We use cookies to provide you with a better experience. By continuing to browse the site you are agreeing to our use of cookies in accordance with our Cookie Policy.
  • ::COVID-19 COVERAGE::
  • INDUSTRY PRESS ROOM
  • ABOUT
  • CONTACT
  • MEDIA FILE
  • Create Account
  • Sign In
  • Sign Out
  • My Account
Free Newsletters
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC.
    • Podcast
    • Blogs
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Best Practices
      • Dispatches
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Logistics Problem Solving
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Public Sector Logistics
      • Two Sides of the Logistics Coin
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2020
    • Upload Your Video
  • MAGAZINE
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Digital Edition
    • Subscribe
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • TRANSPORTATION
  • MATERIAL HANDLING
  • TECHNOLOGY
  • LIFT TRUCKS
  • PODCAST ETC.
    • Podcast
    • Blogs
      • Analytics & Big Data
      • Best Practices
      • Dispatches
      • Empowering Your Performance Edge
      • Logistics Problem Solving
      • One-Off Sound Off
      • Public Sector Logistics
      • Two Sides of the Logistics Coin
      • Submit your blog post
    • Events
    • White Papers
    • Industry Press Room
      • Upload Your News
    • New Products
      • Upload Your Product News
    • Conference Guides
    • Conference Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Mobile Apps
  • DCV-TV
    • DCV-TV 1: News
    • DCV-TV 2: Case Studies
    • DCV-TV 3: Webcasts
    • DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
    • DCV-TV 5: Solution Profiles
    • MODEX 2020
    • Upload Your Video
Home » Gaining a (virtual) Edge
OUTBOUND

Gaining a (virtual) Edge

CSCMP’s Edge conference is going entirely virtual this year. That’s a good thing for logistics and supply chain professionals.

August 25, 2020
Mitch Mac Donald
No Comments

Over the past few months, we’ve heard a lot about the changes ushered in by the pandemic: the rise of remote work, the e-commerce surge, the shift to online meetings. And rightly so. The scourge has essentially upended life as we know it and accelerated our transition to a digital world. Still, it’s difficult to get a true read of the trend lines in the midst of upheaval. Sometimes, that requires a look deeper into the past—say, 25 years back.

Twenty-five years ago, in August 1995, while working at a magazine called Traffic Management (TM), I was writing a monthly column, just as I am today. And, just as we are today, the editorial team was planning for our yearly pilgrimage to the Annual Conference of the Council of Logistics Management (CLM), which would be held that year in San Diego.

For a business journalist, covering the CLM conference was a plum assignment, owing to the breadth and quality of its educational content. Over the course of three days, you could take in eight or 10 educational sessions and a keynote or two, which would provide story fodder for months to come.

The timing was propitious. We all knew in August 1995 that change was afoot. The team was already preparing for the rebranding of TM as Logistics Management in a nod to an evolving profession. It was also planning the launch of a new magazine called Supply Chain Management Review, which would be the first to use the term “supply chain” in its title.

In hindsight, though, the biggest change in August 1995 was something we all grossly underestimated. That summer, every senior staffer at the now-defunct Cahners Publishing Co. got a visit from the IT staff. A little icon was placed on the desktops of our Compaq (yes, Compaq) computers. It was a small, low-res image of a globe. If you clicked on it, it would take you to this mysterious place called the World Wide Web. Out there, you could “surf” all sorts of content aided by search engines like Lycos and AltaVista.

We had no idea of the depth of the change that awaited us or how quickly it would come.

Now, 25 years later, I’m back at the keyboard, again writing a column and again planning for the upcoming CLM conference—except that it’s now called the Edge Conference and Supply Chain Exchange Exhibition and is organized by CLM’s successor, the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP). A quick look back shows just how profoundly things have changed.

In 1995, this column would have been printed in a magazine and mailed to 50,000 readers. Today, it will still be printed and mailed, but it will also be posted to our website, featured in a weekly e-newsletter, promoted on an array of social media platforms, and even discussed in a podcast.

