Alternatives to RFP's - CAUBO in Ottawa

Saturday June 13th at The Westin Ottawa The Canadian Association of University Business Officers (CAUBO) is hosting a half day pre-conference seminar delivered by Cal Harrison, President of Beyond Referrals. "Alternatives to RFP's for the Selection of Professional Services" will again focus on teaching procurement professionals, new and better ways to select management consultants, architects, engineers, lawyers, IT professionals and other experts.

The Best Show in Public Works

More proof that the procurement community is interested in ditching the RFP...

Beyond Referrals has been invited to speak at "The Best Show in Public Works" - the 2009 APWA (American Public Works Association) Congress and Exposition September 13-16 in Columbus, Ohio. We'll be presenting an updated version of the session we delivered at the PMAC National Conference in May 2008 - A Decent Proposal: How to Buy Professional Services.

I look forward to seeing you there.

UK RFP Advances?

While in Barbados at the Conference of the Americas in November I spoke with Dr. Brian Ing the head of the International Council of Management Consulting Institutes. At that time he mentioned that the UK consulting industry has made significant headway working with the purchasing community to alleviate the less functional and more onerous components of the RFP process when selecting management consulting firms.

More on this in future posts as I explore the processes in the UK industry.

Buying Professional Services: An Alternative to the RFP - November 2008 Seminar Feedback

November 12, 2008 Beyond Referrals presented a half-day seminar on the above topic to a group of purchasing professionals in Winnipeg Canada. Their written assessment of the seminar was overwhelmingly positive and proof again that the purchasing community is open to better ways than the RFP to select professional advisors.

95% of all attendees indicated they would be recommending the Beyond Referrals seminar to another purchsing professional and 90% indicated that they would be changing the way they purchase professional services as a result of attending the seminar.

Change is coming...

RFP - The Caribbean Perspective

As a guest speaker at the Caribbean Institute of Certified Management Consultants America's Hub Conference November 26-29 2008 in Barbados I spoke with dozens of management consultants from North America, the UK, and 17 Caribbean countries.

One of the most important concepts for a speaker to master is to be relevant and well-understood by your audience. Given that I was speaking for the first time in the Caribbean I paid particular attention to the feedback I was receiving from the audience. Sometimes they give you that feedback in subtle ways, other times it's more obvious.

Nothing could have been more obvious than the feedback I received, and the discussion generated by my comments on the use of the RFP process to select management consultants. Advisors from Jamaica, England, Denmark, Barbados, Canada, Trinidad and Tobagos, and a dozen other countries were in agreement that the RFP is a process that they would rather see replaced and the sooner the better.

Some regions like the UK have made great strides toward doing so while others are wondering if that is even possible.

The message here from consultants around the globe is that there is a better way for selecting a professional advisor. It's a message I will be carrying around the world in 2009.

How To Buy Professional Services: Manitoba

Wednesday November 12th at The Manitoba Club in Winnipeg, Beyond Referrals presented our first ever half-day seminar on how to buy professional services. Hosted by PMAC it had 27 attendees (the target was 20) and we received some valuable feedback from the participants.

95% Indicated that they would be recommending this seminar to other procurement professionals and virtually all indicated that they would be changing the way they procure services, or suggesting changes to their organization as a result of attending the seminar.

There were some great suggestions for additonal iformation which will be incorporated into future seminars as well.

Watch for more dates for this seminar in cities across Canada.

PMAC Event in Winnipeg

Tuesday September 16, 2008 I will be presenting an abbreviated version of the "How to Buy Professional Services" presentation to the Manitoba Institute of PMAC at their AGM. This presentation was originally delivered at the PMAC national conference in May.

If anyone would like a PDF copy of the presentation please e-mail me at cal@BeyondReferrals.com and I'd be pleased to send one to you.

If you'd like more information on the event please contact Al Amundsen at 1.204.231.0965.