Terri Ciccodicola, PMP, Senior Director, Global Program Management 
Jackie Vander Ploeg, General Manager
Car Sharing, while popular throughout Europe, has been growing in the US.  Hertz Corporation saw an opportunity to be the first rental car company to launch a global car sharing program.  Connect by Hertz car sharing enables members to drive in and out of town on a pay-as-you-go basis; it is a solution that provides customers with an economical, convenient and socially-conscious alternative to car ownership.

Bringing Connect by Hertz to life involved the due diligence and steadfast adherence to critical project management tactics.  The project as a whole centered on the design, implementation and support of this new business.  To meet their goals, the Connect by Hertz team was able to leverage Hertz’s resources and infrastructure, such as fleet purchasing power, customer service center and a renowned, trusted and established global brand, to create a new value proposition within the car sharing arena.

This session will be an interactive discussion about the launch of Connect by Hertz, use of which project management tools, successes and challenges, overall impact of the project and, most importantly where the project is going.

Terri Ciccodicola is a Senior Director in Global Program Management.  She oversees the financial activities for all Project Management related projects, including financial support and reporting.  In addition, Terri provides analyses, reports and recommends project modifications to achieve the financial benefits desired by the organization.  She is instrumental in developing new financial tools to support Project Management and the Process Excellence Center of Expertise.  Terri is a certified Project Management Professional and a Lean Six Sigma White Belt.  She holds an MBA in Finance from Fairleigh Dickinson University and a BBA in Accounting from Siena College. 

Jackie Vander Ploeg joined Hertz in 2008, prior to that she served as Marketing Manager for NY Waterway Ferry Corp where she worked with the Waterway’s advertising department overseeing events and sponsorships and was a Marketing Manager for Palisades Financial.  She holds a Bachelors degree in Business from Delaware Valley College.

The second presentation for the evening will be given by Diane Fromm, Program Administrator for the PMI Educational Foundation for the past five years.  She will be providing an overview on PMI Educational Foundation along with the materials available to help the New Jersey Chapter to reach out to its local primary and secondary schools and other non-profit organizations.

Dr. Paula Caligiuri is the author of “Get a Life, Not a Job: Do What You Love and Let Your Talents Work for You”.  She will offer an approach to: 

• control your careers
• liberate yourself from the downsizing whims of the corporate world
• eliminate the frustration of dead-end jobs.

With high unemployment and people seeking greater work-life balance, there has never been a better time to re-think your relationship with work and to learn how to integrate your career into other aspects of your life.
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