procureconwest.wbresearch.com/

The working session + report back on the indirect topics were very insightful. I appreciate that this conference is all based on individual experiences vs. research. Looking forward to next year!

The Pluses The Practitioner presentations (case studies) and sessions were excellent. The networking opportunities were excellent. In the last discussion group, a colleague summed it up the best. It is nice to know no matter what industry you are in Procurement in general faces the same challenges. Opportunities for Improvement The program was too tight. Schedule in more breaks. If you schedule too many sessions too tight, people start skipping them. If you are in a leadership role, even though we are at a conference we still have business to run. If you schedule in more breaks, colleagues will be able to respond back to the office during those breaks and focus when they are in the sessions. Supplier lead presentations - it depended on which presenter, but there were many that were really trying to do a sales pitch. That is a turn-off. Suppliers participating in the conference should be identified as such. Younger suppliers facilitating certain discussion sessions were not effective. You had a supplier who registered as an attendee, did not buy an Exhibit space, but was in the Exhibit Hall try to sell his company's product. A little detail that will go along way, panelist should sit under their picture and title during panel discussions. Names and titles give a frame of reference on the panelist perspective. Some of the instruction for the charity challenge was unclear. Too many exhibitors sent out unsolicited e-mails before the event.

This was my first time attending any ProcureCon event. My Observations: 1) Very heavy focus on the peer-to-peer information exchange; many presenters are also attendees. 2) I attended alone; would have been a better experience to come with my company team members as many larger groups tended to stay within their own groups - certainly many also branched out and openly collaborated; but if your company's budget permits, attend as a team for real-time discussion on pertinent pain points and their resolutions. 3) Overlapping panels, work/discussions groups and presentations: I often found I wanted to attend multiple events that occurred across the same time slots (Track A-B-C,etc..) and I frequently had to commit to one Track when other Tracks were equally important to me...this was frustrating. 4) The size and scale of ProcureCon West Indirect (est. 250-400 attendees) was nice and allowed for more frequent collaboration and interface with colleagues versus some of the larger 1000+ venues with ISM/Gartner I have attended (all beneficial, just a different venue). 5) Suggestion: in the larger meeting hall venue, have an audience Q&A microphone both at the front and back of the hall; the running of the mic across the hall for each audience question was not very efficient considering the tight time allotments for each session. 6) Lastly, I attempted to schedule my stay at the JWMarriott and was told rather quickly the room allotment was booked and I woudl need to pay retail for a room. I would appreciate WBR reserving a larger allotment of rooms in 2019 - there were certainly benefits (I could assess) to staying onsite; the Scottsdale Plaza was very nice, but logistically obstructive to the flow in participating with our peers at the JW Marriott. Summary, a worthy first experience. ProcureCon provided a much more concentrated and intimate experience for indirect practitioners desiring to network, connect with industry trends and current practices, and gain insight into a future focus and perspective on where our profession is headed. Thank you WBR & ProcureCon Indirect West - I will be back!

I thought the conference was a nice blend of speakers and sales. I am happy that it was more learning than the sales part. Most of the sessions were very good.

Was a great to join the working groups, hear from the key not speakers, and network / discuss trends, challenges, and new ideas with fellow practitioners. Great place to gain new ideas, differing solutions to common challenges, and meet new people.