SCIP10 Conference Highlights: Interactive Sessions
January 4, 2010 by Bonnie Hohhof · Stored at: Over the years, your conference evaluations consistently emphasized your desire for additional networking and interactive opportunities at the annual conference. So SCIP has designed the SCIP10 conference schedule to significantly increase the sessions devoted to the direct exchange of ideas with your fellow CI experts and thought-leaders. These Interactive Breakout Sessions are moderated participant-driven discussions that focus on your key challenges and concerns.
Here are the PowerPoint-Free interactive session topics scheduled at SCIP10:
1. The death of the CI professional: the changing paradigm for CI functions and practitioners.
2. The human intelligence in a collection plan
3. How to secure CEO buy-in to your CI program
4. CI for MR professionals: getting comfortable with uncertainty
5. Using CI to enter foreign markets
6. Managing Asia-Pacific CI engagements
7. What went wrong? Lessons learned from the demise of CI programs
8. Scenario based planning and war fame strategy
9. Blue Ocean intelligence
10. The impact of real time news on the CI and MI functions
11. Global counterfeit issues and CI strategies
12. Numbers gone wild: Or, precision in, garbage out
13. Creating and using dynamic topic maps to visualize your business environment
14. Using patent intelligence to benchmark against competitors
15. Right brain intelligence for a left brain world: New approaches for competitive analysis
16. Competitive assessment in the defense Industry—Lessons from the trenches
17. Keeping outsourced projects on track
18. CI ethics — keeping on the right side of the line: Best practices for acquiring CI from a legal perspective
19. Knowledge management
20. Mapping out competitor value propositions
21. State of the no fly zone 2010: Virtual venues for conducting qualitative research
Check out the conference brochure at http://www.scip.org/content.cfm?itemnumber=9281 for more details.
A Bright Spot at the End of the Year
December 4, 2009 by Ken Garrison · Stored at: We’re encouraged by the increase in the attendance at the two-day training event SCIP held this week. On the Monday after the Thanksgiving holiday, over 45 people from all over the world were present in Washington DC for the “Fundamentals of Competitive Intelligence” course. This is the largest attendance for this course over the last two years.
We hope that this strong turnout is an indication that corporations are finally “loosening the purse-strings,” and returning to supporting the professional training and networking that not only increases personal knowledge but also results in stronger support for the executive decisions which are so critical in today’s turbulent environment.
SCIP Organizational Update
November 16, 2009
Dear SCIP Members:
I am continuing my updates to you on the evolution of SCIP. In my last letter, I wrote of change, and change will be a constant theme over the next few years we move the organization forward. Implementing change is difficult and its effects are often hard on everyone they touch — the organization as a whole, members, staff, and your elected SCIP Board of Directors who are leading this change.
The SCIP Board meets monthly to consider the ongoing steps necessary for the organization to move forward. The Directors make decisions which have a financial, cultural, and even physiological impact since they often create an operational mode which by necessity differs from those in place at various times over the past 24 years of SCIP’s operation. All involved are dedicated to making carefully considered decisions which will improve the trajectory of the association and the services it provides you, the membership.
Three movements forward
In the last 30 days, the Board made three important decisions for your society. The first approved a slate of three eminently qualified candidates for election to the two open seats of the 2010 Board of Directors. These candidates are:
- Michael Bernachi of Dunkin Brands Inc.
- Peter Shaw of Midwest Employers Casualty Company
- Paul Kissinger of Thunderbird University.
The election is now open and will run through November 30. Please take the time to review the candidates’ qualifications posted on the website, and to vote for the individuals of your choice.
The Board’s second action amends the SCIP bylaws in accordance with the membership vote which merged SCIP with the Frost & Sullivan Institute. David Frigstad and Wyman Bravard were added to the Board of Directors and will represent the Institute. Combined with the two newly elected Board members, all of these individuals bring a broad base of business experience to the organization and will help SCIP meet the requirements of its ever-changing environment.
The Board’s third action upholds its commitment to deliver added value to your membership without increasing its cost. In 2010, all current and future members will continue to receive the same benefits you have always received from your SCIP membership, plus a minimum of three free educational e-broadcast per year.
Additionally, in response to your requests to help budget for SCIP membership and activities on an annual basis, you will be able to purchase custom packages of SCIP membership, events, and webinars on a discounted basis. These new packages will be on the website on November 30, 2009.
Chapters
To serve the changing requirements of our local domestic chapters, the Board created a Chapter Task Force in the spring of 2009. This task force is led by Kelsey Hare (Board member), and includes Fred Wergeles and Tim Barak (chapter chairs), and Robyn Reals and myself (SCIP staff). The task force members are focusing on finding innovative ways to increase chapter meeting flexibility and venue choice, minimizing the cost to members, partnering with related organizations, and providing enhanced networking opportunities.
