By Michael Pearsall, P.Eng., CVS, CVM, FICE, FEC – Vice President – Conferences, SAVE International
There are no limits to value in Austin and there should be no limits to how much you can get out of the 2018 Value Summit.
Since my last column, a dedicated group of volunteers have read every paper submission and evaluated each of them against our scoring criteria to select the papers to be presented at the 2018 Value Summit. This is no small feat, as well over 400 pages of text have to be read, thought about and discussed. This task cannot be rushed, as the authors have all put a lot of work into their submissions and each deserves our due and careful consideration in putting together a quality event.
As always, this year again there were a few papers that truly stood out and will not make the job of selecting paper of the year easy. I also found a couple of papers that opened my mind to new possibilities and I cannot wait myself to hear them presented. There are even a couple papers that I thought should be mandatory reading for all practitioners. I wish I could call up all of the authors and discuss their papers in detail with them, but like everyone else, I will just have to wait until they are presented at the Summit.
After the papers were evaluated, and while notifications to the successful authors were being prepared, papers were grouped to create a draft presentation program. We always have a goal to present something for everyone, from beginners to seasoned practitioners, so the papers have to be sorted accordingly. This year we also wanted to ensure that, in keeping with the new certification program, the grouped tracks would qualify for professional development units.
We have also been hard at work securing trainers for quality pre- and post-Summit training courses. I am very proud to announce that in addition to hosting a Value Methodology Fundamentals 1 (VMF 1) course again this year, we will also be holding a Value Methodology Fundamentals 2 (VMF 2) course this year. I think you will also find our selection of half-day and full-day pre-Summit training to be of interest.
The big news to announce though is that with all the steps above taken, registration for the 2018 Value Summit is now open! Already a number of people have registered for the Summit and courses, so I encourage you to reserve your place soon.
I am also pleased to see that a couple more sponsors have stepped up to support the event. Sponsorship is very important – without it, we cannot have a quality event at a reasonable cost. This is your Society and it needs your support!
Your 2018 program committee is continuing to work hard at planning a great Summit. We hope to see you in Austin, Texas June 9-12, 2018 for the 2018 Value Summit.
Print 
PDF