This week we are running a “2 for 1” special with our weekly coverage of procurement industry webinars. The following events take place in the last 2 weeks of August. If you happen to be planning a little further out, I’m going to be onsite at NESCON (the New England Supply Chain Conference & Exhibition) on October 7^th – so look for more about that event in the coming weeks. If you’re planning to attend, let me know so we can connect!

If you are planning your webinar schedule beyond this week, I recommend “Virtual Procurement and the C-Level CPO” from Tradeshift’s Roy Anderson on September 10th.

BTW: If you haven’t already, sign up for our mailing list to be sure you get my weekly recommendations in your Inbox each Monday (although there won’t be an email on August 26^th).

This summer has brought a procurement webinar drought. I’m taking it one week at a time… I have some recommendations for this week and for next week and then we’ll see if anything is listed for the last week of August.

If you are planning your webinar schedule beyond this week, I recommend “The Strategic CFO is Thriving with Risk” from Coupa and Levvel Research on September 5th. I appreciate the opportunity to hear about the top Finance officer’s risk priorities and challenges – especially since Coupa is putting up their own CFO as a speaker during the event.

BTW: If you haven’t already, sign up for our mailing list to be sure you get my weekly recommendations in your Inbox each Monday.

The July ISM-New York Report on Business was released on August 2nd at 9:45am Eastern and is available for download here. Please see the end of this commentary for additional information about the ISM-New York Report on Business.

The uncertainty surrounding Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) can be frightening for all employees involved, but often overlooked is the potential a merger can bring for procurement to hit the “RESET...

This summer's webinar schedule seems to be feast or famine. There was only one event last week, while this week offers eight in three days.

If you are planning your webinar schedule beyond this week, I recommend “How Procurement Can Win the Hearts and Minds of Marketers” from Real Sourcing Network CEO Sandy Kane and a panel of marketing experts on September 26th. I realize that seems exceptionally far away, but as we trudge through the height of the summer heat, it is so appealing to think about attending an event in a lightweight sweater and while drinking a pumpkin spice latte.

BTW: If you haven’t already, sign up for our mailing list to be sure you get my weekly recommendations in your Inbox each Monday.

Last week I was interviewed by Scott Luton, host of the Supply Chain Now podcast, for their ‘Full Access’ series. (You can listen to the podcast here.) Scott and I go ‘way back’ so it was easy to find things to talk about, but he also asked me some great questions about how I reached this point in my career and what advice I would give to people just getting started.

We’re back from the 4^th of July holiday in the US, which pretty much shut everything down for a full week. And while there are only 4 events on the calendar for this week, I added 11 events for the month on Friday. The week of July 22-26 is shaping up to be a busy one.

If you are planning your webinar schedule beyond this week, I recommend ‘The Big Procurement Makeover Debate: Why Procurement Struggles to Deliver Value Beyond Cost-Reduction’ from HfS Research, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of NJ and IBM on July 25th at 11am ET.

BTW: If you haven’t already, sign up for our mailing list to be sure you get my weekly recommendations in your Inbox each Monday.

The June ISM-New York Report on Business was released on July 2nd at 9:45am Eastern and is available for download here. Please see the end of this commentary for additional information on the ISM-New York Report on Business.

After last week’s craziness, we’re returning to a normal summer rate of procurement and supply chain webinars. As an FYI, I don’t currently have any events listed for the week after, most likely because of the July 4^th holiday in the US. Assuming that doesn’t change (especially at the last minute), there won’t be any webinar recommendations on July 1^st, bit I’ll pick right back up with them the week after.

If you are planning your webinar schedule beyond this week, I recommend ‘AI Driven Contract Management – Speed and Control CAN co-exist’ from IACCM and Ultria on July 9th at 2pm ET.

BTW: If you haven’t already, sign up for our mailing list to be sure you get my weekly recommendations in your Inbox each Monday.

This is one of those weeks – clearly everyone waited for the exact same week to set up events. There are two live events: ProcureCon IT Sourcing in Denver, CO Tuesday through Thursday and the inaugural Supply Chain, Innovation, Technology 2019 (SCIT19) event in New York City. In addition to that, we have 8 webinars.

BTW: If you haven’t already, sign up for our mailing list to be sure you get my weekly recommendations in your Inbox each Monday.

