APM celebrates 40 years today

On this day in 1972, 78 people paid their £1 subscription to become the first members of the Association for Project Management (APM). Back then the Association was simply known as the British arm of INTERNET – an organisation that later became the International Project Management Association (IPMA). Forty years later APM is now the largest professional body of its kind in Europe with over 19,700 individual and 500 corporate members.

A lot has happened in 40 years. Most notably is APM President Martin Barnes (pictured right alongside APM Chairman Mike Nichols) creating the Time-Cost-Quality triangle, regional branches starting in the North West, the creation of Specific Interest Groups (SIGs), APM hosting the IPMA World Congress on three occasions, the APM Body of Knowledge being published and the creation of numerous professional qualifications, to name but a few.

APM have a year of activity planned to mark its 40th anniversary culminating in an extra special celebratory awards dinner on Thursday 1st November. The APM Awards have been celebrating project management excellence for 19 years, so it is fitting that the profession’s most glamorous event of the year should acknowledge the Association for reaching such a momentous milestone. APM would love for you to join in with the festivities so please book yourself a place today. It will certainly be a night to remember.

Take the award celebrations one step further by making the evening even more memorable by putting yourself, your project or your company forward for a chance to win a trophy on the night. The APM Awards is open for submissions, and with a broad range of categories to choose from, entry is possible for projects and companies of all sizes and complexity. Winning an award provides invaluable recognition and kudos to the careers of the winners, while attracting national publicity for their achievements. Find out more information on entering the APM Awards.

Celebrating success in our profession is something we should all be proud of, no matter how big or small a project may be. That is why APM is looking to celebrate with the entire project and programme management community by building up a snapshot of the profession and its achievements throughout 2012. My Project, a photographic collection of projects and programmes from all over the world, aims to build a fascinating picture of the profession in action, whether it is a sketch of an idea, a screenshot of your team's painstaking beta-testing, the view from the top of your latest construction project or a post-project team celebration taken on a mobile phone. Regardless of the size of the project, where it is or the stage it's at, we want a picture that captures our profession in action.

Submitting a photo of your project is easy. To get involved simply send your photo and a short description to - myproject@apm.org.uk  or tweet your photo including the hashtag - #myproject. You will be able to see the gallery build throughout the year on the Association's new 'Pinterest' vision board.

2012 is already proving to be an unforgettable year for APM with the development of a Higher Apprenticeship in Project Management in conjunction with Skills CFA, the upcoming launch of the APM Body of Knowledge 6th Edition and the dissemination of lessons learnt during the successful Olympic Learning Legacy event series.

APM hopes that you are able to share in with the celebrations during such a significant year too.