NIGP Buy Weekly - 07/09/2008 (Plain Text Version)
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Webinars: Live From Charlotte
Unable to attend Forum this year? Suffering from a budget
crunch that hinders your ability to attend trainings? How
would you still like a chance to participate in a session at Forum right from your own desk?
NIGP has your answer...Forum Webinars
NIGP will host two Forum workshops via the Web.
This is a great way to join the workshop session and be a part of the vibrant Forum community, right from your office.
Register today for:
The Foundation of a Good Purchasing Program
Instructor: Don Buffum, CPPO
Tuesday, July 29
1PM (Eastern)
$75 Member
$105 Non-Member
Building the Best RFP Review Committee
Instructor: Mike Bevis, CPPO, C.P.M., PMP
Tuesday, July 29
3:30PM (Eastern)
$75 Member
$105 Non-Member
Registration Deadline: Friday, July 18
(Due to the nature of these Webinars, we cannot make exceptions for late registrations). Each person interested in participating must register individually.
For more information, contact Kathleen Ridgely at kridgely@nigp.org.
Forum: Late Registration Begins July 14
Saturday, July 26 - Wednesday, July 30
Get in the race and find your way to the Winner’s Circle at NIGP's 63rd Annual Forum and Products Exposition.
Here are just a few of the highlights:
Opening Event
Forum kicks off with "The First Lap" welcome reception on Saturday, July 26. Come meet with old friends or make new ones. NEW THIS YEAR - the most prestigious NIGP award will be presented during the opening event. Be sure to attend and take time to congratulate the winner of the Albert H. Hall Award.
Plenary Sessions
Plenary sessions will be held each day beginning Sunday, July 27. Back by popular demand, Steve Gilliland, will present the keynote address Maximizing Your Potential. Other professional speakers on the schedule include: Lenora Billings-Harris focusing on Inclusion and Diversity – The Oz Perspective; Mike Lipkin with Live Above the Line; and our closing general session speaker, Ross Shafer, with his hilarious session, Nobody Moved Your Cheese. Don’t miss these inspiring and entertaining speakers! Check our Website for sneak preview videos of these featured speakers.
The Social Event of A Lifetime
Sunday, July 27 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Whether or not you are a racing fan, this is an event not to be missed! Enjoy fantastic southern fare and an incredible range of free activities including remote control cars, high performance karting, NASCAR simulated racing, and Xbox racing.
Do you have a need for speed? Experience firsthand what it is like to ride in a race car that exceeds speeds of 165 miles per hour. Reserve your spot today for a Richard Petty Ride Along or Rookie Experience. Tickets are available at an extra charge for these activities. For more information on the social event and to register for Ride Along experiences, visit Forum Social Event.
Pre-Forum Seminars
• Chapter Leadership Symposium
Saturday, July 26
If you are a chapter leader or aspire to become one, then you don't want to miss this valuable learning opportunity. All chapter officers are encouraged to enroll today! For additional information, contact registrationinfo@nigp.org.
• Contracting for Public Sector Services
Friday, July 25 and Saturday, July 26
Contracting for services dominates contract spending at all levels of government in countries around the world. This course examines the process beginning with the decision to "make or buy" through the special considerations of the services RFP, the contract award and contract administration.
Pre-Forum seminars are at an additional charge and seating is limited. Register today for any of these opportunities.
Workshops
Workshop topics stimulate thought and make a lasting impression of your Forum experience. To use our easy online registration system, simply log onto the Members Only section of the NIGP website and follow the directions to edit your Forum registration profile.
New Hotel Added
Marriott City Center
100 West Trade Street
Charlotte, NC
704-333-9000
Reserve your room at the Charlotte Marriott City Center by Friday, July 11.
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Forum: Executive Leadership Series - Workshop Descriptions
A NEW unique series for senior level professionals.
"Driving Decisions: A Strategic Focus on Procurement". Through its focus on leadership and finance skills, this Executive Leadership Series offers insight into issues that articulate the value of the profession to other stakeholders in your organization. If you are a senior procurement professional or partner with procurement and make strategic decisions for your agency, these workshops are for you.