SCIP 2010 conference
We are rapidly preparing the budget and program schedule for SCIP10. As usual, the opportunity to speak to the largest gathering of CI professionals in the world created a great deal of interest. We expect to have the program slate fully developed and displayed on the website by the end of November.
We have listened to past conference attendees requests, gathered through evaluations and surveys, for more interactive time with your peers. As a result, the SCIP 2010 conference will expand the direct dialogue between CI professionals by designating 22 of its approximately 50 sessions “PowerPoint-free” zones. In a networking environment, CI experts will share their knowledge directly with you and respond to your interests. No longer will you simply be the passive recipient of hearing the speaker repeat what is on pre-packaged slides, but you will actively participate in creating your learning environment.
We have begun the formal marketing of the conference and quite a few members are taking advantage of signing up for SCIP 10 with 2009 budget dollars. If we can help you with a package for your team’s attendance at the event, please feel free to contact the SCIP office and let us find how to serve your needs. The early registration price is $1250 for members, with the full price at $1500. Full and half day workshops are at the same price as last year, $955 and $588 respectively for members.
International 2009
The first SCIP Latin American Competitive Intelligence Summit was held in San Paulo, Brazil on 22-24 October, 2009. Over 100 CI professionals gathered to participate in workshops and general sessions. As you would expect, keynote speaker Ben Gilad provided very thought-provoking and insightful comments and ideas. On behalf of SCIP, board members Paulo Franklin de Abreu (Brazil) and Adrian Alvarez (Argentina) led the conference and created a strong foundation for future conferences. In addition, SCIP now has a very strong foundation for developing a chapter in Brazil.
The 14th European Competitive Intelligence Summit took place in Amsterdam on 4-6 November 2009. Ably chaired by Joseph Rodenberg, the summit was supported by an outstanding program committee. The excellent program attracted 200 delegates and featured an exhibit hall populated by 16 organizations which deliver a broad array of products and services to the CI community.
Professor Stephane Garelli delivered a scintillating opening keynote address. His global review was sobering when one considered the amount of stimulus money that has flowed from the coffers of the G 20, primarily funded via budget deficits to avert a financial meltdown. To balance this observation, Garelli’s global review also included the positives that are now entering the financial global system and he provided a balanced but upbeat forecast for the future. Over the course of the three days, the summit delegates had the opportunity to learn from CI experts who presented over 27 sessions and 4 workshops. Overall, the summit participants exhibited an extremely enthusiastic and positive approach.
Looking forward
As noted in earlier communications, your Society plans to host four summits in 2010 (North America, Europe, Latin America, and Asia) supplemented by seminars, workshops, and chapter and affiliate offerings. In addition SCIP will continue to provide CI education and commentary via electronic newsletters, websites, e-broadcasts, webinars, the Linked In community (which has grown to over 2900 members), and publications most notably an expanded Competitive Intelligence Magazine, now published on a quarterly basis.
Does this mean that our financial challenges of 2009 are fully resolved? Not quite. To continue our progress towards operating on a solid operational base, SCIP requires the overall economic global recovery to continue, and corporations to support their employees continued professional development through a moderate level of expenditure for education and travel. However, the actions SCIP is taking in 2009 ensures that your professional Society will survive and prosper in the coming years.
As you can see from the programs discussed earlier, we are taking the steps to expand our reach into the global competitive intelligence community and provide you with focused, relevant opportunities to develop your competitive knowledge.
As always, we welcome your commentary and feedback, which is necessary for a robust organization.
Regards:
Ken Garrison
CEO SCIP
An Update on the Organization
I wanted to reach out and give you an update on the organization and several of the upcoming events. The 2008-2009 economic downturn has been a difficult period in every industry and every country. As we read the economic pundits, each day seems to bring a new statement that the recession is either over or starting to abate. The impact is of course different for each one of us, depending on your industry and country of residence, but a much more positive spirit prevails.
SCIP has also been dealing with the effects of the economic downturn, and we have responded with significant changes, including a realignment and merger which positions us to make progress in the future. As the fall of 2009 evolves, SCIP is starting to see positive growth in a number of sectors. We are now experiencing a return to a normal inflow of membership renewals and new members. Several larger corporations have made the decision to have their entire global team join as they prepare to take advantage of competitive opportunities that arise in the near and extended future.
