Tallahassee Area Chapter NIGP Monthly Newsletter

DECEMBER 2009 VOLUME 1, NUMBER 12

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO OUR FRIENDS WORLD

WIDE.

Afrikaans - een plesierige kerfees Arabic - I'D MIILAD SAID OUA SANA SAIDA Argentine - Felices Pasquas Y felices ano Nuevo Armenian - Shenoraavor Nor Dari yev Pari Gaghand Azeri - Tezze Iliniz Yahsi Olsun Basque - Zorionak eta Urte Berri On! Bohemian - Vesele Vanoce Brazilian - Boas Festas e Feliz Ano Novo Breton - Nedeleg laouen na bloavezh mat Bulgarian - Tchestita Koleda; Tchestito Rojdestvo Hristovo Chinese - (Mandarin) Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan (Catonese) Gun Tso Sun Tan'Gung Haw Sun Cornish - Nadelik looan na looan blethen noweth Cree - Mitho Makosi Kesikansi Croatian - Sretan Bozic Czech - Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok Danish - Glædelig Jul Dutch - Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar! English - Merry Christmas Esperanto - Gajan Kristnaskon Estonian - Ruumsaid juulup|hi Farsi - Cristmas-e-shoma mobarak bashad

Message from the President Keith M. Roberts “To everything there is a season. A time for every purpose under heaven.” Ecclesiastes 3:1

As the days of autumn draw to a close and we approach the coming days of winter, mankind typically takes time for reflection over the past year. Remembering the good, the mundane, and the bad in our reflections, we should heed the words of Solomon and see if there was purpose and, if so, did we achieve that purpose. We have been given the precious gift of memory so that we can look back and build upon our strengths, strengthen our weaknesses, and gain wisdom to sort the needless from the needful in our lives. I encourage – no, exhort you - to set aside some personal time as this calendar year ends to review your 2009. For we are reminded just how precious our time and life is in James 4:14, “For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away.” This precious time should not be for the mundane, but for the deep purposes of your life – at home, at work, in the community, and in the world. Of course, we need to work in order to live, but we should work with joy and purpose, being the best we can wherever we are. We should not be mere servants – those who merely do what is told and serve by the clock, but move into stewardship where we are dedicated as though it is our own. We can look at a waiter and a wine steward in a high end restaurant. The waiter merely gets and serves the wine at someone’s command. The wine steward knows not only the quality, age, and other particulars of each wine in the wine cellar, but treats the cellar, the wines, and the service of each bottle as his own even though he is working for another. He would not tolerate a waiter not properly breathing or serving any bottle of the wine in his charge. And in that purpose, that movement from being servant to that of being a steward, he finds joy and fulfillment beyond any from mere service. This type of purpose is deep inside each of us and we need to seek it out and follow it. Quite ironically, two of the famous advertising lines from the last 10 years hit it on the head – the Army’s “Be All You Can Be’ and Nike’s “Just Do It.” I would venture to say that the persons who developed those were in their “purpose zone” and knew the fullest meaning of what they were trying to share. And while they may have been in advertising/marketing, they loved their purpose and knew what it meant to “just do it” and to “be all they could be.” I’d even guess that they easily sold their clients who too were there in their “purpose zones”! Do you know yours? Are you working to get or stay there? Being the spouse, parent, friend, mentor, employee, volunteer, or any combination of these that is our purpose(s) brings deep on-going joy that we cannot find anywhere else. Not even in the upcoming joyous holiday season can one find a joy as fulfilling as that you get from purpose focused stewardship.

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Finnish - Hyvaa joulua French - Joyeux Noel Frisian - Noflike Krystdagen en in protte Lok en Seine yn it Nije Jier! German - Froehliche Weihnachten Greek - Kala Christouyenna! Hawaiian - Mele Kalikimaka Hebrew - Mo'adim Lesimkha. Chena tova Hindi - Shub Naya Baras Hungarian - Kellemes Karacsonyi unnepeket Icelandic - Gledileg Jol Indonesian - Selamat Hari Natal Iraqi - Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah Irish - Nollaig Shona Dhuit Italian - Buone Feste Natalizie Japanese - Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto Korean - Sung Tan Chuk Ha Latvian - Prieci'gus Ziemsve'tkus un Laimi'gu Jauno Gadu! Lithuanian - Linksmu Kaledu Manx - Nollick ghennal as blein vie noa Maori - Meri Kirihimete Marathi - Shub Naya Varsh Navajo - Merry Keshmish Norwegian - God Jul Pennsylvania German - En frehlicher Grischtdaag un en hallich Nei Yaahr! Polish - Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia Portuguese - Boas Festas Rapa-Nui - Mata-Ki-Te-Rangi. Te-Pito-O-Te-Henua Rumanian - Sarbatori vesele Russian - Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom Serbian - Hristos se rodi Slovakian - Sretan Bozic or Vesele vianoce Sami - Buorrit Juovllat Samoan - La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou

I can say it has been a joyful year serving the Chapter as President as I looked upon it as a stewardship opportunity with a purpose to build upon the strong foundation laid by the leaders before me. The Chapter hosted its first open Reverse Trade Show, a very successful Products Exposition in these tight economics times, and offered the Purchasing Conference and Fall Seminars at no cost to members. Following on the efforts begun last year, additional cost reductions were made at the annual tradeshow and the Chapter netted a larger return for the Chapter treasury. Along with some behind the scenes accomplishments such as new board policies, the Board harnessed more of the power of our Chapter Manager membership software system and updated the Hittinger Scholarship program. From my perspective, it has been a great year! I offer my thanks to the membership for allowing me the opportunity to serve as President this year. My purpose was to make the chapter better able to serve its membership in our purchasing profession through all of the many ways it does – monthly luncheons, seminars, certification, the annual Tradeshow, records tracking, etc. And with that thought in mind, I again encourage you to look at your purposes as the year draws to a close and “just do it” in 2010.

Scots Gaelic - Nollaig chridheil huibh Serb-Croatian - Sretam Bozic. Vesela Nova Godina Singhalese - Subha nath thalak Vewa. Subha Aluth Awrudhak Vewa Slovak - Vesele Vianoce. A stastlivy Novy Rok Slovene - Vesele Bozicne. Screcno Novo Leto Spanish - Feliz Navidad Swedish - God Jul and (Och) Ett Gott Nytt År Tagalog - Maligayamg Pasko. Masaganang Bagong Taon Tamil - Nathar Puthu Varuda Valthukkal Thai - Sawadee Pee Mai Turkish - Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun Ukrainian - Srozhdestvom Kristovym Urdu - Naya Saal Mubarak Ho Vietnamese - Chung Mung Giang Sinh Welsh - Nadolig Llawen Yugoslavian - Cestitamo Bozic Papua New Guinea - Bikpela hamamas blong dispela Krismas na Nupela yia i go long yu

Message from the Vice-President Steven Updike, CPPB, FCPA, FCN, FCCM NOT AVAILABLE AT TIME OF PUBLICATION OF NEWSLETTER

Message from the Editor Jessie C. Moseley, CPPB, FCPA,FCPM, FCCM

I wish to take this opportunity to extend my gratitude to my fellow members of TACNIGP for the cooperation, understanding and support I have received while serving as your Editor for the past five (5) years. It has been a privilege and an honor. I would also like to acknowledge and thank Diana Trahan for all the assistance she has provided me, especially when I was running short on a deadline. Diana will be taking over as your new Editor for this coming year and I know she will do a great job.

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Upcoming Events for 2009

DEC 8 Monthly Meeting

15 Monthly Board Meeting

25 Christmas Day

November 2009 Chapter Meeting Minutes Date: November 10, 2009 Location: Tallahassee-Leon County Civic Center Number in Attendance: 59 Meeting opened by President Keith Roberts Pledge: Bill Spencer, Florida Dept. of Law Enforcement Invocation: Mark Lovell, DMS/State Purchasing President Roberts began the program early by introducing today’s speaker, Herbert W. A. Thiele, Esq., County Attorney for Leon County, FL. Note: As members entered and signed in, they were given a ballot for the four Officer positions and six Board seats. This allowed extra time for the canvassing board members to tabulate the results. Mr. Thiele’s presentation was on “Honest Services Fraud”, and certainly grabbed the room’s attention. Several high-profile individuals from Florida and other states have been charged and/or convicted on one or more counts of this federal statue, and have served time or continue their sentences in federal prisons. Nominations Committee – Kathy Hutchins: With only one candidate for each of the four Officer positions, Kathy moved that these individuals be elected by acclamation, saving time for the Canvassing Committee. Vice President Updike seconded, and the motion passed. Congratulations to the following slate of 2010 Officers:

• President Wendi Sellers, Florida Dept. of Business & Professional Regulation • Vice President Robert Threewitts, Florida Dept. of Education • Treasurer Don Tobin, Leon County Purchasing • Secretary Donna Smith, DMS/State Purchasing

Announcement of Job Opportunities: Vice President Updike mentioned a new listing that was announced on the www.TACNIGP.com website: Government Operations Consultant (GOC) I, Contract Manager for IT services and commodities, Department of Environmental Protection. President’s Comments – Keith Roberts: President Roberts stressed the importance of logging-in with your personal login and password when registering for ANY lunches, conferences, seminars, or any other event that counts towards UPPCC (CPPB or CPPO) recertification points. Without this, your points may not be assigned correctly. It’s easy to determine if you have logged in correctly. If so, your name and contact information will autofill and populate the fields that you would otherwise have to complete manually. This saves time and effort for YOU, time and manual data entry for your Chapter and makes sure that you get the credit you deserve for your participation! Treasurer’s Report – Don Tobin: Treasurer Tobin produced the following account balances: Checking – $31,172.28; Money Market – $106,539.64. Total – $137,711.92. President Roberts also encouraged early registration for next month’s Holiday Banquet and Installation Ceremony. You can register today, online at www.TACNIGP.com (or the direct link at): https://www.tacnigp.com/secure/meetings_registrations/index.cfm?meetingid=c477c369-ff70-8eca-4c11-1c1efbfd103d Registration is free to members in good standing. In consideration to our guests that would like to attend, guest registration is only $15.00, down $10.00 from previous years. Spread the word; this is a great deal for our premier social event of the year!

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Member Birthdays in December

Richard  Haire  12/3 

Cathy  McEachron  12/4 

Wendi  Sellers  12/4 

Mark  Lovell  12/7 

Charlene  Pallone  12/7 

Terry  Paul  12/7 

Alicia  Ponchak  12/14 

Richlyn  White  12/16 

Terese  Herring  12/21 

Lauretta  McClendon  12/27 

Tim  Kuhlman  12/28 

Delores  Harper  12/29 

Marvin  Williams  12/30 

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

Don’t forget to bring a new, unwrapped stuffed animal to place in one of the boxes near the Christmas Tree. These will be delivered to the Children’s Home Society, and other local organizations that can make sure that these animals find a boy or girl that will adopt them and give them a good home. New Business Drawings: January’s free lunch winners are Wendi Sellers, DBPR, Greg Hill, DMS and Steve Copeland, DLA. NIGP Chapter Minutes Page 3 November 10, 2009

Board Members Elected: Congratulations to the following members, voted in by their peers to serve as 2010 Board Members:

• Vida Addison, City of Tallahassee • Susan Barr, Florida Dept. of Corrections • Charles Day, DMS/State Purchasing • Gloria Dixon, Florida Dept. of Transportation • Ed Valla, Florida Dept. of Business & Professional Regulation • Brenda Wells, DMS/State Purchasing

Adjourn Respectfully submitted – Mark Lovell, 2009 Secretary Tallahassee-Area Chapter of NIGP

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HOLIDAY CHARITY DRIVE

Don't forget - Our Holiday Charity drive is for the benefit of the Children’s' Home Society. Please bring one cuddly stuffed animal for a child's comfort to the December 8, 2009 Holiday Luncheon.

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November 2009 Board Meeting Minutes Date: November 17, 2009 Location: Leon County Purchasing Bid Room, 2284 Miccosukee Road Members Present: Keith Roberts, President; Don Tobin, Treasurer; Mark Lovell, Secretary; Board Members Susan Barr, ReGina Johnson, Wendi Sellers, Donna Smith and Robert Threewitts. Members Absent: Steve Updike, Vice President; Janice Pursley, Immediate Past President; Board Member Mary Quinsey. Invited 2010 Officers and Board Members Present: Wendi Sellers, President; Robert Threewitts, Vice President; Don Tobin, Treasurer; Donna Smith, Secretary; Board Members Vida Addison, Susan Barr, Charles Day, Gloria Dixon, Ed Valla and Brenda Wells. President Keith Roberts called the meeting to order at 3:30 PM. Minutes for the October Board meeting were approved. Donna Smith motioned and Robert Threewitts seconded. Committee Reports: Holiday Committee – Don Tobin: Don will be out of town and unable to attend, but Donna Smith will fill in. President Roberts will handle the printed program, and the Board discussed gifts that will go to some lucky members! Also, don’t forget to bring a new, unwrapped stuffed animal to the event on December 8 for a deserving boy or girl this holiday season. Scholarship Committee – Susan Barr: Susan announced that the committee (with the help of 11 application evaluators) had picked out two worthy applicants. On behalf of her committee, she motioned to increase the award funding by $500 to $1,000. There was no second, and the motion failed. The committee will decide whether to award the entire $1,000 to a single awardee, or split the money between the two candidates. Finally, we discussed the logistics of inviting Dr. Larry Guinipero to this year’s Holiday Banquet. Old Business: 2010 Purchasing Conference and Free Seminars: The Board discussed the strategy of maintaining one of the Free Seminars in conjunction with the August Purchasing Conference. For a

