SCIP Rome 08

The Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP) and SCIP Italia are partnering to bring you the 2008 European Competitive Intelligence Summit.

SCIP Italia is the local SCIP entity in Italy that serves the competitive intelligence (CI) community in its native language and develops educational programming to meet local needs. The Summit will be held from 20-22 October, 2008 at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, Rome, Italy.

The 2008 European Competitive Intelligence Summit will begin accepting proposals on 20th February and will close on 20th March 2008. Review of proposals will begin immediately- notifications will be sent via e-mail letters in early April. The Program Committee reserves the right to invite presenters of its own choice to the program.

All proposals must feature case studies and/or demonstrated best practices - year after year attendees want to hear about successes and lessons learned in CI practice. Proposals that provide case examples and professional tips for the audience will be given preference in the selection process.

Please use the link below to access the Call for Proposal survey. We look forward to your response.

Click Here to take survey

As mentioned earlier in my blog I am member of the Conference Committee for the Annual SCIP Summit Europe October 2008 in Rome, Italy.

Being responsible for the track "CI & R&D" I was wondering if interested R&D experts who are keen on speaking in Rome about their experience in linking Competitive Intelligence with their R&D roles and initiatives would stop by here and liked to send in their proposals to speak at the conference.

Expertise can cover:

Regional changes in the competitive landscapes (opportunities in innovation-driven industries in the European economy)

Industry paradigm shifts and how individual companies are responding to remain competitive

- politically-based (e.g., changing competitiveness of East-European companies from 1989 to present)

- technology based (e.g. shift in manufacturing technology, new opportunities and threats regarding talent in the R&D community, education issues/changes)

- market-based (e.g., accessibility of new economies, investments, raw material supply connections etc.)

· Role of CI practitioners within R&D units in technology-based companies, which could include:

- case studies

- process, interlinking/colaboration with Marketing depts.

- outsourcing of CI activities by R&D, patent CI with threats and risks experience shared

· Other topics of interest

- R&D-based CTI development of clients in Marketing, M&A Licensing, etc .)

We are interested in Euro-based speakers for two reasons:

- Content: We would like to bring in the European perspective. This could be of interest not only to the European attendees, but also to US, Indian and other economies seeking to gain competitive advantage by bringing business to/drawing business from this continent.

- Economics: Travel reimbursement by SCIP will be limited.

Anyone interested in speaking at the event, please contact me.

Thanks.

SCIP's International Annual Conference & Exhibition April 14-17, 2008 will take place in San Diego 2008.

Without an active contribution from myself this time around (I am a member of the planning committee for the European SCIP Annual Summit in October 2008 in Italy instead and likely I will offer another speach for that event as well, stay tuned for details as they emerge over time) I will thoroughly enjoy some of the 70 or so offered workshops or sessions and the great networking opportunity again.

If the conference is only half as good as last year's in Manhattan, it'll be all worth it by a long shot.
The conference will be devided into these categories:
- Competitive Intelligence Offense
- Competitive Intelligence Defense
- Critical Skills for Competitive Intelligence
- Professional Effectiveness
- Scholarly Research & Innovation in the Competitive Intelligence field
- Active Dialogs between Competitive Intelligence pracitioners, consultants, academics and other experts

At this time SCIP is looking for volunteers again to take an active part organizing the event. Here are some of the major tasks they are looking for:
• Give feedback and comments on all areas of conference (Communicate ideas in a group setting regarding speakers, topics, process improvements, conference concepts and past experiences)
• Participate in speaker selection process (Utilize criteria for evaluating potential speakers, review speaker proposals and recommend selections appropriate to the track focus)
• Interact with speakers (Recruit, market and promote speakers, answer questions and prepare speakers for conference, ensure deadlines are met, liaise with staff, provide feedback on presentations)
• Organize track and associated logistics (Work independently, determine focus and direction, assemble content, ensure committee agreement on decisions, review presentations, address last minute cancellations, invite presenters as needed)
• Other duties, as needed

If you want to offer your support the event you could contact SCIP directly via their web site. Volunteer benefits include:
• One complimentary registration to the main conference
• One complimentary night’s lodging (room & tax) at the conference hotel during the dates of the conference

I am very much looking forward to meet you again, do not hesitate to contact me prior to the event if you want to schedule a sideline-meeting or lunch or dinner in San Diego then.