If you look at the SCIP calendar you will find a full slate of events this fall. Our chapters are producing an excellent schedule of events for their local SCIP membership, both in the US and around the world. Here’s our expanded and growing schedule of our 2009 global events:
October 6-7, 2009 “Competitive Financial Intelligence” Philadelphia PA
October 21-22, 2009 “Latin American CI Summit” San Paulo, Brazil
November 4-6, 2009 “European CI Summit” Amsterdam, Netherlands
November 30-December 1, 2009 “Fundamentals of CI” Alexandria, VA
And coming in 2010 are:
March 9-12, 2010 “SCIP 2010 International Conference” Washington DC
Fall of 2010-Latin American CI Summit
Fall of 2010 European CI Summit
Fall of 2010 Asian CI Summit-Kula Lumpur-October 2010
Plus individual workshops and seminars scheduled throughout the year.
To give you a sense of how our members are responding when we reach out to them, note the following responses to our recent initiatives:
As is the SCIP tradition, we issued a session and workshop content call for proposals for the SCIP 2010 conference. Within a very short two weeks, we received 109 excellent proposals to speak at the conference, sent in by a wide spectrum of seasoned CI professionals. Now the conference committee will review these proposals over the next two weeks to help us craft the program for next spring. Based on the quality of the proposals, the conference promises to be one of the best SCIP educational events on record.
SCIP open a LinkedIn group on July 15, 2008 to reach out to the entire competitive intelligence community. Over the next 13 months this group grew at an average rate of 141 new members per month. In the last 40 days we have seen a dramatic increase in requests to join this group, adding an additional 509 members, bringing our total to 2337 participating in a social networking environment. This sudden growth corresponds with the good news from the economy and we suspect resurgence in the need for competitive intelligence.
SCIP’s Board of Directors is led by dedicated individuals who serve three year terms. We currently have 23 applications for next year’s open seats on the Board, which will also continue a strong global representation. The nominations committee will be reviewing the candidates and craft a slate that will be presented to the membership for a vote on or before November 1, 2009.
The SCIP Latin American Conference has developed a very strong set of sessions, highlighted by Ben Gilad as keynote. Registrations are being received at a very brisk pace, and we are projecting a strong first conference. This event also provides the foundation for developing a very strong chapter in Brazil.
The European CI Summit in Amsterdam, with the aid of a very active program committee, has developed a fabulous schedule for early November, including a keynote presentation by the head of Nokia’s strategic intelligence group. CI professionals are responding to the program by generating strong registration numbers. In addition an extensive slate of exhibitors and sponsors have signed up to participate in an expanded exhibit hall floor.
Now, the opportunity to exhibit and sponsor at the SCIP 2010 event has been opened and we are accepting booth applications. The base booth price will be $5,000, which is in alignment with past conferences. The Board of Directors has also developed additional opportunities for those in the vendor community who wish to participate on the exhibit floor without taking out a full exhibit booth.
Building on our 2009 activities, our goal for 2010 is to provide the membership with an expanding range of services including:
- educational events, both in person and online through webinars
- an upgraded monthly e-bulletin
- new networking tools and opportunities both locally and electronically.
- a continuation of the SCIP Competitive Intelligence Magazine
As always, we appreciate your comments, questions, or suggestions.
Ken Garrison
SCIP CEO
kgarrison@scip.org
1.703.739.0696 x105
SCIP Past President Named Fulbright Scholar
June 17, 2009 by tnowlin · Stored at: Dr. Paul Dishman, long-time member and Past President of the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals, has been awarded a Fulbright Scholar grant to lecture and research at the University of Donja Gorica (UDG) in Montenegro during the 2010 academic year, according to the United States Department of State and the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board.
Dishman will lecture on Competitive Intelligence to graduate and undergraduates at UDG and will provide market intelligence applications to businesses in order to increase Montenegro’s global competitiveness during the country’s transitional economy stage. Dishman holds a bachelor of Fine Arts, a masters in Marketing, and a doctorate in Marketing Research. Before returning to academia he served on the marketing staffs of both Apple Computer and IBM. He has taught competitive intelligence for more than 15 years, has conducted industry and market intelligence projects for over two decades, and has lectured in China as part of a United Nations invitation
Ken Garrison, CEO of SCIP, says that Dishman’s prestigious achievement is important to the field. “SCIP congratulates Dr. Dishman on his award. With the backing of the State Department, he will show that competitive intelligence is vital to building businesses and strengthening economies on a global scale,” Garrison said. SCIP President Martha Gleason added, “Through his Fulbright Scholarship, Paul will be able to advance not only a developing country’s economy, but make important strides for competitive intelligence professionals.”
