Save the Date: As you think about how to block your time for this week and next, let me put in a plug for Dial P for Procurement, my new livestream hosted by the team at Supply Chain Now. We launched ...

After last week’s deluge of supply chain disruption-focused events, this week is both quieter and more varied. That will give you plenty of time to read the ISM-New York Report on Business commentary ...

On the one hand, all of this week's events are focused on supply chain disruption - on the other hand they are all empowering, and solution oriented. If you attend one of our webinar and learn somethi...

Hello everyone – long time no speak! There have been very few events since mid-December, so I’m only now getting the weekly procurement event recommendations up and running. If you look at the calenda...

Well folks, this is it. My last recommendation post of 2020. I’m somewhat at a loss for words when I think about this year – everything since March 12th (when our local schools closed) has been a blur...

Now that it is September, the fall conference season is upon us. Even though few will have the opportunity to gather in person, we can still make the most of these virtual chances to connect and learn...

I’m continuing to add new events to the calendar, both webinars and virtual conferences. While a virtual conference might not typically be your ‘thing,’ keep in mind that most of them are free to atte...

Last week, I ‘worked the switchboard’ for an AOP Live session with Christopher Sawchuk from The Hackett Group and Vishal Patel at Ivalua. EPSNews did a fantastic write up on the event, and they captur...

As another month comes to an end, we can expect the schedule of events to pick up. There are 8 webinars and 1 virtual event taking place this week, including our next AOP Live session on Tuesday, feat...

There are two very exciting ‘live’ events taking place this week – both of which I am proud to be involved in,,,  NESCON is taking place Oct 5-7 and features a very special keynote speaker: Gener...

Before I move into my event recommendations for this week, I want to look back at last week – Art of Procurement Mastermind LIVE was amazing, and it would not have been possible without the energy and...

This is the time of year when it becomes all too easy to count down the days and weeks left on the calendar. By my count, we have about 8 solid weeks remaining – when you allow for Thanksgiving and th...

The events schedule seems to be picking back up this week, with 9 events taking place. I’ve also started filling up the November page, which promises to be busy since there is effectively one less wee...

In addition to the recommended webinars listed below, there are two other dates this week I’d like to call your attention to... On Tuesday, I’ll be releasing the October ISM-NY Report on Business at 9...

The shift from COVID response to recovery is clear to me in the events recommended below as well as the other events I’ve just added to the events calendar. Here’s an example, rather than supply chain...

Although the events calendar is mostly empty for next week because of the Thanksgiving holiday in the U.S., there are two webinars currently scheduled. I’m expecting to have either 2 or 3 more recomme...

This week’s featured webinar was presented by the Next Level Purchasing Association and featured Joe Payne and Bill Dorn from Source One Management Services as the main speakers. You may also know them as the co-authors of ‘Managing Indirect Spend’, a relatively new publication that walks through the challenges and opportunities associated with indirect spend as well as a few category-based case studies.

Like their book, the guys from Source One kept their speaking points to the practical learnings from their extensive combined procurement consulting experience.

I was really looking forward to this event, and it did not disappoint. This is the first event I have attended by Preparis (providers of an emergency preparedness suite) and I will add them to my list of sources for future webinars. Kudos to Bill Michaels (CEO, ADR North America), David Landsman (Director of Strategic Alliances, MFG.com) and Armistead Whitney (CEO, Preparis) for an exceptionally well done event. You can click here to listen to the event archive.

Before I even begin my notes, let me just point out that if you are not a member of the Next Level Purchasing Association, you are missing out. Next Level Purchasing offers the SPSM (Senior Professional in Supply Management) certification program. Joining the association is absolutely free and comes with a number of benefits, such as members-only webinars, newsletters, and networking opportunities. If you want to get your feet wet with the kind of programs they offer, there are several mini-courses they offer, completely online and for less than $20! Interested? Good for you! Click here to learn more by clicking on the NLP logo on our partner page. That way Buyers Meeting Point gets credit for your purchase and a portion of the proceeds go to charity.

This week’s featured webinar was hosted by Hubwoo and featured Jason Busch of Spend Matters. ‘When Procurement Met Finance - How to Achieve the Hollywood Ending’ evoked the long bumpy road for Harry and Sally (played by Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan) in the 1989 romantic comedy. The connections between the movie and the challenges of the procurement/finance relationship may not obvious, but Jason did a great job keeping the theme going.