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number of good reasons, we agreed to continue this practice in 2010. Don Tobin motioned and Donna Smith seconded. Motion passed. New Business: 2010 Trade Show discussion: The Board discussed proposed Sponsorship levels, Booth rates, Purchasing Conference venue and the decorator contract. We will add a (single) “Platinum” Sponsorship at $1,500, along with Gold, (2 @ $1,000/ea.), Silver, (6@ $500) and Bronze, (up to 8 @ $300). Don Tobin motioned and Mark Lovell seconded. Motion passed. Wendi Sellers motioned and Robert Threewitts seconded, and the motion carried for the following tiers of booth spaces: Premium Booths, $1,100; Standard Booths, $850; and Economy Booths, $700. A vendor that books a second, adjacent booth will receive a $100 discount on the second booth. AGS Expo Services was selected as our decorator again in 2010. Their proposal increased the price from $85 to $105 per booth, but was worth it based on last year’s performance. Mark Lovell motioned and Don Tobin seconded, and the motion passed. President Roberts distributed proposals from the two facilities under consideration. The newly-renovated FSU Center for Professional Development (CPD) had the technology advantage, offering teleconference abilities for a one-day charge of $2,665. The Board considered this amount to be excessive and not worth the expenditure. The Civic Center’s proposal was similar to the previous year, and based on convenience, parking, prices, and familiarity (the previous day’s Trade Show, Reverse Trade Show and Monthly Meeting luncheon will be held at the TLCCC), the Board voted to accept the Civic Center’s proposal. Robert Threewitts made this motion, and Susan Barr seconded before the unanimous favorable vote. Proposed Policy # 01-2009: After discussion on this policy to establish a new Chapter award, Susan Barr motioned and Robert Threewitts seconded. The motion passed. More discussion took place over the first proposed recipient, and passed with Wendi Sellers motioning and Robert Threewitts seconding. NIGP Board Minutes Page Three November 17, 2009 2010 Committee Assignments – President-Elect Wendi Sellers: After discussion, most Committee Chairperson assignments have been made. The list below details the committees and their chairperson(s):

• Education and Professional Development – Vice President-

Elect Robert Threewitts • Finance Committee – Mark Lovell • Nominations Committee – Keith Roberts • Communications Committee – (Vacant at the moment) • House Committee – Charles Day • Membership Committee – Susan Barr • Scholarship Committee – Vida Addison • Trade Show Committee – Mark Lovell, Brenda Wells (Co-

chairs) • By Laws Committee – (Vacant at the moment) • Reverse Trade Show Committee – Charles Day

President Roberts added that Jason Ouzts, Florida Citizen's Property Insurance Corporation indicated that he would volunteer to help on the Trade Show and Reverse Trade Show committees. Finally, President Roberts urged us to get the word out to Log-in on Chapter Manager (www.TACNIGP.com) each time we register for a luncheon, seminar or any other event on our website. This helps the member in two ways; their information is populated (autofill) into the required fields, and they will receive the NIGP/UPPCC recertification points associated with the activity. It helps the Chapter since all non-logged-in registrations are essentially listed as a guest attendance, and records have to be manually revised as a member that attended and earned recertification points. The lesson is clear; don’t risk missing out on recertification by a couple of points by not signing into your account with your user name and password. If members need help with resetting their information, they should contact one of the Officers or members of the Communications or Finance committees. Adjourn Respectfully submitted by Mark Lovell, 2009 Secretary – Tallahassee Area Chapter of NIGP