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TRACK: Organizational Leadership
Dates: Sunday, July 27 - Monday, July 28
Facilitator: Philip L. Lee, J.D. MPM,
Results Leadership Group |
Sunday, July 27
9:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m
Learning to Maximize Customer Impact
Participants will explore challenges and opportunities for improving customer impact, including a discussion of strategies from the field. Themes in organizational development that emerge in this session will be an integral part throughout the two day program.
1:15 p.m. to 4:15 p.m.
Negotiation and Skilled Collaboration
Participants will explore their own negotiation styles and assumptions as well as strategies and opportunities to negotiate more valuable agreements.
Monday, July 28
9:45 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.
Persuasion – An Essential Leadership Tool
Arguably, traditional roles of power and authority are diminishing in leadership and management with a corresponding increase in the demand for skill in persuasion. These trends and tools for effective persuasion are the focus of this session.
2:45 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.
The Leader as Storyteller
The ancient art of storytelling is rapidly gaining currency as an essential competency for leaders and managers. Participants will consider the reason for storytelling, the use of storytelling and specific storytelling techniques.
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TRACK: Financial Leadership
Dates: Tuesday, July 29 - Wednesday, July 30
Facilitator: F. Wayne Hill and
Charlotte J. Nash,
Nashill, Inc. |
Tuesday, July 29
10 a.m. to 12Noon
Finance Basics
All budgets tell a story. This session will help participants find out how the numbers in the Budget Document and financial reports can demonstrate the real priorities of an organization. (Think funded goals versus stated goals.)
1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Financial Mysteries
The power of the purse strings is a fact of life in the public sector, with the officials and staff who hold them often seeming to have too much control. This module will allow participants to gain an understanding of the perspective that Finance staff bring to the organization and to the decision making process.
Wednesday, July 30
8 a.m. to 12Noon
What Lurks In The Minds Of Elected Officials?
Your organization may run like clockwork but without a clear understanding of how an elected official and his platform may impact your organization’s outcomes, you may be wasting your time.
1 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
Personal Action Planning
This final session will afford the participants the chance to discuss lessons learned and newly found tools that offer success in leadership roles.
Register Today.
*Agenda subject to change
Delegates choosing to register for this series will attend 24 hours of class time during the normal Forum schedule. However, series participants will still be able to attend Forum plenary sessions, products exposition, networking and social events [return to top]
Upcoming Webinar: Your Top Ten Tips for Good Specifications
Tuesday, July 22
1PM - 2:30PM (Eastern)
Registration Deadline: Wednesday, July 16
Course Objectives:
• Ability to differentiate specification types
• Understand when and how to use specifications
• Apply best practices in specification writing
• Utilize standardization in specification writing
Presented by:
Rob Rickard, CPPO, OPBC
Register Today
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Congratulations GCC Certificants
The Government Contractor Certificate (GCC) Program is designed specifically for private sector contractors who desire a greater awareness and understanding of public procurement processes and the government purchasing environment.
Knowledge and understanding of public sector contracting laws, principles, policies, and practices eliminate confusion and help to ensure quality offers and proposals as well as improve communication between the buyer and seller. GCC Program seminars are taught by subject-matter experts and purchasing practitioners.
Congratulations to the following for achieving the NIGP Government Contractor Certificate:
Fabienne Berret
President
Best Wells, Inc.
Jacqueline Bonfill-Gee
President
J. Bonfill and Associates
Boaz Cassamajor
President
United HVAC Services, Inc.
Johnny Clavijo
President
Icon Group Engineer, LLC.
Ronald Duran
Senior Project Engineer
Raul Puig Group
Mark Ennis
General Manager
Tri- County Pest Control South
Marc Fermanian
Vice President
CRJ & Associates, Inc.
Christine Franklin
President
Cherokee Enterprises, Inc
Karen Hollis
Small Business and Contracts
Miami Dade Expressway Authority
Keith Jennings
Vice President Engineering
Sim-G Technologies
Nikhil Jindal
Director of Marketing
CPH Engineers
John Julian
Sr. Project Manager
Vogel Brothers Building Company
Jon Marceleno
Director, Defense Logistic Agency
Graybar Electric
Wayne Messam
Partner / General Contractor
Asset Builders, LLC
Alfredo Moran
President
Epic Consultants
Luis Paz
Project Manager
Kalias Corp.
Alejandro Ramirez
President
RamCode, Inc.
Jose Roche
President
North Star Group, Inc.
