Lessons learned from an inaugural HIMSS state advocacy day.

: On May 12, 2008, the Delaware Valley and Western Pennsylvania HIMSS Chapters sponsored the inaugural Pennsylvania HIMSS Healthcare Information Technology Awareness Day, one of the first of its kind for HIMSS and hosted strictly by volunteers. This article will detail not only the many lessons learned but also the application of the principles of project management, according to the Project Management Institute (PMI). This article describes how the people, the processes and the planning of the two chapters were instrumental in hosting this successful event. We will carefully detail our experiences based on PMI's project planning lifecycle methodology of initiation, planning, executing, monitoring and controlling, and closing.