Meeting/Event Information

The Diversity Game 
Exploring the differences in thinking style preferences 
Guest Speaker: Kevin Avent 

At this month’s chapter meeting Kevin Avent, Program Manager at International Paper, will present “The Diversity Game”.  The Diversity Game was produced by the Ned Hermann Group and utilizes the Hermann Brain Dominance Instrument (HBDI) to help you reveal your personal thinking style preference.  It is a hands-on activity designed to help present a snapshot of your project team’s thinking style preferences.  The DIVERSITY Game is an effective way to begin the thought processes necessary to improve working together more productively on our project teams. 

This simple yet revealing game will help you to start building understanding and appreciation of the different thinking style preferences, using the Diversity Game to facilitate a discussion of individual and group strengths and potential blind spots, all in a non-threatening way.

Kevin Avent is a Program Manager with International Paper.  He joined the IP Information Technology Solutions & Services (ITSS) team in December of 2007.  As a Program Manager in the ITSS Delivery Management Center of Excellence (DMCoE), he led the Microsoft Collaboration Platform Project that involved the global conversion of IP’s email and messaging systems from Lotus Notes to Microsoft Exchange and also implemented Microsoft SharePoint.  In addition to his project management responsibilities, Kevin also manages the Infrastructure Delivery Management team within the DMCoE.  Kevin also leads several initiatives to improve project management skills and capabilities in ITSS including the delivery of a two-day IT Project Manager Core Skills training class and a Project Delivery Process methodology class. 

Prior to joining IP, Kevin was the Director of Testing for Cook Systems International.  While at Cook Systems, he led their testing practice line of business and managed key projects for clients like Hilton Hotels, FedEx and First Tennessee.  Kevin also has IT experience from other leading companies like Methodist Healthcare where he was the Senior Project Manager for Information Systems.  He also held previous roles including Vice President of Delivery Services & Quality (Vention, Inc.), Manager of Quality Assurance (iXL, Inc.), and Manager of Business Integration Testing (Federal Express Corporation). 

Kevin and his wife live in Olive Branch, MS and have three children.  Outside of work, Kevin is very active in his church and he and his wife both enjoy working with local charity organizations.  Kevin is an avid science fiction fan and he also enjoys movies, music and playing guitar in a local Mid South area cover band.  Kevin is a member of the 501st Legion, a world-wide costuming organization specializing in movie accurate costumes of the villains of Star Wars.  He can occasionally be seen around the southeast as an Imperial Stormtrooper or the dark lord Darth Vader.