Jennifer Sturgis
Vice President
SEMCO Construction
William Valdez
Director of Sales
AMI - Affordable Metal, Inc.
Are you a purchasing professional that knows a government contractor/supplier who could benefit from learning how to do business with the government? Or are you someone who sells products and services to the government? The NIGP Government Contractor Certificate Program is the key to better relationships between government buyers and government suppliers.
NIGP offers these seminars nationally, on a contract basis with a specific company, and through the NIGP Chapter Network. If your chapter is interested in hosting a GCC seminar for your local suppliers, or in conjunction with your chapter’s meetings, NIGP can arrange that for you.
GCC course descriptions are available online. For information about hosting GCC classes contact the GCC Program Manager, Michael Romero, at mromero@nigp.org or 800-367-6447 x248.
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U.S. Communities: Low-Emission, Sustainable School Furniture
Concern for a healthy learning environment
Students going back to school after summer vacation will always have their challenges, but one challenge children should not have to overcome is indoor air quality. More heavily exposed to environmental toxins by weight, younger children consume more food, water, and have higher toxin inhalation rates per pound than adults. That translates to greater sensitivity to indoor pollutants.
Furniture manufactured by Virco, a U.S. Communities supplier, helps schools improve their indoor environment.
In 2005, Virco product lines became the first classroom furniture lines to earn the premier national certification for meeting rigorous product emissions criteria for indoor air quality. Today, hundreds of Virco furniture models are certified according to this stringent indoor air quality standard for schools.
Broad commitment to sustainability
The recognition is in keeping with the furniture maker’s broader attention to sustainability. In manufacture, Virco purchases over $25,000,000 worth of recycled-content materials every year to produce and ship its furniture. Overall, 95% of all the materials used to manufacture Virco products are recyclable. All steel used in Virco products is recyclable. Virco cartoning is 100% recyclable. So is its foam upholstery material, and plastics used in Virco products. Old work surfaces and hard plastic items can be reprocessed into the Fortified Recycled Wood™ hard plastic that’s used to make Virco furniture.
Through a comprehensive resource recovery program since 1989, Virco has processed more than 293,354,152 pounds of recyclables, including:
• More than 1.0 million lbs. of cardboard and paper per year
• More than 130,000 lbs. of plastics per year
• More than 2.3 million lbs. of steel and other metals per year
• 40 recyclable products in all
Over the last nine years, Virco recycled more than 124.1 million pounds of wood dust, particleboard, and pallets, and diverted more than 3,500,000 pounds of demolition waste from landfill disposal in 2007.
When chairs, desks, and other furniture items need to be replaced, Virco’s Take-Back Program enables recycling of components rather than sending them to a landfill. Virco accepts plastic chair shells, laminated work surfaces and compression-molded hard plastic components from qualifying K-12 schools, colleges and universities; and also helps them find local recyclers to dispose of steel frames from furniture that’s no longer in use.
The results of all these efforts enabled over 15 million pounds of waste to be diverted from landfill disposal each year, on average since 1989; realizing approximately, $130,000 in annual savings by diverting waste from the landfill.
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On May 19, 2006, Virco announced that hundreds of additional products were certified according to the Greenguard IAQ standard for children and schools. Less than a year later - in May 2007 - all models in Virco's new furniture collection for colleges, universities and high schools earned this certification.
"Indoor air quality is an appropriate area of concern for parents, students, educators and the various professionals responsible for managing classroom environments," said Doug Virtue, Virco's Executive Vice President. "By providing two certified lines of furniture that cover a wide range of educational applications, we're helping procurement professionals make wise choices for healthy schools."
U.S. Communities provides a national purchasing forum for local and state government agencies, school districts (K-12), higher education and non-profits nationwide by pooling the purchasing power of over 87,000 public agencies. For more information about U.S. Communities, go to www.uscommunities.org.
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UPPCC: Application Deadline Approaching for First-Computer-Based Exams
Application Deadline: Monday, July 21
The first computer-based certification exams will be offered during a six-day testing window, October 20-25, 2008, exclusively at Prometric testing centers.
Prior application and registration is required. Individuals who do not have a valid certification application on file with the UPPCC must apply by July 21 (or by August 4 with an additional late filng fee).
Testing dates, application and registration deadlines through May 2010 examinations are available at UPPCC Exam Schedule. [return to top]
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