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Welcome to the PMI-OC Book Club! The PMI-OC Book Club is a virtual gathering place for PMI-OC members to read and discuss books related to project management and leadership development. The goal is for participants to grow as project managers and as leaders as they read and discuss the literature selected by the Book Club.

Benefits at a Glance

  • Ease of participation through a virtual setting
  • Great way to learn and earn PDUs
  • Share relevant books you've already read to spread information and help others
  • Great way to network with like-minded professionals interested in books and growth
  • Enhance project management and leadership skills through peer learning and facilitated discussion with the goal of learning how to apply ideas from the literature to real-world scenarios.

Book Club Details

Book Club Structure

  • The Book Club is virtual/held online.
  • Current PMI-OC members may participate in the Book Club sessions for free.
  • Non-members may participate in the Book Club sessions for a $10 fee for each session.
  • Participants must acquire their own copy of the book.
  • The Book Club meetings are held on every even month (except for a December break) on the third Thursday
    • Next Meeting Date: October 15th 2026

Book Club Meeting Structure

  • Each meeting will have a facilitator to guide discussion.
  • Each meeting should be expected to last one hour and 10-15 minutes.
  • No more than 400 pages should be read per Book Club session.
  • Books with more than 400 pages may be pruned down or divided into sections and those sections may be discussed over a period of 2 or more sessions.
  • After each meeting, we request that participants provide takeaways/lessons that they learned from the book to us (book-club@pmi-oc.org) so we may collate all of the takeaways into a singular set of notes to describe the value of the book in the Books Read Journal.

How to Participate

  • Participation requires registering for the book club session on the PMI-OC website.
  • Participants must have read the book/book section under selection.

Books

  • Selection Requirements

    • Should cost no more than $35.
    • Should fall under one or more PMI Talent Triangle categories.
  • Selection Process

    • Books are selected by registrants filling out a survey where they vote on their top 3 choices for the next read.
    • The survey is sent out to registrants a week before the event registration cutoff date to allow time for those registered to vote on the next book.
    • Survey participants may also nominate additional books to add to the survey in the future.
    • The top choice for the next book is revealed at the upcoming Book Club meeting.

PDUs

  • We will report 1 PDU for attending the meeting. The type of PDU reported will be based on the book content.
  • Participants may also self-report PDUs to PMI based on time they spend reading (with 1 PDU per hour read)
    • Click here for a general description of PDUs on the PMI website.
    • Click here for the Continuing Certification Requirements Handbook, where you will find more details on PDUs and how to self-report PDUs.

If You Have Questions/Need Help

  • If you have any questions or need help, please reach out to the Book Club Team at book-club@pmi-oc.org.

Next Meeting Date/Time:

October 15th 2026 @ 6pm PST - Click here to register for the event.

Current Book to Read:

"The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters" by Priya Parker

PDU Type:Ways of Working

Synopsis from Amazon

An exciting new approach to how we gather that will transform the ways we spend our time together—at home, at work, in our communities, and beyond.

In The Art of Gathering, Priya Parker argues that the gatherings in our lives are lackluster and unproductive—which they don't have to be. We rely too much on routine and the conventions of gatherings when we should focus on distinctiveness and the people involved. At a time when coming together is more important than ever, Parker sets forth a human-centered approach to gathering that will help everyone create meaningful, memorable experiences, large and small, for work and for play.

Drawing on her expertise as a facilitator of high-powered gatherings around the world, Parker takes us inside events of all kinds to show what works, what doesn't, and why. She investigates a wide array of gatherings—conferences, meetings, a courtroom, a flash-mob party, an Arab-Israeli summer camp—and explains how simple, specific changes can invigorate any group experience.

The result is a book that's both journey and guide, full of exciting ideas with real-world applications. The Art of Gathering will forever alter the way you look at your next meeting, industry conference, dinner party, and backyard barbecue—and how you host and attend them.

Reviews

"The Art of Gathering is one of the most transformative books I’ve read in years. It has fundamentally changed I how run meetings, attend conferences, and even arrange dinner with friends. Equally important, it has reminded me why people come together in the first place — and why we should treat every gathering as an opportunity to deepen our shared humanity."
—Daniel H. Pink, bestselling author of "When" and "Drive"
"A brilliant and eminently practical guide! The Art of Gathering will open your eyes to just how often we gather – and how we can turn those mundane events into dazzling opportunities for meaning, dreaming, and doing. This book should be mandatory reading for everyone from the business executive to the community activist, the conflict resolution specialist to the dinner host. Concrete advice that will forever change the way you gather."
—Daniel L. Shapiro, founder of the Harvard International Negotiation Program and author of "Negotiating the Nonnegotiable"
"Priya Parker's The Art of Gathering is brilliant. The book is a timely reminder: It’s our human-to-human links that make the most meaningful moments of our lives. Page by page, Parker offers a decoder ring for the secret forces at work when we gather for business, crises or celebration. What to leave out, where to meet, how to charm—it's all here, explained with unforgettable stories and clever tips. You'll only put this book down because it will make you so hungry for a gathering of your own."
—Joshua Cooper Ramo, author of "The Seventh Sense" and "The Age of the Unthinkable"

Past Books Read:

Here you will find the books that the Book Club has read in the past.