SPAC 2018 – A Great Trip and Conference

The theme for SPAC 2018 was “Proposals from Start to Finish.” Much of the imagery chosen by the organizers revolved around travel. Little did they know the challenge those of us from the DC area would have getting to Atlanta!

My SPAC story starts the day before the conference. My well-laid travel plans were thrown in disarray by a freak spring snowstorm in northern Virginia. With all American Airlines flights from Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport to Atlanta cancelled, I joined Steve Skeldon and Mike Parkinson in a rental car and drove the 600 plus miles to Atlanta. It was a great drive that I live-tweeted with the hashtag #SPACRoadtrip – check it out for some other pictures.

The conference itself was, again, spectacular. The Georgia, Carolinas, and Florida APMP chapters once again had a tremendous lineup of speakers that gave great, actionable guidance to attendees. I was honored to present for a second consecutive year. I want to thank everyone who came out for my session, “Master Class: Applying Business Lessons to Opportunity Development.” I also was excited to moderate a panel discussion entitled “Proposal Development in an Increasingly Automated World,” featuring Steve Skeldon, Beth Wingate, Gillian Dionne, and William Rogers. I hope to have video of my presentation, and an excerpt from the panel, up in the next couple of weeks on BZ Opportunity Management’s new YouTube channel.

It was great to get insights from some of the best minds in our field and to catch up with colleagues and friends, old and new. Next up is the 2018 APMP Bid and Proposal Conference in San Diego, CA in mid-May. It should be another amazing conference, bringing together proposal professionals from around the world! Hope to see you all there for some great panels and presentations.