This week’s long term webinar recommendation is a special one – it comes with good news and it is the culmination of a lot of hard work. Readers of this blog know that I spend a lot of time working with Philip Ideson at Art of Procurement. Next week, we’re launching AOP Mastermind, a completely new way for procurement professionals at all levels to collaborate, network, benchmark and learn from peers and outside subject matter experts. AOP Mastermind will deliver an in-person experience through a virtual, facilitated environment.

We’re hosting four webinars on launch day: June 18th. Check out the registration page and select the one that works the best with your schedule.

BTW: If you haven’t already, sign up for our mailing list to be sure you get my weekly recommendations in your Inbox each Monday.

In part 1 of this series, I addressed the misaligned nature of the past relationship between procurement and marketing – as well as the disruptive potential for companies that can bring these two team...

The May ISM-New York Report on Business was released on June 4th at 9:45am Eastern and is available for download here. Please see the end of this commentary for additional information on the ISM-New York Report on Business.

We’ve officially entered the summer slowdown from a webinar perspective. While this means the volume of events to choose from is down, it means that anyone hosting an event is committed to it and will hopefully put in a bit of extra effort to make the investment of time worthwhile!

If you are planning your webinar schedule beyond this week, I recommend ‘Lessons in Transformation: What Direct Procurement Teams Can Learn from Indirect Procurement’ with SIG and GEP on June 18th at 1pm ET.

BTW: If you haven’t already, sign up for our mailing list to be sure you get my weekly recommendations in your Inbox each Monday.

We’ve seen a recent trend of Fortune 1000 companies reducing their agencies by almost half to optimize spend and increase productivity within marketing.  This has been a gradual, strategic consol...

With the Memorial Day holiday on Monday in the US, this is typically a quiet week. I’m actually surprised at how many events are going on… There are already 10 webinars on the calendar for June and I added the first two to July this week, so maybe we’ll have an active summer this year!

If you are planning your webinar schedule beyond this week, I recommend ‘Socially Responsible Intelligent Automation (AI) thru AI-Payables’ from SIG and Global Sourcing Optimization Services (GSOS) on June 20th at 1pm ET.

BTW: If you haven’t already, sign up for our mailing list to be sure you get my weekly recommendations in your Inbox each Monday.

I went into my calendar work this week feeling a bit sad that there weren’t more choices. And then – just like that – I added a bunch to the remainder of May and early June and now you have 7 to consider. For non-US readers, don’t forget that this weekend is the official kick-off to summer in the States, so things will be very quiet Friday through Monday as people head off for the Memorial Day weekend.

If you are planning your webinar schedule beyond this week, I recommend ‘Practical steps to embed Social Value into your procurement strategy’ (Proactis) on June 6th at 5am ET (10am BST).

BTW: If you haven’t already, sign up for our mailing list to be sure you get my weekly recommendations in your Inbox each Monday.

If last week was sleepy, this week is slammin’! 5 webinars and 4 live events provide plenty of opportunities to learn, share and network. Of course, all of three of this week’s recommended webinars are on the 16th at either 1 or 2pm ET, so make your choice wisely.

If you are planning your webinar schedule beyond this week, I recommend ‘Disrupting Finance and Procurement: A Conversation with lululemon athletica About Digital Transformation’ from Coupa on June 19th. I love an opportunity to peek behind the curtain at well-known brands, and even though it is a webinar, I never give up hope that someone will figure out a way to offer free samples. (!)

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I have good news and less good news… The good news is that I added 8 webinars to the calendar on Friday (7 of which are in May). The less good news is that there are only 3 events to shoes from this week. Take a look at my comments below to see what I recommend.

If you are planning your webinar schedule beyond this week, I recommend ‘Executing a Successful Procurement Transformation’ hosted by Ivalua on May 29th. This webinar will be presented by Duncan Jones from Forrester Research on the study that generated so much buzz at the Ivalua NOW event in Paris a couple of weeks ago. If you are interested in some insights about the study, which focuses on the misalignment between procurement’s maturity and our perception of our maturity, you can visit Art of Procurement’s blog or read my own write up here on BMP.

BTW: If you haven’t already, sign up for our mailing list to be sure you get my weekly recommendations in your Inbox each Monday.

The April ISM-New York Report on Business was released on May 2nd at 9:45am Eastern and is available for download here. Please see the end of this commentary for additional information on the ISM-New York Report on Business.