Gearing up for the CSCMP Annual Conference

Next week, the LM editorial staff will be pushing off to Denver for the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP) Annual Conference.

As previously mentioned in this space, this is always a big event on many fronts, especially when you factor in all the moving parts it has like keynote speakers, sessions, and, of course, the networking factor.

All of these things are essential ingredients of this conference, but in my opinion it is the latter which always makes CSCMP worth the trip. Think about it: how often are you in the same place with about 3,000 other people that are there to learn about all the different things going on in the supply chain and logistics world?

There really is more going on at CSCMP than there is time to actually get to everything you want to do for certain. That said, you need to come in with a plan to cover your bases in order to see what you want to see and learn what you want to learn. That is easier said than done, of course, but it gets more manageable as time goes on, it seems.

Another great takeaway is that CSCMP does not discriminate when it comes to what you can learn with 20-plus sessions ranging from transportation to warehousing and distribution to case studies to, well, you get the idea.

While sitting in sessions and listening to industry experts update and teach us about what is happening in our industry, there is also time to catch up with old friends and make new ones, too. There are people whom I only see at CSCMP, and when we catch up it is easy to pick up where we left off from the year before.

Even if the host city changes on an annual basis, the themes of learning and networking do not. There is never a dull moment. Can it be draining at the end of a long day at CSCMP? Of course, it can (and will) be. But I bet you anything you will be saying it was time well spent.

LM looks forward to seeing you next week in Denver.