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New UPPCC Certifications 

Turquoise M. James

UPPCC Re‐certifications  

THE 2010 BIG EVENT Mark your calendar! August 3 & 4, 2010 are the dates for the Purchasing Conference, Reverse Trade Show and Products Exposition next year. The 2009 and 2010 Boards met jointly on November 17 in order to set things in place for the event next year. One of the most repeated comments from vendors each year is that they need to know the date and costs for the Products Expo earlier so it can be budgeted in their planning for the following year. These items have been determined and will be on the website soon for the vendors. Sponsorships – The sponsorships were a hit this year and proved a great revenue source with very limited expense. The Boards decided to add a single “Platinum” Sponsorship at $1,500, along with Gold, (2 @ $1,000/ea.), Silver, (6@ $500) and Bronze, (up to 8 @ $300). These have a revenue generating potential of $8,900! Expo Booths – Having sponsorships and booths both named gold, silver and bronze was confusing in 2009. It was decided to rename the booths as follows: Premium Booths, $1,100; Standard Booths, $850; and Economy Booths, $700; and a vendor that books a second, adjacent booth will receive a $100 discount on the second booth. Facility - Two facilities were under consideration for the Purchasing Conference; the new FSU Center for Professional Development (CPD) and the Civic Center (CPD cannot host a Product Expo as large as ours). CPD has a clear technology advantage through offering webcasting. However, the room rental rates are higher and would require separate catering to be arranged. In addition, participants have to individually pay for parking. The Civic Center’s proposal is the same as 2009 and based on convenience, parking, prices, and familiarity (the previous day’s Trade Show, Reverse Trade Show and Monthly Meeting luncheon will be held at the TLCCC), the Board voted to accept the Civic Center’s proposal. Tradeshow Decorator - AGS Expo Services was selected as our decorator again in 2010. Their proposal increased the price per booth but the cost is worth it based on their performance this year. As always, this big event cannot occur without the help of Chapter volunteers. If there is a role you would like to take or can help somewhere, please let the Volunteer Coordinator know early in 2010. It cannot be a success with “u”!

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Budget Checking $31,172.28

Money Market $106,539.64

Total $137,711.92

Wendi Sellers, CPPB

Message from the Incoming President 2010

It has been my honor and pleasure to serve as a member of the Board of Directors for the past two years. I would like to thank you for the opportunity to serve as chapter president in 2010. You have elected an outstanding Board, comprised of city, county and state purchasing professionals, who are enthusiastic about the possibilities this new year brings. The officers and board will continue to honor TACNIGP’s solid commitment to promoting ethical standards, best practices, education, professional development, and research. We will be looking to you, the membership, for guidance, direction and participation. There will be a suggestion box every month at the General Meeting. I encourage you to make recommendations that can enhance your chapter. The chapter is only as strong as its members make it. Let’s make this year an outstanding year for TACNIGP!

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Perspective

“Perspective”, defined by Webster’s Dictionary as “the relative importance of facts or matters from any special point of view; also, the ability to discern this relative importance.” Hmmm, isn’t that interesting - different points of view and a related importance to each. As procurement professionals, we face multiple perspectives every day in our lives – at work, at home, and in the community – but let’s look primarily at what we do in the workplace. How much we truly examine the perspectives we see in our work or whether we just take them at face value is our choice. As public purchasing professionals, I believe we have an obligation to look further. We are serving clients – those within our agencies and our vendors – and we need to come to a thorough understanding of their perspective in any procurement. Likewise, we also need to educate both groups on the public purchasing perspective for the procurement to go smoothly. If we don’t, the procurement function just becomes a set of rules and/or roadblocks and problems and protests arise. One perspective I often share with fellow employees is that contrary to their often held idea that purchasing is the true enforcer, the vendors are the real procurement police and enforcers through the protest process. Rather than going on about perspectives in our workplaces, I want to share a short story that better demonstrates our need to “open our eyes” when it comes to the many perspectives we face daily. I hope it speaks to you as it did me! Being Rich One day, the father of a very wealthy family took his son on a trip to the country with the express purpose of showing him how poor people live. They spent a couple of days and nights on the farm of what would be considered a very poor family. On their return from their trip, the father asked his son, "How was the trip?" "It was great, Dad."

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"Did you see how poor people live?" the father asked. "Oh yeah, " said the son. "So, tell me, what you learned from the trip?" asked the father. The son answered: "I saw that we have one dog and they had four. We have a pool that reaches to the middle of our garden and they have a creek that has no end. We have imported lanterns in our garden and they have the stars at night. Our patio reaches to the front yard and they have the whole horizon. We have a small piece of land to live on and they have fields that go beyond our sight. We have servants who serve us, but they serve others. We buy our food, but they grow theirs. We have walls around our property to protect us; they have friends to protect them." The boy's father was speechless. Then his son added, "Thanks Dad for showing me how poor we are." **************************************** Isn't perspective a wonderful thing? Makes you wonder what would happen if we took more time to consider other perspectives. As we have just celebrated Thanksgiving and look forward to the Christmas season, how would our lives be if we gave thanks for everything we have, instead of worrying about what we don't have? Appreciate every single thing you have, especially your friends, co-workers and fellow professionals! “Life is too short and friends are too few."