Signature Conference April 25 April 27, 2018 Lodge & Spa at Callaway Gardens Pine Mountain, Georgia Registration Deadline Monday March 26, 2018 Registration Fee: Full Conference: $275.00 GPAG members, $300.00 non-gpag members Retired GPAG Members: No Charge Bring your spouse/guest with you* *Spouse/guest can accompany an attendee to GPAG meals for an additional fee of $50 Register Online at: www.gpag.net
Class Instructors Tony Ellis, Keynote retired in November 2007 as Director of Prison Industries after thirty-seven years of public service for the State of South Carolina ranging from Agency Director of General Services to State Materials Management Officer and several other executive positions, including over twenty years in Correctional Industries. Tony has served on the NIGP Board of Directors and received the Distinguished Service Award from the Institute for many years of service. He also served on the National Correctional Industries Board and officer of the association for many years. He is the recipient of the Rodli award and the President s award for outstanding service to National Correctional Industries Association. Tony continues to stay active in correctional industries as a consultant for several states and teaches as a Master instructor for NIGP. Tony was the first public procurement official in South Carolina to be certified as a CPPO. While Director of General Services, he established the first training institute specifically designed to train all public procurement officials. In 2015, the South Carolina Public Association of Governmental Purchasing Officials honored Tony by inducting him as the third member of the Association s Hall of Fame. He holds a BS in Marketing from USC and a Master s degree in Management from Central Michigan University. He also speaks nationally and in Canada and Ireland. One of his favorite topics and courses he wrote is the Value of Humor in the Workplace. He authored three, two- day courses currently used by NIGP entitled Customer Service, Get What You Want Through Successful Negotiation Strategies and Advanced Negotiations. Tony served in the US Army during the Vietnam conflict as a medic. He is married to Jo Anne Ellis and has two children, Jonathan and Jennifer and four grandchildren, Parker, Max, Madison and John Miller that keep him quite busy. Greg Brown, CPPB, CPPO, MPA is the Purchasing Agent for the City of Valdosta, GA and has been employed there since 1995. His job entails procuring the commodities and services necessary to support the departments of the City who are responsible for achieving the goals mandated by the City Council. Prior to joining the City, Greg had 10 years of private experience. Greg has been a member of NIGP since 1995 and GPAG since 1997 and served in many positions for the Chapter including the office of President. He received his original CPPB certification in 1997 and CPPO designation in 2000 from NIGP. Greg holds a BBA degree in Management (1985) from Valdosta State College and received his Master s Degree in Public in 2004 from Valdosta State University Becky Daniel, CPPO is currently the Director of Purchasing for the Houston County Board of Education. She has been with Houston County since 2007 where she began as the Senior Buyer, leaving Middle Georgia College with 25 years of service. During her time at MGC she held several positions including the Inventory/Fixed Asset Clerk and later Manager, Buyer, and Purchasing Manager. Since becoming a member of NIGP and GPAG in 1994, she has served GPAG in several capacities including Treasurer, Vice President, President, as well as various committees as both chair and member. In 1999 Becky received her CPPB and in 2013 she received her CPPO. Dale Jordan graduated from Florida State University with a major in Management and emphasis on Purchasing and Materials Management. With a purchasing / supply chain career spanning over thirty-five years, he has experienced first-hand the increased expectations and demands
Class Instructors placed on the profession. He has working in industry as a Buyer, Cost/Price Analyst, Subcontract Administrator, Category Manager, Purchasing Manager and Supply Chain Director. His responsibilities have included materials planning, inventory management, acquisition, shipping/receiving and warehouse management. As a student of negotiation, strategic business analysis and supply chain strategies he has developed in depth training addressing a number of procurement topics. Dale currently serves as the Director of Procurement and Risk Management for Cherokee County, where his department recently earned the OA4 National Accreditation from the NIGP. He is married with four children; loves music, acoustic guitars, French Bulldogs and all things Doctor Who. Ellen Nasrallah is the Senior Business Development Executive for BidNet. Ellen s expertise on sourcing processes and procedures expands with each new government purchasing team she meets. BidNet, part of the Mediagrif Strategic Sourcing platform, is a source-to-contract suite for over 1,200 government agencies. Ellen works with local and state agencies to simplify their purchasing process through bid distribution, electronic bid submission, automated workflow, and vendor and contract management. She has been an integral part of the BidNet team since 2014. Ellen also conducts educational sessions for NIGP including local chapters in Mississippi (MAGPPA) and Georgia (GPAG). Kevin Hill is a Snellville, Georgia native with multiple years of experience in the sales industry. He is currently the Senior Vice President of Sales for Perimeter Office Products with a primary focus on vertical markets, cooperatives and the public sector. Kevin earned his Bachelor s degree from the University of West Georgia with a major in Mass Communications. He is married with one daughter and is expecting his second child in September. Matt Roberts is a Georgia native with 20 years in public service in a variety of roles. He began his professional career in law enforcement and homeland security after graduating from Columbus State University. In 2008 he made the transition to the education community serving in administrative roles in the private and public school sectors. He joined the staff at the Fayette County School District in 2010 where he currently serves as the Purchasing Manager for the District responsible for procurement, risk management, and warehouse operations.
Schedule Tuesday, April 24, 2018 5:00-6:00 Early Registration Loblolly Pre-Function 5:00 10:00 Chat Room Open for Networking Dinner on Your Own Wednesday, April 25, 2018 Cypress A & B 7:00 8:00 Breakfast - (Piedmont Dining Room - included in registration) 7:45 8:00 Registration (Loblolly Pre-Function) Time Session Title, Presenter & Description CPPB/CPPO Contact Hours 8:00-10:00AM Humor in the Workplace (Part I) Presenter: Tony Ellis, Keynote Dinner on your own GaDOAS GCPA CEUs UPPCC Body of Knowledge A four-hour fun filled session packed with information, advice and laughter designed to enhance the value of humor in the workplace. Attendees will discover the benefits of humor, be able to test your own humor quotient, understand how humor improves communication, and understand the relationship between humor and good health. 10:00 10:30 AM Supplier Fair Breakout Loblolly Ballroom Coffee, water, and snacks will be available Located in Retreat A/B 10:30 12:30 PM Humor in the Workplace (Part II) Presenter: Tony Ellis, Keynote A four-hour fun filled session packed with information, advice and laughter designed to enhance the value of humor in the workplace. Attendees will discover the benefits of humor, be able to test your own humor quotient, understand how humor improves communication, and understand the relationship between humor and good health. 12:30 1:30 PM Lunch Provided by GPAG Located in the Piedmont Dining Hall. Included in registration 1:30 2:30PM Amazon Business A New Form of E-commerce Presenter: Amazon Representatives 1 1 Supply Management This class will discuss the evolution of e-commerce in the government sector and how it can be leveraged to create effective and efficient procurement practices for all types of commodities using the Amazon business platform. 2.:30 3:00 PM Supplier Fair Breakout Loblolly Ballroom Coffee, water, and snacks will be available Located in Retreat A/B 3:00 5:00 PM The Basics of Negotiations Presenter: Tony Ellis 2 2 Negotiation Process This class will focus on the do s and don ts of negotiations. Attendees will be provided basic information and instructed on skills and approaches to successfully navigate the art of negotiations. 5:00 6:00 PM Supplier Fair Breakout Loblolly Ballroom Coffee, water, and snacks will be available Located in Retreat A/B 6:00-10:00PM Chat Room Open for Networking
Schedule Thursday, April 26, 2018 Cypress A & B Time Session Title, Presenter & Description CPPB/CPPO Points 8:00 9:30 AM A week in the life of a procurement professional Presenter: Greg Brown 9:30 10:00 AM 10:00 10:15 AM GaDOAS GCPA CEUs UPPCC Body of Knowledge 1.5 1.5 Procurement Seem like the same old grind at work? Can t wait for 5 to get here? Feeling like you and your skills are taken for granted? This class will demonstrate through discussion and experiences how to enjoy your job while accomplishing whatever the day brings. We will take a broad look at what motivates us, how to handle the stressful task(s) at hand, dealing with all of our wonderful customers, and necessary survival skills in the procurement world. Bring your questions and experiences so that we can help each other enjoy our jobs more and look forward to going to work each day. Managing the Bid Solicitation Process Efficiently Presenter: Ellen Nasrallah 0.5 0.5 Supply Management Trying to figure out how to make your bid and vendor management process more efficient? Looking to start offering Electronic Bid Submission (EBS)? Want more vendor outreach or more qualified vendor responses? Need more transparency and audit/controls? Learn how easily you can do all of this and more using the Georgia Purchasing Group Platform, shared by other local gov t agencies in this quick 30-minute power session! This class is sponsored by BidNet. Break Refreshments provided by GPAG 10:15 12:15 PM Catch a Ride on the Energy Bus Presenter: Becky Daniel 7:00-8:00 AM Breakfast Buffet (Piedmont Dining Room - included in registration) 8:00 11:00 Coffee, water, and snacks will be available Dinner on your own In the procurement field, we face challenges every day. Negative energy just walks right up on us before we know it s even there! In this class we ll talk about a plan to turn negative energy into positive achievement. We ll look at ways to fuel our life, work and team with positive energy. By the end of the class you will have a plan to overcome work and common life obstacles, and to bring out the best in you, and those around you. Enjoy the ride. 12:15-1 PM GPAG Business Meeting GPAG Board Quarterly Chapter Business Meeting 1:00 2:00 PM Lunch Provided by GPAG Located in the Piedmont Dining Hall. Included in registration 6:00 10:00 Chat Room Open for Networking -
Schedule Friday, April 27, 2018 Cypress A & B 7:00-8:00 Breakfast (Piedmont Dining Room - included in registration) 8:00 11:00 Coffee, Water, and snacks will be available Time Session Title, Presenter & Description CPPB/CPPO Points 8:00 9:30 AM Price and Cost Analysis The Procurement Professional s Sonic Screwdriver? Presenter: Dale Jordan GaDOAS GCPA CEUs UPPCC Body of Knowledge 1.5 1.5 Procurement What is price analysis, how does it differ from cost analysis and how important is it really? How many bidders are required to provide reasonable competition? How do you evaluate a single bid or proposed price? How do you evaluate the price of items or services never before purchased? How do you evaluate an extremely low competitive price to determine if they are responsible? These questions and others will be addressed while providing an overview of the basic approaches used to evaluate pricing. Numerous examples will be provided to demonstrate how and when to apply these analysis techniques. The workshop will also include hands-on cases for the participants to apply these concepts to the real world. 9:30 10:00 AM Ergonomics in the Workplace Presenter: Kevin Hill 0.5 0.5 Supply Management Ergonomics is the study of the relationship between workers and their environment. Discover what ergonomic efficiency and comfort looks like in the workplace and how it can benefit you everyday life in the field of procurement. This class is sponsored by Perimeter Office Products. 10:00 10:15 AM Break Refreshments provided by GPAG 10:30 12:00 PM People Driven Procurement Presenter: Matt Roberts This interactive and informative class will discuss how people are the most important element in the procurement process. Individual attitudes, organization climate, and personal insights all directly and indirectly affect the procurement of goods and services. Participants will begin with the big picture and drill down to the personal levels of People Driven Procurement and how they can apply the principles to their teams. 12:00 12:15 PM Q&A, Closing Announcements, Evaluations & Door Prize Drawings
General Information Location Classes will be at the Lodge and Spa at Callaway Gardens located at 4500 Southern Pine Dr, Pine Mountain, GA 31822. Lodging Lodging will be at the Lodge and Spa at Callaway Gardens. Room reservations can be made by calling: 1-855-457-6671. When calling be sure to indicate you are attending the GPAG Spring Signature Conference. The discounted room rate Rates are as follows: Lodge Room - $149 per night/plus $2.50 per night Resort Fee Discounted room rates good three days before and after the event. (Subject to availability) Registration The attendee registration fee for the conference includes breakfast on class days and two lunches. You may register online at www.gpag.net. Registration Deadline is Monday, March 26, 2018