Client: ADNEC (Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre) Event: UMEX 2026 (Unmanned Systems Exhibition) Location: Abu Dhabi, UAE My Role: Project Coordinator Project Type: Registration & User Onboarding Portal Timeline: 2025–2026 Team Size: 8–10 members across development, QA, and client teams Tools Used: Jira | Confluence | MS Project | Power BI | Google Sheets Methodology: Agile / Scrum
ADNEC required a high-scale attendee registration and user onboarding portal for UMEX 2026 — one of the region's most prominent unmanned systems exhibitions — serving 10,000+ registrants across multiple countries.
The key challenges were: → Building a registration system capable of handling 10,000+ attendees seamlessly → Coordinating across 3 development teams and 2 client organisations simultaneously → Strict go-live deadline tied to a fixed international event date → Complex user onboarding workflows requiring multi-stage validation and approval → Ensuring zero downtime during live event registration periods → Managing frequent requirement changes from multiple client stakeholders
→ Orchestrated end-to-end SDLC coordination from requirements gathering through to live deployment → Coordinated across 3 development teams and 2 client organisations — maintaining clear communication streams for each → Facilitated all Scrum ceremonies — Daily Standups, Sprint Planning, Sprint Reviews, and Retrospectives → Maintained a comprehensive RAID log to proactively track all risks, assumptions, issues, and dependencies → Built and managed a detailed delivery roadmap with phased milestones covering registration module, onboarding workflows, and go-live readiness → Implemented structured stakeholder communication with separate update streams for ADNEC and internal leadership → Managed all change requests through a formal change management process — assessing impact before approval → Conducted UAT coordination ensuring all modules were tested and signed off before go-live → Maintained MIS reports and Power BI dashboards for real-time project health visibility
Challenge 1 — Managing 10,000+ Registrant Scale The portal needed to handle a high volume of simultaneous registrations without performance issues. I coordinated closely with the development team to ensure load testing was completed well in advance of go-live, flagging and resolving performance risks through the RAID log before they could impact delivery.
Challenge 2 — Coordinating Across 3 Teams and 2 Clients With 3 development teams and 2 separate client organisations involved, miscommunication was a constant risk. I established separate communication channels for each stakeholder group, maintained a unified project tracker, and ran structured daily standups to keep all parties aligned.
Challenge 3 — Last-Minute Requirement Changes Multiple change requests arrived close to the go-live deadline. I implemented a strict change request evaluation process — assessing timeline impact, resource requirements, and risk before presenting recommendations to the client — ensuring no unplanned changes disrupted delivery.
✅ Successfully delivered registration portal serving 10,000+ registrants ✅ 100% on-time delivery — zero delay to live event date ✅ Zero critical escalations during live event execution ✅ Seamless onboarding experience across multiple user types and countries ✅ All 3 development teams and 2 client organisations aligned throughout delivery ✅ Full UAT completed and signed off ahead of go-live deadline ✅ Real-time visibility maintained for executive leadership through Power BI dashboards
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Key Achievement: Delivered a high-scale registration and onboarding portal serving 10,000+ attendees for a major international exhibition — coordinating across 3 development teams and 2 client organisations with zero critical escalations.
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→ Scale requires early load testing — performance risks must be identified and resolved well before go-live → Multiple client organisations require separate but unified communication streams to avoid confusion → A formal change request process is essential when working with large, complex client organisations → UAT coordination is as important as development coordination — never underestimate testing timelines → Real-time dashboards reduce stakeholder anxiety and build confidence during high-pressure delivery phases