PL50: The conversations that change the world

Bertrand Russell and Bjork are sitting across a packed table putting the world to rights. If you’ve ever played the ‘dream dinner party’ game, you might know what I’m on about – imagine a scenario where you can pick interesting or influential figures to sit round a table together. What would they talk about? What might they achieve? OK – now try the same with procurement professionals...

There have always been salons, bars, dining clubs where decisions have been made, influences collided and fates altered. What makes them tick is the circumstance of talented, enthusiastic individuals getting together and proposing different ways of thinking, behaving – living.

For procurement the same is true: there are exceptional individuals today who are changing the business world and are at the forefront of taking on challenges that come with the advance of globalisation, technology and the shifting geo-political setting.

They’re from different backgrounds – some are finance through and through, some are salespeople, some are dyed-in-the-wool buyers. They’re from different industries. But they share problems and they share goals and, importantly, they have a lot to learn from one another.

So back to our game – consider the discussion when the CPOs of Cisco, National Grid, Western Digital and Humana get together. Here you’ve got some of the brightest and most lauded individuals in procurement in the US, so what do they talk about?

I mean, I’d be interested to know – but a lucky few are going to find out and be part of the discussion this summer at the PL50 event. They’ll be looking at the future of strategic sourcing, the scramble for talent, the question of how to make the most of technology and how to approach outsourcing as it becomes a more sophisticated proposition.

What’s even more interesting is that these names will be among 50 top CPOs invited who will sit down in the St. Francis Yacht Club in San Francisco and have the kinds of conversations that sow the seeds of big ideas.

There have been some huge ideas to come out of the West Coast of the US and some of the most influential companies in the world reside there, so it’s no surprise that when you start shortlisting names for your dream West Coast meetup you can create a very convincing list quite fast.

Nothing of this exclusive, openly discursive nature is there yet, grabbing the attention in the procurement space, so who knows, the conversations could really be the kind that change the world.

Find more about these unique events here. And feel free to contribute your own suggestions for ideal procurement roundtable guests (US or otherwise) below...