With in-person events starting back up, procurement professionals have the opportunity to ‘get back out there’ and start adding to their knowledge and networks - but are they picking up where they left off or have the last two years changed everything?

In this episode of The Sourcing Hero podcast, Host Kelly Barner welcomes back Philip Ideson. Phil is the Founder and Managing Director of Art of Procurement, a procurement consulting, membership, and content company that provides CPOs and their teams the resources they need to enable company growth. He has also worked at both Procurian & Accenture and has experience across the entire Indirect and Direct procurement value chain.

In this interview, Phil shares what he has been hearing at recent in-person industry conferences and whether it provides evidence that the procurement community is staying current on the most important topics:

How conference topics, speakers, and attendees have - or have not - changed as a result of the last two years 

What procurement should be investing in and focusing on now to be prepared for the conditions we are likely to be working through six months from now

Whether the combined pressures of inflation, recession, and ESG will alter the general tone of supplier relationship efforts