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ProjectBites is a great resource for anyone interested in project management. As a member of PMINS, you have free access to the on demand and live content from ProjectBites. Most content in ProjectBites is 20 minutes or less, which is highly convenient for the ever busy project manager. Content is available in the form of videos, podcasts, and webinars. David Barrett, the founder of ProjectBites was willing to talk with PMINS about his experiences in project management, the history of ProjectBites, and where he sees the future of the platform.

30, 35 years ago, David was working for an organization called Symantec Corporation. He was the fifth employee in Canada, and was involved with selling Norton Utilities and Norton Anti-Virus products. Symantec also had a product called Timeline. Timeline was a DOS based project management scheduling tool that was a leader in the market, worldwide. Symantec had offices all around the world, and it was the leader in this type of software. Symantec did a very, very poor job in porting that product from DOS to Windows. When Windows came out, there was a lot of discourse as to whether Windows would last, and can you really do this stuff under Windows? Symantec was behind the trend. 

While at Symantec, David became quite excited about the project management business due to his involvment with Timeline. He  became the general manager of Timeline Solutions Canada, which lasted a year until they closed. David realized that he wanted to be in the project management space. It was 1996, 1997, and everything was about to explode around technology projects. Desktop computers were there, and the technology boom was on. It was one of those right places, right time moments.

David joined the PMI in 1995. There were approximately 30,000 members at the time, and within three years, it grew to about 200,000 members. And it was all due to the technological boom. 

The journey between 1995 when David joined PMI and project managment to Project Bites is a long one. It involved Project World conferences. David was the facilitator for Project World for a few years, including the two to three times Halifax hosted.

It involved the 18-Day Master Certificate in Project Management with schools such as Saint Mary's University and Schulich School of Business. The Master Certificate in Project Management at these universities was started by David 25 years ago. The Master Certificate program is still running. As of February 17th of this year, a new cohort began of almost 20 students, with the content being provided completely virtual. It's been a huge milestone in David's career. 

David has also published eight books, is a professional speaker, ran a recruiting business for awhile, and published a newsletter, Project Times. ProjectBites is a culmination of all of that. David's passion has always been the provision of content through himself and other people to consumers and those within the project managment industry. He has always been interesting in facilitating for anyone out there getting content to people,and helping people learn from other people. Project Management is not just about a single person, it's about collaboration. David wanted to remain in the project management industry to be able to continuing sharing content by others to assist others.

David wanted to continue to deliver great content through other really good professionals, great professionals that he knew through his years of experience within project management. Networking, in any profession, is a huge asset. David knew many professionals around the world that were speakers, consultants, etc., that might want to jump on board if he developed a portal in which they could promote their brand, and maybe get paid a little money. David had great insight as to what the market wanted, had a good handle on key topic areas and understood what people might want to learn and listen to.

Project Talks was a predecessor of ProjectBites. David and his team experimented with 20-minute content units. They had people come up for four in a row; four different speakers of 20 minutes each, two hours long once questions were factored in. People loved it. Project Talks was conducted all around North America as a live event with PMI chapters. David believes that the 20-minute units really work, as the length of content is a hotspot for adult learners. Rather than continuing with live events, David thought that the creating of a portal, a web interface, would be more convenient and allow for a wider reach. This, ProjectBites was created.

ProjectBites has expanded its offerings of content. In addition to the on demand videos, and live webinars, content is now available as podcasts. You can subscribe through Spotify or your preferred podcast channel you're using. David has also started creating content for those who aren't just seekign PDUs, and/or may not be project management professionals. 

In addition to partnering with PMI chapters, such as PMINS, to provide ProjectBites subscriptions as a membership perk, David is now looking to expand, and partner with corporations, and private business organisations. More and more companies are requiring their employees to branch out and complete work within project management, but it is not their full-time job. By creating and offering content for the accidental and casual project managers, organisations will be able to thrive and give their employees the support they need to succeed. ProjectBites is an ideal format to complement current Learning Managment Systems that most companies offer. 

ProjectBites and David Barrett are valuable assets to the project management industry. The content is easy to consume, and can be accessed at anytime and anywhere. David has cultivated and curated a platform that is open to anyone who operates with project management, be it a seasoned professional, or a newbie just finding out about the industry. As a PMINS member, be sure to take advantage of the opportunity to subscribe to ProjectBites. As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to PMINS, and we’ll be happy to assist.