“I am honored to be named a Fulbright Scholar. It is exciting to be able to contribute in some small way to the economic development of the newest country in the world, Montenegro. I am looking forward to meeting and working with the students and professionals that are dedicated to diversifying the Montenegrin economy,” Dishman said
“The Fulbright Scholar program provides a unique exchange that allows people all over the world to learn about Americans on a very personal level,” stated Senator Orrin G. Hatch. “Professor Dishman will be a wonderful scholar-ambassador for America; and will be a tremendous asset to Montenegro, a country that is dedicated to developing its private enterprise sector.”
Dishman is one of approximately 1,100 U.S. faculty and professionals who will travel abroad through the Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program. The Fulbright Program, America’s flagship international educational exchange program, is sponsored by the United States Department of State. Recipients of Fulbright awards are selected on the basis of academic or professional achievement, as well as demonstrated leadership potential in their fields.
Merger Update
June 2, 2009
Dear SCIP Members and the CI Community:
On behalf of the SCIP Board of Directors, I would like to keep you abreast of the next stages of our merger process. As noted in our update of May 18, we began an internal process of all of the SCIP processes, functions, and services to prepare for discussion with our merger partners.
Beginning June 3, 2009, we are holding departmental meetings with our partners on financial strategy, research, CI content, event integration, website, outreach to related communities, sales/sponsorship, and global expansion. In each area we will seek opportunities to improve or develop new opportunities for efficiencies or expansion. When options are developed they will be vetted to ensure that they meet SCIP’s member’s needs on all levels of our membership stakeholders whether they are practitioners, vendors, academics, or students.
On June 5, 2009, the SCIP Executive Committee comprised of Martha Gleason, Eduardo Flores Bermudez, Scott Leeb and Joe Goldberg will meet via teleconference with David Frigstad to begin devising the overall integration process.
As noted earlier this strategy will evolve over months not weeks. The challenge for all of the individuals involved is to maintain a focus on the current schedule of classes, webinars, and events, such as the Euro Summit in Amsterdam, as well as publishing the CI magazine and providing member services, while looking to change the structure of the organization.
The Board of Directors had previously reached out asking members to communicate with them directly if they had questions or areas of interest that needed further discussion. On Monday a very thoughtful letter addressed to the entire board and SCIP staff was received from August Jackson:
I am writing to you in response to board member Eric Glitman’s invitation to reach out to the SCIP board following the recent membership vote to support the SCIP - Frost & Sullivan Institute merger. While I do not claim to speak for any others, I do know that in sentiment if not in detail I am of the same opinion of many other members of the society. I welcome a frank and open discussion with the staff, board and membership at this time of challenge and opportunity.
Through the past five years I have been an active volunteer for SCIP, including as chapter chair, author, presenter, program committee member and conference vice-chair. I hope that these activities have sufficiently established my “pro-SCIP” bona fides. I have also spoken publicly in support of the SCIP - FSI merger in multiple venues public and private, voted in favor of the merger and am genuinely glad that the membership voted to support the merger.
Today I want to articulate the specific steps, strategies and options that I hope the board and staff will take at this time of opportunity.
I will be brief in this letter, and I am happy to discuss these ideas in detail with any member of the board or staff. I welcome your response.
1. In-depth analysis for all SCIP stakeholders and a clear articulation of the relevant value SCIP intends to deliver to each of these groups. Practitioners, vendors and academics receive different value from membership and participation in the society, and SCIP’s strategic plan must recognize these distinct communities.
2. Active engagement of the Competitive Intelligence and related communities through new media, including outreach to members via LinkedIn, Facebook, Ning and other social media. All organizations that intend to engage communities today need to go to where those communities are. The vast majority of the community WILL be understanding, forgive you if you make mistakes and admire thoughtful attempts to evolve.
3. A coherent information technology (IT) infrastructure and governance strategy. The potential from shared services and IT insight from FSI was the main reason I voted for this merger, and my expectations are very high here. For starters SCIP’s board should develop an IT strategy in collaboration with the staff and qualified volunteer members (I humbly volunteer). Some of my suggestions for consideration include preference for hosted solutions that avoid up-front capital investment, open data formats, open source and low-cost software, application programming interfaces (APIs) and solutions that offer clear migration frameworks and technology roadmaps. The purpose of an IT strategy is to ensure the ability to deliver cost-effective flexibility for innovative revenue-generating offerings to members.
4. Diversification of SCIP’s revenue model. I am excited to hear about the possibility of a conference in Asia-Pacific. This is a great first step to move the society away from reliance on the annual conference. I strongly encourage SCIP’s board and members to lay out a diverse set of options to deliver member value and generate revenue for the society. One option that leaps immediately to mind is certification, which is something I believe our profession sorely needs.
