Good conference in Europe

October 21st, 2008 at 04:30am David Bush - Iasta

Last Thursday, I attended the Procurement Leaders conference in the heart of Amsterdam. I did not know what to expect but came away pleasantly surprised. There were almost 200 delegates and most were very high level executives from across Europe. Typically, these conferences are worth the investment, if we can develop 1-2 companies into customers. Out of the discussions we had, I believe we should be able to accomplish this.

However, just as valuable, was the networking I got to do. By meeting many influential leaders in procurement from the practitioner, consulting and vendor side, it only enhances our ability to grow in Europe. It was also nice to meet many of the folks from the magazine, which I feel is one of the best in the industry. They plan to get into the US market soon, which will be great thing. They are opening offices in the US to make sure the magazine does not feel “European” to the American readership. I would also suspect that they will try to create high level events like they have in Europe, currently.

Lastly, the conversations I had with practitioners, were very similar to the ones domestically. Many times, it is assumed that Europe is behind the US in talent and technology. This may have been true at one time, but I definitely disagree with that now. I found that many people understood the issues and had plans to address them. The break outs were also good (for the most part – some were cheerleading vendor sessions). The most common issues were Stage I & II contract management and spend visibility.

Thanks to Mark and all the rest at PL. They made us feel welcome and took time to help wherever they could.

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