ProcureCon IT Sourcing 2024

June 03 - 04, 2024

The Westin Copley Place, Boston, MA

Procurecon Story Mel Ohl

Mel Ohl

Vice President Indirect Procurement,
Pitney Bowes

Mel’s ProcureCon Story At a Glance

  • First year at ProcureCon: 2013
  • Participant, speaker, panelist
  • Forged connections at ProcureCon that eventually led to a new job opportunity
  • Likes to attend ProcureCon with his team, because he sees the conference as a strong benchmarking and team-building opportunity

My ProcureCon Story: Mel Ohl

ProcureCon is the only non-membership organization that I’m giving my time and attention to.

1. ProcureCon has had a direct impact on my career, because it helped me network to find my next opportunity.

Ever since a colleague of mine encouraged me to speak at a ProcureCon Vendor Management summit in 2013, I have been inspired to be a part of the ProcureCon community. For me, ProcureCon has always been about the connections. It’s an incredibly unique mix of strategic and tactical procurement professionals networking with one another and exchanging experiences and best practices on some of the most critical issues we face. In no other non-membership organization will you find the valuable, actionable insights you take away from ProcureCon events. But more importantly, the engaged community ProcureCon has built is unrivaled.

I speak from experience. When I attended my first ProcureCon event, I was considering changing companies to find a new opportunity a little closer to home. While doing some networking at the event, I formed a relationship with a well- connected CPO. We stayed in touch and after a couple more introductions, I was connected with the headhunter who helped me find my current job as the Vice President of Indirect Procurement at Pitney Bowes. Without a doubt, ProcureCon has had a direct impact on my career, because it helped me network to find my next opportunity.

2. You’re not going to get out of work. You’re going to enhance your work experience.

While the networking opportunities at ProcureCon events are fantastic, I consistently leave the conferences with best-in-class practices and new frameworks that are directly applicable to my day-to-day job. From the informal conversations during cocktail receptions to the conference sessions themselves, there is always something to learn from this community that can be applied directly to my job. In fact, I was so impressed with a recent session on developing a compliance approach to contracting that I accessed the presentation after the conference in order to implement it at Pitney Bowes.

I also see ProcureCon as a strong team-building opportunity. Attending the event is great career development for my team members, who get exposure to the whole spectrum of procurement professionals, from senior leaders in charge of strategy, to more tactical staff. Not only is their attendance a form of recognition, but I also know that they are going to get good solid information, see best in class capabilities from like companies, and have a chance to interact with their peers.

3. The ProcureCon community is very diverse, from strategic to tactical practitioners, but typically all the type of people that are in our circle of industry associated with procurement. It’s a very good heterogeneous cross section of procurement and supply chain professionals.

Given the rich connections I have made and the insights I have absorbed, I plan to stay involved with the ProcureCon community over the coming years, both as an attendee and a speaker. ProcureCon is the only non-membership organization that I’m giving my time and attention to.