IIBA Slovenia Business Analysis Conference – June 2014

Elizabeth and I were fortunate to be in Slovenia on vacation this summer when the IIBA Slovenia chapter was holding a business analysis conference on Synergies – The Future of Business. We previously met and became friends with the IIBA Slovenia chapter president, Aleš Štempihar, at the 2013 BBC conference in Las Vegas. It had been Aleš’ first trip to the US and what a trip he had!

This year, the Slovenian chapter conference was held just outside of the capital city of Ljubljana, a beautiful river city whose name we eventually learned how to pronounce! (loob-lee-an’-ah).

When Aleš heard of our trip to Slovenia, he kindly invited us to propose presentations, and he selected Elizabeth’s topic of BA and PM: Three Steps to Collaboration as a keynote. The presentation fit the conference theme of project collaboration perfectly, and Elizabeth talked about how BAs and PMs share many common tasks, as well as how to avoid conflicts where these tasks overlap.

The audience understood English quite well and contributed extensively during the session. The hosts were gracious and welcoming to us, making us feel right at home. We enjoyed a tasty lunch with Slovenian specialties, including the largest pancake-looking dish we had ever seen called Smorn. I had the easy part of the session, being merely the photographer.

It was an educational day for both of us, learning about business analysis and project management in Slovenia. Chatting with people at lunch, we discovered that BAs and PMs in their country face the same challenges and opportunities as those in our country. Elizabeth and I were again reminded it is a small world, and we are fortunate to be able to visit another part of it.