Another year has passed and another NIGP Forum has wrapped up. For those new to public procurement, NIGP Forum is an annual conference for public procurement practitioners. We gather once a year to learn and collaborate. For me, Forum is a place for me to reset my procurement thoughts and practices as well as reconnect and meet new colleagues across the United States and Canada. (Pro tip for first time attendees: sit with different people for breakfast and lunch each day to meet new people. It can be intimidating, but the connections and conversations that emerge are well worth it.)
In her welcoming speech, NIGP Governing Board Chair Molly McLoughlin, told us her personal story about growing up on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation in Browning, Montana. As a child, her community was home to a factory that manufactured the Blackfeet Indian pencils and sold them to schools. This factory was a vital employer to her community. When public purchasers in a school district sought out and contracted for a cheaper pencil to save money, the factory was forced to close its doors. Parents lost their jobs, which caused a ripple effect on livelihoods, skills, and community well-being which are still felt today. Her story was a sobering reminder that our purchasing decisions carry real consequences for the communities we serve.
This year’s theme for Forum was a New Era, focusing on resetting yourself during and change in your personal life as well as the ever-changing AI. Forum had five wonderful keynote speakers to talk about resetting yourself, but three really resonated with me – starting with Cam Awesome. His message to us is that even in loss, you can grow and gain experience and to never quit. For him, “You quit when you become discouraged not when you fail.” If you don’t like your situation, then change your story. It will take work, and sometimes setbacks, but with hard work and believing in yourself, you can change your story. This starts with changing in how you speak to yourself. Even when others say you lost, smile, talk positively about yourself and remember, “If you did everything you can then you won – even if you didn’t win.”
He also reminded us that we can’t rewrite our past story, just on our future story. And we must never let anyone else write our story for us because they will write our story for their needs, not ours.
The next speaker was Juan Bendaña. We are all going through change right now and he spoke about how to lead through the change. He shared that belief is our driving force, yet 80% of our thoughts are negative and 95% of those thoughts are about a situation from yesterday. To change, we need to start believing in ourselves first. Change takes courage and can be fearful at times. We need to not only step out of our comfort zone into the fear zone but push beyond it. With change, we need to prioritize progress. Instead of “faking it until we make it” we need to “work in it, until we make it.” This is done by investing in the confidence of the people around us and to raise the bar of belief in yourself and others. Through all of this, we need to choose the positive perspective, not the negative.
The closing speaker was Sarah Wells. She reminded us that excellence is about being better than yesterday, and to achieve it, you need to prepare yourself for it. The first step is you must go all in, even if it is just showing up that day. Those are the days that your wins are built on, not your best days. She also reminded us that effort is contagious; when the effort is high, we tend to push ourselves to make the effort. But as with anything, you need to start small to build up to the big. Next, break the blueprint and lean into your unique strengths and talents. If your talents aren’t being utilized, then change the blueprint to find a way to use them. She reminded us to celebrate the small wins, along the way, and find your strength in your stumbles. Her final message was, don’t let your circumstances define your success – you are what defines your success, not others. Even if you don’t win, if you perform better than you were expecting, you are still successful.
Besides the keynote speakers, Forum offered hundreds of breakout sessions covering topics such as AI, construction procurement, project management, self-improvement, and professional skills development. I couldn't attend them all, but the sessions I did attend were excellent, and I was able to bring actionable insights back to my work. One of the many advantages about Forum is the ability to go back and listen to the sessions I missed. If you plan on attending a future Forum, I highly recommend attending the Networking session. This session provides a structured opportunity to ask questions and exchange ideas with practitioners from other entities who may be facing similar challenges.
This year, Forum gave me tools to grow both personally and professionally. I met some amazing people and plan on connecting with some of them in the weeks to come. Forum is a conference where you can learn as little or as much as you choose as well as network as little or as much as you’d like. It is a conference that I recommend everyone attend in person at least once in their careers. I have met some amazing people who to this day continue to influence my thinking and practice. I hope to see you next year in Kansas City.
- Beth Hewes