through the Roads and Traffic Authority www.rta.nsw.gov.asu

Turner, JR (1999) The Handbook of Project-Based Management McGraw Hill Maidenhead

Verzuh E. (1999) The Fast Forward MBA in Project Management John Wiley, NY.

Weiss, J. and Wysocki, R (1992) 5-Phase Project Management - A Practical Planning and Implementation Guide, Addison -Wiley, Reading MA

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