Explore how technology enablement, love-centered leadership, and procurement evolution will…
As we approach the mid-year mark, the Wonder Services team is proud and excited to reflect on the impactful and influential conferences we’ve participated in. Join us as we recap six key conferences that have inspired and shaped the procurement landscape in 2024:
Date: April 29 - May 1, 2024
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Our founder and CEO, Amanda Prochaska, was a keynote speaker at this year's ISM Conference. Amanda also joined procurement leaders Steve Miller and Ana Paula Zamorano on stage! Together, these three experts demonstrated how procurement skills can be applied to almost any other job opportunity. Amanda also shared her journey of creating Wonder Services and explained how her procurement experience molded her into an excellent saleswoman.
On the final day of the event, Amanda addressed attendees from 27 countries on the topic of leading change. She shared insights on how to lead change efficiently and effectively, enabling leaders to make the most of their valuable energy. Finally, Amanda’s presentation included a memorable analogy involving cows vs. buffalos AND her secret sauce for leading change: The ALICE Method. Feel free to learn more by watching our ALICE video series on YouTube.
Date: May 13-15, 2024
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
This year, over 300 technology sourcing professionals (including CIOs, CTOs, IT VPs, CFOs, and procurement leaders) gathered in Boston to explore industry trends and emerging technologies. Amanda was a keynote speaker and had the opportunity to share her transformational approach to change management (the ALICE Methodology).
Other topics at the conference included revenue generation, ethical AI practices, storytelling, and goal-setting outside of cost savings. Amanda was also impressed by the up-and-comping procurement companies started by experts in our growing field. On LinkedIn, she wrote:
“The amount of people who are one person teams is incredible…Those are the people who have an immense opportunity to do something different; to break through the ‘old’ and bring us into the ‘4.0’ of procurement. I am so excited for them to take us into this new generation.
Great conference. Great people. Great conversations.”
Date: April 22-24, 2024
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
In April, Amanda attended Coupa Inspire, one of her favorite events of the year. The conference offered participants valuable insights into optimizing STP processes and provided a bit of fun along the way!
A key focus at the Inspire was the importance of change management. Conference speakers highlighted instances where companies purchased an entire suite but deployed only a few components, resulting in suboptimal outcomes due to inadequate change management. Fortunately, effective change management and post-implementation services can address these issues. Learn more about how we can help address these issues and ensure successful implementation: Our WONDERful Implementation Services.
Date: May 15-17, 2024
Location: Miami, Florida
In May, Amanda took the stage as the panel leader and moderator at the Horizon Zycus event in Miami, Florida. The topic of her panel’s discussion was “Scaling Up for Success: Large-Scale Source-to-Pay Deployments. Panelist members included:
- Markus Rieder (Swissport) on global system implementations
- John Lombard (Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts) on AI in procurement
- Walaa Halwani (Abdul Latif Jameel) on change management
- Rakesh Agarwal (KPMG) on measuring success
Artificial Intelligence was also a hot topic at the Zycus conference. Amanda, and other participants, openly envisioned a streamlined procurement process where AI-driven systems handle everything from initial vendor qualification to contract generation and order creation, with remarkable accuracy and efficiency. This future, once thought distant, is closer than imagined, emphasizing the importance of swiftly embracing available technologies to adapt to evolving procurement landscapes.
Date: May 22-23, 2024
Location: Miami Beach, Florida
Wonder Services’ Head of Partnerships, Kaitlyn Smith, attended this year’s Ivalua NOW conference in Florida. She returned with several key takeaways, including:
- Strategies for choosing the best procurement platform
- Tips for effective supply chain
- The significant role of women in procurement
Kaitlyn also witnessed impressive customer success stories from leaders like Nick Traboulay of Leidos, Clinton Hazziez from Baylor Scott & White Health, Booz Allen Hamilton and BAE Systems. She was particularly impressed by the use of AI, including the voice-enabled AI assistant "Iva," and an interactive AI "TalkShow" that allowed attendees to explore Ivalua's product vision.
Date: June 3-4, 2024
Location: Boston, Massachusetts
Amanda also attended the recent ProcureCon IT Sourcing conference in Boston, where 75% of the attendees were IT service providers. During a panel discussion she led, one audience question particularly resonated with her: “Why do procurement people’s eyes glaze over when I say that I am an IT service provider?”
Amanda's expert response highlighted the importance of focusing on the problems you solve rather than just describing what you do. Let’s use Wonder Services as an example. We have multiple ways to introduce ourselves, some of which are more powerful than others. For instance:
- We are a change management consulting firm.
- We solve the problem of change adoption.
See the difference? By clearly communicating the problems you solve, you connect with those actively seeking solutions, positioning yourself as the ideal person to address their needs.
Ultimately, the future of procurement looks promising with novel companies, technologies and ideas driving meaningful changes. Wonder Services is proud to be at the forefront of this evolution and eager to partner with you to achieve new goals, implement advanced technologies, and maximize your ROI. Contact us today for more information; we’d love to connect with you!