Getting Back From ISM
I just got back from a couple of days in Vegas at ISM. The highlight of the trip was getting to attend the Richter dinner, a wonderful little affair that honored some of the most promising future minds in the procurement and supply chain world. All in all, ISM was a great time to catch up with hundreds of old faces, as well as meeting dozens of new ones. But of the many practitioners I spoke with who attended the regular festivities and break-outs, few found that the event was meeting their needs from a learning and educational perspective. A number remarked that the quality of the presented content was all over the map. I've heard these comments over the years about ISM, so little appears to be changing.
On the positive side of things, I -- along with virtually everyone else I met with during the two days -- thought that the networking was outstanding and the vendor show floor and available demonstrations made up for what was wanting in the rest of the event. Next week, I'll provide some additional perspectives on the event (including a few hilarious horror stories about the venue). I will also drill down on vendor news from ISM and some highly unique new solutions that I had a chance to play around with. In the meantime, stay tuned for a possible guest post from an anonymous commentator who has some strong opinions about reshaping ISM.
- Jason Busch
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Not surprised. Not surprised at all. I sometimes find that I rarely learn anything from the best of conferences, and almost always find that these gala blitzes are a complete waste of time from an educational perspective.
>> "catch up with hundreds of old faces"
Another reason I tend to avoid mega-events and do not get disappointed when my schedule conflicts with them ... you can only have so many good, deep conversations in a day. It's why I prefer smaller events, and particularly those where I can do 'blitz' tours and take the time to visit with professionals and have deep one to two hour discussions about their technology, offerings, or experiences in recent sourcing projects.
>> "Vegas"
Non-stop flashing lights, ringing bells, and enough neon to keep it permanently noon. 3 sleepless days is my limit, and even then, that's pushing it ;-)
I bet the two of us could do some damage at a blackjack table ... seriously, I think mega-events can be up and down, just as smaller events can be a serious timewaster as well. I've gone to great conferences of all sizes, however. It just depends ...
Point taken - I've been to awful small events too. It can be difficult to pick a good event, especially with so many events of late, which I feel sometimes do nothing but make noise. I try my best to keep a list of relevant events at:
http://www.sourcinginnovation.com/resources/events...
but it's been almost impossible as of late.
(If any readers have events to add, please send them to:
thedoctor <at> sourcinginnovation <dot> com
and I'll do my best to get them in my next weekly site update.)
As for blackjack, if we could find one free of the distracting flashing lights and constant ringing (slot machine sounds drive nuts), I'm sure we could.