Last chance saloon

Next week I will be making a guest appearance at the third annual APMP conference in SA. All proposal and sales and new business development people eager for my autograph - oh and to "Raise your Game" - must register this week. You snooze you lose! You're in the last chance saloon...click here to book now: events@apmp.org.za. Spread the word like wild-fire by bush telegraph before it's too late.

Neil Philipson, with one 'l', is the current chair person of the Association of Proposal Management Professionals in sunny South Africa. He's SO excited about the line-up. Here I am looking over his shoulder while he shares the programme with me on his zooty ipad. Doesn't he look excited?

Other than my distinguished and humble self, there will be no less than TWO international guest speakers. Rick Harris, executive director of APMP international, will be making the keynote address. He has oodles of global business development experience. Chris Kaelin from Switzerland will be yodelling too - all about putting the sizzle back into proposals. But wait, there's more. For a copy of the programme, visit www.apmp.org.za. The conference is cheaper for members - at only slightly more than the cost of a meal for 2 with wine at a local restaurant, it's a positive steal. To check out the calibre of previous international guest speakers, click here to find out some more great reasons to become a member of the APMP: Colleen Jolly and Jon Williams promote APMP Membership at 1st APMP SA Conference.

Neil says Theresa Monoyoudis has been the key driver behind the conference. I overheard her make no less than 90 phonecalls last week to check up on members and to promote the conference. In the last few weeks she only flew off the broom handle once while knocking off all the items on the lengthy 'to do' list to make such a great conference happen. But luckily I wasn't to blame for the mishap. Close shave! And within minutes Theresa the cheer leader was her usual enthusiastic self. Go T Go!


Neil has no reason to climb the walls about the conference. But he has a day job at PDNA that makes him responsible for winning engineering projects worth billions. So there are never enough hours in a day. Since he handles it all without breaking a sweat, I decide to climb the walls for him. Or does it look as though he's encouraging me to fly off the handle? What do you think?

Blink and it's gone

It's November and 2010 is galloping to a close. For South Africa, this was the year of the soccer world cup. For me, it's been a whirlwind of fun in the sun since April. I had so many things to do and places to see that my poor blog took a back seat. So this bumper edition is my attempt to atone for my sins as I wave goodbye to Africa to embark on my world tour. Happy reading, and why not subscribe? I have good intentions to be a regular writer next year...

Proposal Review at Hiside

In May, I helped nFold train their bid network how to do proposal reviews. I also did one for Hiside. Their proposal had great images of their fun team-building events, but I helped them to become a bit more persuasive. By now, they're using all the tricks in the book such as quantifying payback, client focus and differentiation. What a great bunch of motivated people. I guess they must practice what they preach. I'm the shadow 2nd from left in front of the boss.

In June, my friend Sandy Pullinger made a guest appearance as a cardboard cutout at the annual APMP conference in the US. She was part of the panel discussion arranged by Graham Ablett from Strategic Proposals on virtual bid teams. The panel acted out some typical voice conference scenarios. You know, those telecons that go horribly wrong and lose you the bid? The boss walks in late, rushes out early for a phonecall, misses his deadline and then wonders why no one else meets their promises to win the bid. Sandy enjoyed doing a video recording and writing one of the scenarios based on her experience working on a virtual bid in Africa. I guess you can't get much more virtual than a cardboard cutout. Sandy wishes she could have been at the conference in person because it was at Disneyland. Oh well, better luck next time Sands.

Jon Williams and Proposal Panda

In July, the APMP committee reviewed its strategy for the year. I started to get excited about the first ever conference planned for October. I was hoping to see the proposal panda again, with his friend Jon Williams, the keynote speaker. When I looked into my crystal ball, I could see that the reunion would be pleasant. I predicted that the future would hold a bottle of red wine (or two) at an African restaurant called Moyo. I could see that there would be a philosophical discussion about serif and san serif fonts. The writing was on the wall in times new roman, bold, italics, 10 points.







Tea break before 2nd SA Sant User Group Meeting

   In August, I had a tea break in preparation for the 2nd local Sant user group meeting in South Africa, planned for September. I watched Sandy get excited about telling everyone what snazzy new features were launched with Sant 9. She's such a software junky that I couldn't restrain her from enthusing that the user interface is even easier to use, search is improved, content management is unified, and architecting is now a piece of cake. Talking about which, some cake would have been REALLY nice with my tea.

In September I signed up on Facebook. If you want to be my friend, my profile is here: http://www.facebook.com/wendywordproposal#!/profile.php?id=100001635338520. I also did some Persuasive Proposal training with Sandy and Errol at DHL. Their proposal team came up with some catchy proposal titles. I can't wait to see what the boss thinks. I mean the customer of course.

Persuasive Proposal Training at DHL

First APMP Conference in SA

In October, the big day finally arrived. The first ever local APMP conference was sold out with more than 75 people attending. Our international guest speakers, Colleen Jolly and Jon Williams were both brilliant. Apart from sharing some brilliant graphics and proposal tips, they also managed to drum up the local APMP membership to the target of 50. Chris Rademeyer told us all about how to avoid bid burnout, and a brave panel of procurement specialists shared some insights from the buyer perspective. But Panda and I were the stars of the show. Just look how rapt my audience was.

And now, at last in November, I'm ready for a little break. Or maybe that's a breakdown after all the bid deadlines I've met? 2011 promises to be a fun-filled year too. nFold turns 10. What a great excuse for a party. Bring on the streamers and balloons and I'll be there like a shot. But first, I think I'll hide in Colleen's suitcase. So long for now.