Greetings! 

As an online community dedicated to procurement professionals, Buyers Meeting Point makes networking a priority.  We highlight opportunities in our dates and events calendar, support direct member connections through forums on our site and on LinkedIn and call attention to recruiting activity happening in the procurement space.

One of the reasons we place such an emphasis on these areas is because we recognize the importance of networking in our own lives and careers.  Recently, we took some time to think about the questions and concerns that commonly arise before networking opportunities and put together some suggestions.

We encourage all BMP members to network whenever possible and welcome your feedback and suggestions as to how we can better support you.  Please take a minute to participate in a five question survey we have put together on the subject.  Once you have completed the survey, the total responses to date will be available to you immediately.

What is the ultimate purpose of networking? 

How do you get started when entering a large group networking opportunity?

How do you approach someone you'd like to connect with but do not know and have no mutual connections?

Come visit us and find out the answers to these questions and more!  

 If you have a networking tip that you find helpful and think it is worth sharing, send us a note to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Featured Publication for February 2010

I have read this book several times and it is a treasure chest of information and a MUST READ. It is a complete guide on how to interact with the human race and understand yourself as well as others. It has helped me tremendously in all aspects of my life from the most casual of interactions to long-term relationships.

An introduction on Amazon.com states:

This grandfather of all people-skills books was first published in 1937. It was an overnight hit, eventually selling 15 million copies. How to Win Friends and Influence People is just as useful today as it was when it was first published, because Dale Carnegie had an understanding of human nature that will never be outdated. Financial success, Carnegie believed, is due 15 percent to professional knowledge and 85 percent to "the ability to express ideas, to assume leadership, and to arouse enthusiasm among people."

Spend Radar on Spend Analysis

Buyers Meeting Point recently had an opportunity to speak with Rod True, COO at Spend Radar, about the company's entry into the spend analysis solutions market.  Although the company only began selling its product on January 1, 2009, Rod is hardly a newcomer to the procurement software world.

Spend Radar is based on dynamic database technology.  Spend Radar's late entry into the Spend Analysis market allowed them to use this approach as a foundation that more entrenched providers have not yet adopted.  The new architecture reduces the choke points that often slowed, stalled, or rendered spend analysis data useless in implementations in the past. 

Exposing customers to the data cleansing & categorization software ensures higher accuracy than currently attainable via existing solutions.  Working from any customer source data by simply requiring a header row eliminates the need for a client's IT resources to make significant investments of time and effort to extract and normalize data to fit into rigid predetermined vendor templates.  Data is not universal; this means each client can break away from the forced data restrictions of current vendors, and can enrich their information with whatever variables they find relevant.  They can also categorize to multiple structures simultaneously.

It is impossible to speak with Rod without catching his enthusiasm for Spend Radar. He is excited by their accomplishment to date and what they are positioned to achieve in the near future. In just over one year of existence they have established an international presence through direct staff as well as channel partners.

To learn more, go to eprocurement  on Buyers Meeting Point.

Join our LinkedIn Group 

We have put together a group on LinkedIn. Come join us and be affiliated with others in the procurement profession. Share ideas, ask questions and expand your knowledge to strengthen your skills.

eSourcing Providers

We have assembled a reference list for you of eSourcing providers with a brief description of each one. There are so many to review this may give you a quick start towards determining which is the best fit for your organization.  Click here for the eSourcing list

Dates to Watch

We have listed a few dates coming up that may be of interest to you and worthwhile for expanding your knowledge of the procurement field.  Come visit our site as we continually update our Upcoming Dates and Events for your convenience.

Monday March 1(3 Days)

Supply Management: The Basics You Need To Succeed (San Diego, CA)

Monday March 22 (3 days)

Fundamentals Of Purchasing: The Building Blocks Of World-Class Professionalism (Tampa, FL) 

Monday March 22 (4 days) 

Shared Services Week

Tuesday March 30(3 days)

 Sourcing Interests Group 2010 Global Sourcing Summit (Savannah, GA) 

Buyers Meeting Point Partners

Procurra Sourcing is our partner in Online Negotiation tools, making it possible to optimize your buying process by using an online negotiation suite complemented with professional services. Registered members are eligible for preferred pricing.  They have been hard at work and are featuring the following upgrades:

·      Updated company and user profile administration site

·      Updated messaging functionality within eRFx module

·      Improved log functionality

·      Participants can maintain their own contact info

·      Customized list of payment terms

·      Partial Quantity Bidding within the eRFx module

·      Dutch and Polish language

Click here to get more information

Have a look at the site of Plan International our global charity partner. We are quite excited to be affiliated with them and to be able to contribute in that manner.