APICS CONFERENCE BLOG

2008 CONFERENCE BLOG

[MOST CURRENT AT THE TOP]

Tuesday September 16, 12:30PM CST
The last day of Conference is rapidly coming to an end. The final sessions begin shortly, but I just finished lunch with Michelle, Michelle, Diann, Jessica from Ascent Medical. And I promised not to mention anything about Jessica breaking a fork on the apple pie, so I won't. The plant tours were a big hit with everyone I've talked to. This year one tour ws provided as part of the registration, so it was easier to schedule them. Feedback has been positive about Conference and everyone seems to be having a good time.

Monday September 15, 8:30PM CST
Day two of Conference has come to an end. I attended Mary Ann Mauldwin's presentation. She is a practitioner from Roush and Yates Racing Engines and our November speaker. Her presentation focuses on taking a small company with a "Mom and Pop" mentality and turned them into a world class source of Ford racing engines. Everyone should enjoy her presentation.

I met my student, Agustin Irazoqui, for the Student Case Competition. Six teams took a scenario and had to present their solutions and recommendations to solve the issue. Have no fear, they have come up with ways to prevent Nintendo from experiencing the short fall in deliveries of the Wii. After, as we waited to meet others for dinner, we had a wonderful discussion about the past and the future. Those of us who have been through the technology revolution. Do you remember a slide rule? How about no cell phone? The last came up when we finally determined I was thinking we were waiting for some of the people he came with and he thought we were waiting for Jerry Kilty and his scholar. They don't have cell phones with them since they did not work outside of Uruguay. How technology has helped us communicate and schedule our daily lives. We tried to conceptualize what the next great technology revolution would beÖ..we couldn't just yt, but it should be interesting.

Catching up, I know Joe Kirchener is here, but I haven't seen him. I saw Mike Ford, our May 2008 presenter. He was wearing the APICS-FLWC shirt we gave him at the meeting. What great advertising for us. I spent a little time speaking with the Southeast District's Support Specialist, Tawana Collins. Not only does she support our chapter through the district, but she also lives in Tampa. We hope to have her attend a PDM soon. Our discussions revolve around APICS's Career Center. We will be seeing more support with whitepapers, downloadable webinars, and other items related to career enhancement. After today, it's off to bed early because I'll be on a bus for my plant tour at Graingers at 7:00. At least tonight there is not music festival across the street from the hotel. Last night they didn't end until almost 11:00PM.

Monday September 15, 12:30PM CST
Catching you up, the Sunday opening reception was held at the Kansas City Power & Light DistrictÖ.a grouping of restaurants and clubs between the conference center and the arenas. It is very similar to Channelside and a very recent addition to the downtown area. There I saw Michelle Barnett from Ascent Medical. I don't know if anyone else from Ascent was there, so if you were and I missed you, I apologize. The weather was cool, but it was nice since the area was very crowded and, since it is an APICS function, a lot of hot air was being generatedÖ.everyone had a story about their business, some may actually be correct.

Today's keynote address was by John Replogle, CEO of BURTS BEES. His address was based on how BURTS has been very proactive on being a leader in their green initiatives. Their goal is to put zero waste into landfills by the end of 2009. Can anyone of our businesses claim such an ambitious goal.

Some other exciting news, the Operations Management Body of Knowledge dictionary is now ready for release. You can buy it through the APICS book store or it will be available to active members in download form after the conference. As soon as I know the details, I'll be sending it along.

Sunday September 14, 5:30PM CST
The first day of conference is complete. Tonight is the opening reception. The weather is getting chilly and it is very breezy, but it beats the snow we had in Denver last year.

The sessions have been very informative, but the opening, keynote address was by Blake Mycoskie, CEO of TOMS Shoes. They have a unique model where they give away one pair of shoes to needy children for every pair of shoes they sell. It was a very interesting talk about how he went about visualizing and then implementing the strategy. Read more by accessing TOMS Shoes.

Saturday September 13, 11:30PM CST
Leadership Institute is complete. I find it very interesting that there was a tremendous amount of focus on "green" initiatives. Even the main conference has an independent "green" track.

In the evening I attended the Etiquette Dinner for mentors and scholars. There I got to meet my scholar, Agustin Irazoqui, a fine young man from Montevideo, Uruguay. He is attending the university in Montevideo studying engineering. The presentation prior to dinner was on etiquette from around the world. Interactive presentations were do on how to do business in many different countries, such as China, Russia, South Africa, etc. A skit was done where the presenter worked to convert a copy of Larry The Cable Guy into an international business dining expert. It was very cute and informative. The scholars also had many activities during the day including a scavenger hunt to learn the local area around the conference center. All were focusing on personal development, not only professional development.

Saturday September 13, 12:30PM CST
I've arrived at Kansas City just in time to catch the weather from Hurricane Ike. And your Chapter President must confess poor planning and missed opportunities. Why the author did not equate Kansas City and Kansas University, he'll never understand. It would have been the perfect opportunity to make a statement by wearing Bulls gear on a plane load of Kansas U. fans going home with their tails between their legs. Leadership Institute begins shortly. This is a series of sessions that help promote ideas and techniques to help with chapter management. More after that.

Saturday September 13,6:30AM EST
After a long but gut wrenching night at the Bulls game, it's off to Kansas City for the International Conference. If the Conference is as exciting as the game, then I'll be a basket case by the end of the week.

Here at the airport, the concourse where I am waiting for the plane, has been renovated. We are not the only ones looking at process improvement. I'll be sending notes as things progress to keep you as involved as much as possible.