And in 1995, planning for a conference meant picking eight or 10 educational sessions to attend from a field of 200+. It also meant making plane and hotel reservations and a host of other travel arrangements.

Today, the planning is still taking place, but it is different—potentially in a very good way. And it all relates to that little globe icon placed on my desktop 25 years ago that served as a gateway to the web.

This year’s CSCMP Edge Conference and Supply Chain Exchange will take place entirely on that World Wide Web as a “virtual” event. Conference sessions, keynote addresses, and even the trade show “floor” will be live-streamed over a three-day period (Sept. 20–23) and then made available in archived form for the next 90 days.

That last point is important. It means attendees are no longer limited to eight or 10 conference sessions and a couple of passes through the exhibition hall. Now, they can fully explore all that the event has to offer over a period of months, deriving considerably more value from their registration fee than was ever possible before.

Online registration for CSCMP Edge 2020 is still available at cscmpedge.org. See you (virtually) there!

Publications & Associations Supply Chain Strategy
KEYWORDS Council of Logistics Management (CLM) Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals
  • Related Articles

    The Logistics Matters podcast: How the Covid-19 pandemic has affected LTL; dealing with tight air and truck capacity; CSCMP EDGE goes virtual | Season 1 Episode 22

    Big data, analytics gaining traction, annual shipper-3PL survey concludes

    THE MARITIME ASSOCIATION OF THE PORT OF NY AND NJ HOSTING FREE VIRTUAL PANEL DISCUSSION AND Q&A

Mitchmacdonald
Mitch Mac Donald has more than 30 years of experience in both the newspaper and magazine businesses. He has covered the logistics and supply chain fields since 1988. Twice named one of the Top 10 Business Journalists in the U.S., he has served in a multitude of editorial and publishing roles. The leading force behind the launch of Supply Chain Management Review, he was that brand's founding publisher and editorial director from 1997 to 2000. Additionally, he has served as news editor, chief editor, publisher and editorial director of Logistics Management, as well as publisher of Modern Materials Handling. Mitch is also the president and CEO of Agile Business Media, LLC, the parent company of DC VELOCITY and CSCMP's Supply Chain Quarterly.

Recent Articles by Mitch Mac Donald

Thought I’d something more to say …

Digital supply chains, circular economies, and a whole bunch of uncertainty

Sorry, folks. This is not normal

You must login or register in order to post a comment.

Report Abusive Comment

Most Popular Articles

  • Relaxed regulations for drone parcel delivery to take effect in March

  • Gartner survey signals increased investment in resilience over the next two years

  • Increasing Urgency for Vaccine Supplies Drives Launch of New Vaccine Manufacturing Resources on Thomasnet.com

  • IBM survey says digitalization trends will sweep trucking industry by 2030

  • What Level of Automation is Right for Your Warehouse?

Now Playing on DCV-TV

Ef7899d1 1c83 487b 9291 8af692931c96

myQ Dock Management

DCV-TV 4: Viewer Contributed
Introducing myQ Dock Management. Connect your loading dock equipment and iDock Controls from Poweramp, McGuire, or DLM to the cloud and view your loading activity online with myQ Dock Management.Facilities with myQ can monitor the real-time status of their docks and be proactive in improving efficiency and safety. ...

FEATURED WHITE PAPERS

  • Time to rethink your lift truck power

  • Warehouse Management System Project Toolkit

  • Solving Talent Management Challenges Now and In the Future

  • Shaping Up Last Mile Delivery to Surpass Customer Expectations

View More

Subscribe to DC Velocity Magazine

GET YOUR FREE SUBSCRIPTION
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • NEWSLETTERS
  • ADVERTISING
  • CUSTOMER CARE
  • CONTACT
  • ABOUT
  • STAFF
  • PRIVACY POLICY

Copyright ©2021. All Rights ReservedDesign, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing