DC Velocity - October 2019

AS WE HURRIEDLY SIFT THROUGH EMAILS, TEXT MESsages, workflow chat streams, webinars, and a host of other digital communication and skills-development tools, there is the occasional reminder that the foundation of business success is still personal relationships and old-fashioned face-to-face meetings.

The most recent reminder of that came from our recent trip to the 2019 Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) Edge Conference in Anaheim, California. Over the course of three and a half days, nearly 3,000 supply chain executives from more than 40 countries took the opportunity to directly engage with their peers, share ideas, discover new strategies, and see the latest in enabling technologies at the companion Supply Chain Exchange trade show.

With over 30 hours of high-quality educational sessions and 25-plus hours set aside for networking, the annual CSCMP conference is designed to help attendees keep current and stay competitive. By that measure, it’s a slam-dunk success. The annual pilgrimage to CSCMP leaves those who make the journey better prepared for the present and the future, putting those who don’t make the trek at a potential disadvantage.

Being there and meeting face to face pro-
vides tangible benefits that simply cannot
be replicated digitally. “The internet is a wonderful thing,
and it provides us with a vast resource of information,” notes
CSCMP President and CEO Rick Blasgen. “But it doesn’t
provide the same opportunities as engaging with peers and
thought leaders in person.”
Blasgen likens the role of his association to that of an electric
power company. “We are the wire between the switch and the
light,” he says. “You flip a switch, and the light goes on. You
don’t call your power company and thank them. It just magi-
cally happens. Associations like ours function much the same
way. If you need something, you can contact CSCMP and we’ll
help you find what you need. We have the connections that
can help people succeed. Members just have to flip the switch.”
Whether it’s the educational sessions, thought-provoking
keynotes, dedicated networking hours, or meetings with exhib-
itors at the Supply Chain Exchange, attendees benefit from
hearing the thoughts, perspectives, and experiences
of their fellow supply chain professionals.

That, Blasgen says, is just how it is intended to be.
“One of the great virtues of CSCMP is that it is a
community. It’s a family of people willing to share.”
And while the educational sessions remain the
hallmark of the annual conference, the growing
interest in and value of the trade-show component
was clearly evident in Anaheim last month. “If you
walk down the aisles of the Supply Chain Exchange
show floor, you’ll see the companies that are build-
ing [some of today’s most inno-
vative products and services],”
says Blasgen. “It’s just fascinating
how fast some of these tools are
being developed and how supply
chain professionals are putting
them to use. We call it the ‘SCE’
for a reason. We want people
to exchange information and
exchange knowledge. Those are
the conversations that are really
highlighted here.”
And that’s what you keep see-
ing, hearing, and experiencing
at CSCMP’s annual Edge event.

People are engaged. People are learning. People are connecting in a way that provides far greater value than any connections they might make with today’s digital tools. These tools may enable us to do more, do it faster, and, we hope, do it better, but they cannot match the value of being present and meeting face to face.

Next year, CSCMP will bring its conference to Orlando, Florida. Put it on your calendar now. Don’t let anything keep you from making it to the event. It is important to be connected, but even more important to be present.