I am considering taking one of the educational tracks at the Supply Chain World conference (March 17-19, 08). Have any Covers taken their training or provided it? It's a bit spendy, so I would like some input from you guys on whether the training has any merit.

All the best,
L

I am considering taking one of the educational tracks at the Supply Chain World conference (March 17-19, 08). Have any Covers taken their training or provided it? It's a bit spendy, so I would like some input from you guys on whether the training has any merit.

All the best,
LPerhaps we can help you more if you give us an idea of what you expect to gain from taking an educational track?

Get some sort of certification?
Solve an existing problem at your organization?
Generally improve your knowledge of supply chain management?
Qualify for new job?
Eager to witness a particular presenter?My personal experience as both a presenter and an attendee (at different times) is that the material presented is almost always available in fuller, richer form with more opportunity for interaction with the presenter or original author directly from the presenter or his organization at less price than the seminar fee at a national or international conference, simply because of the immense overhead burden of paying for space and facilities at the conference center.

Depending on the conference, the presenter, and the material content, the price differential could be as great as 1,000 per cent (think of the difference between buying a presenter's 500 page book for $75 or paying $750 to attend a conference where the author talks for two hours.) How much more material might be in the book that never gets mentioned in the presentation? What are the probabilities of something being in the presentation which is NOT covered in the book?

Often, corporate employers of some presenters have free white papers covering the same material presented by their employee at a conference charging $250.

Just some additional comments to Wes' excellent suggestions.

Supply Chain is a huge, dynamic field right now. Is there a specific area you are interested in? NOTE; you may see several sessions that interest you; however, they may be going on at the same time, or be on the other side of the planet from one another, not allowing enough time to see them. Assure that sessions are laid out according to your interest, or you may be a bit disappointed.

Also, when you see some sessions that interest you, then determine who is presenting, and the purpose of the presentation. Are they presenting a paper? How many people are going to be in it? Will there be Q/A? Will they give you material, or will you have to buy it? Can you get a feel of who will be there in attendance? The networking alone may be worth the price, depending on your needs.

As to the presenter (s)- do some research and find out about him/her.
I once heard an extremely prolific author that most here would recognize (not from the quality field). He was an awful, uninspiring speaker. But... I guess I can say that I heard (insert name) speak!:D

I apologize for taking so long to respond to this.

Thank you both for your responses. There is one educational track I am interested in taking at the conference. Because I have a QA background rather than a purchasing or engineering background there are elements to Supply Chain mgmt that I could improve on.

I like conferences because the other attendees usually have good insight that are related to the presented material. I also learn better from courses than from reading. I will follow up on your suggestions and make my decision.

I was hoping that someone in the Cove would say, "hey I attended that conference last year and it was excellent!" Oh well.

Thanks again,
L