On October 11th, the APMP-NCA chapter hosted its annual Mid-Atlantic Conference and Expo at the Westin Tysons Corner. 2018 was a record-breaking year for the conference, with over 290 people in attendance. Attendees included professionals from proposal development, business development, capture, and contracts. In addition to record-breaking attendance, 18 companies exhibited for the Expo, providing attendees opportunities to discover new tools, meet their favorite vendors, and enter raffle drawings.

This year’s theme was “Competing and Winning in a Changing Marketplace.” With 17 presentations and panel discussions tied to this theme, attendees received information and actionable steps to navigate market trends, understand the pros and cons of new methods and approaches, and address evolving customer needs. Breakout session topics ranged from productive journaling to agile proposal development to insights into the Government evaluation process. Attendees were extremely happy, with 70% of attendees rating the program as “Excellent.”[intense_blockquote width=”33%” rightalign=”1″]Check out some pictures from this year’s conference![/intense_blockquote]

For the first time, the conference used a mobile app. Built using Guidebook, the app provided users with speaker bios, session descriptions, an overall conference schedule, maps, exhibitor and sponsor information, and surveys. The app was a huge hit with users, with over 2/3 of attendees using the app.

Jen Croneberger kicked off our conference start with her keynote “The Five Cs of a Compassionate Leader.” Through her entertaining and funny stories, Jen shared her own experiences and life lessons, condensing them into short vignettes of life lessons. Through her experiences, we were encouraged to honor our character and choose our experiences. Citing the “law of the lid” from the 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Jen encouraged the audience to break through our own limitations to step into our own leadership by recognizing our communication filters and doing a little bit more every day with courage and confidence. As a sports coach, Jen brought a performance mindset into our view, encouraging us to develop our own leadership and performance. Her message really inspired us to explore our leadership and kicked off an awesome day of skill development and networking!

The day ended with the closing ceremony, which included prize raffles from exhibitors in attendance, and the “Wait out the Traffic” happy hour. The APMP-NCA Board of Directors would like to thank all our presenters, exhibitors, sponsors, and most importantly all of our attendees! We look forward to seeing you in 2019!

Authors

  • Kevin Switaj is the President and Chief Executive Officer of BZ Opportunity Management. An experienced proposal professional, he has led bids of diverse sizes and requirements for a wide range of Government clients. He has developed, implemented, and refined life cycle processes at firms, resulting in a minimum of a 50% improvement in win rate year-over-year. He is actively involved in the Association of Proposal Management Professionals (APMP), having served as a member of the APMP National Capital Area Board of Directors and a mentor in the chapter’s mentor-protege program for multiple years. He is a well-recognized thought leader in the field who speaks regularly at regional and international conferences. Kevin has also won multiple awards for his writing on opportunity management and regularly blogs on the BZ Opportunity Management site. He is also involved in his community, volunteering for his community swim association and his son’s Cub Scout pack.

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  • Nicole Tripodi

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