5. Transparent governance, including publishing of minutes from Board of Directors meetings, open meetings that coincide with national conferences and regular participation by board members and senior SCIP staff in a variety of social networks and the SCIP blog.
I welcome any comments or questions in response to these suggestions.
Any member of the board or staff should feel free to e-mail or call me.
Sincerely,
August Jackson
In his letter, August asked some very relevant questions with regard to SCIP stakeholders and a value proposition for each of those stakeholders. To provide a broader view of this topic, I would ask each of you to review the SCIP Strategic Plan that was developed from an extensive member survey in 2007and 2008. It was finalized by the board of directors in August 2008 for implementation for the period of 2009-2013. The entire board noted when the opportunity of the merger arose, that the options presented by the merger gave SCIP the very best opportunity to implement this strategic plan and expand on the possibilities defined in the plan.
Additionally, August asks for active engagement through social media and an improved IT infrastructure. Again, this is one of the strong suits our member partner brings to the table and I believe we will see the results of this change of structure in the near future. August makes one other very diplomatic and humble point in volunteering to add his specific expertise in this area. Not only is this commentary appreciated, but we will find a way to integrate August and his expertise in the process.
The fourth point asks for SCIP to diversify its revenue model. Again I would point to the strategic plan that defined that very point. While we all recognize the need, the opportunity to act on the diversification will be significantly aided by the merger. As noted, we have already begun discussion of an Asian conference, are in the process of expanding the Euro Summit, and the certification committee, in conjunction with the education committee, has its second meeting scheduled for June 17, 2009, to deliver stage one of the process.
The letter is closed in asking for a transparent governance process and for staff and board participation in the social networks and the SCIP blog. The board is very conscious of this process. The intention is to publish open letters such as August’s in SCIP’s communication vehicles and a response such offered in this letter. Additionally, SCIP will use the same communication vehicles to keep all members updated on the merger process and developments.
The board and the staff are in unison in asking for the feedback and the commentary. The Society is built to serve the membership, and the involvement of our members through our committee structure or as individuals is critical to the success of the Society. Your participation is very much appreciated.
Regards:
Ken Garrison
CEO SCIP
Merger Update
Dear SCIP Members and CI Community:
We would like to take this opportunity to update you on the status of the SCIP merger with the Frost & Sullivan Institute. Stage one of the merger has been completed with the membership vote that approved the merger option. The voting closed on May 15 with 94 percent of the voting members approving of the proposed merger.
The next stage is a process which began on Monday May 18 with a review an internal review of SCIP process, functions and services to seek potential synergies when merging with FSI. The process is to seek efficiencies in operations to expand our marketing base, grow our membership and conference attendance, and examine the opportunity for new and expanded services.
A discussion will begin shortly with the merger team from FSI and the SCIP team to define those synergies and determine an implementation plan. The review, evolution, and implementation of this opportunity will occur in a slow and measured process over a period of months–not weeks. The entire Board of Directors is focused on reviewing each stage and process to find the formula that provides the maximum value proposition to the entire membership. The Board will keep you informed via the SCIP website, the SCIP Voice, and SCIP Online as details become available.
If you have questions or suggestions please contact either Martha Gleason, SCIP Chair, or Ken Garrison, SCIP CEO.
Martha Gleason and Ken Garrison
SCIP09 Photo Gallery Now Available!
Did you miss SCIP09? Fear not. We have a photo album for you to peruse from the best CI function of 2009. Click here!
SCIP Issues Press Release on Merger
Check out SCIP’s public statement about our merger with the Frost & Sullivan Institute on the SCIP website.
Opportunity
I’d like to share with you thoughts from a member as SCIP moves forward to a new chapter.
Ken
I have been told that I have led an interesting and exciting life. What I have done is make use of the opportunities that have been offered to me. Opportunities are always exciting. So now SCIP, along with membership approval, can make use of an opportunity it now has. This is very exciting for SCIP. Where does it take it? What does it do?
SCIP, although a professional association, has more than just a mission statement. It has a life of its own. It must live CI. In the life of a professional association, this means promotion of the discipline around the world, instituting pride in the practitioners of the discipline, teaching established methods of practice in the discipline for those just beginning and newer methods that enable the discipline to progress to another level. In addition, there is the social side. Members of any discipline have a need to interact. They must get together with others who share their own interests and “speak CI.“
SCIP has performed all the above for many years admirably and, with their new opportunity, will continue to do so in the future. I hope to see many of you at SCIP events in the future where we can all help SCIP make the most of their new exciting opportunity.
- Carolyn M. Vella, Meritorious Award Winner, Helicon Group