Public procurement event headed to Austin, Texas, in April

Mark your calendars from April 21-23. That’s when Evolve’14 takes place. It is a public procurement industry event for education, innovation and collaboration. Evolve’14 will gather purchasing professionals nationwide to collaborate on procurement obstacles and successes, discuss cutting-edge trends and explore the future of procurement.

Evolve’14 is an important event for procurement professionals, says Ken McFarland who is Vice President of Solutions and Field Operations at Austin, Texas-based Periscope Holdings, the organizer of the conference. Evolve is Periscope’s annual conference, and this is the third year the firm has hosted it.

“Evolve is an opportunity for procurement professionals to gather and share their respective visions about the future of public sector and higher education procurement,” McFarland told GPN. “Our intent is to provide a forum where procurement professionals can interact without being bombarded with sales and marketing messages.”

The keynote speaker is Governor Edward G. Rendell, who was governor of Pennsylvania (2003-2011) and mayor of Philadelphia (1992-2000)

After 34 years of public service, including 24 years as an elected official, Governor Rendell continues to pursue many of the same issues he was passionate about while serving. He has made a commitment to making America a cleaner, more efficient place, and to foster investment in the crumbling U.S. infrastructure.


Governor Rendell recently authored his first book, “A Nation of Wusses: How America’s Leaders Lost the Guts to Make Us Great.” In the volume, Rendell chronicles his long political career with candor, while assessing the state of American leadership.

About a dozen learning sessions are part of Evolve’14. Some of the topics are listed below, with the names of the speakers for that session listed on the following line:

Future State – Strategic Sourcing 2.0
David Yarkin, president, Government Sourcing Solutions

Procurement Transformation with eProcurement
J. Kevin Beardsley CPPB, CPPO, Virginia Beach City Public Schools

BuySpeed University (3-hour session)
Greg Flores, vice president of technology, Periscope Holdings

Procurement Intelligence 1.0 – NIGP Code-Based Business Intelligence & Comparative Spend Analytics
Matt Walker, president of NIGP Code & Consulting Services, Periscope Holdings

Give New Life to Your Legacy Systems
Dave Davis, procurement and materials manager, state of Washington DOT
Matt Walker, president of NIGP Code & Consulting Services, Periscope Holdings

A CPPO Refresher – Let’s Play Jeopardy!
David Nash, Certified Master Instructor, NIGP

Sponsorship opportunities are available for companies interested in exhibiting their products and services at a two-day partner expo during the conference. Certificates for continuing education credits will be provided to those who attend Evolve’14.

Register at this site to receive the discounted Early Bird rate for the conference. The Hyatt Regency Lost Pines is offering rooms at a price of $108 per night. Both the Early Bird Registration and the reduced hotel reservation rate will expire on Friday, March 21, 2014.

For questions regarding Evolve ’14 or to request sponsorship information, contact Kara Siepierski at 512-666-9381 or [email protected]

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