APTAC Semiannual National Conferences Call for Presentations

Current Call for Optional Workshops (CLOSED)

Who We Are: APTAC represents 95 Procurement Technical Assistance Centers (PTACs) across the United States. Collectively, PTACs employ 600 procurement counselors who work daily with tens of thousands of businesses, providing them with insights and information on how to best identify, compete for, and win Government contracts. In order to continue to succeed, PTAC counselors want and need up-to-the-minute information about changes in Government regulations, policies and initiatives. That is why we are seeking speakers and presenters for our Training & Best Practices Conferences who can deliver the latest news as well as strategies for success in today’s Government contracting arena. We seek practical tips, techniques and resources that will assist PTAC counselors guide their clients to a heightened understanding of today’s Government acquisition requirements.

Conference Audience: The members of APTAC – representatives of Procurement Technical Assistance Centers – are an elite national corps of individuals who provide training, counseling and technical assistance to businesses interested in selling products/services to the public sector. APTAC members work with businesses to identify opportunities, provide training on a broad array of topics related to Government procurement, as well as providing technical assistance related to Government programs and acquisition. The goal of this conference is to provide APTAC members with practical tools, techniques and resources that can be directly used to guide businesses in understanding how to meet the Government sector’s current standards and thereby become more successful in the Government marketplace. Essentially, presentations are to “train the trainer”. Attendance at the Training Conference is estimated at 300-350 persons, representing PTACs hosted by colleges and universities, economic development organizations, non-profits, and units of state and local government from across the country.

General Speaker Expectations: APTAC expects speakers to adhere to the timing as listed in the event agenda, to provide a quality session, and to be respectful of all participants and their views. APTAC strongly recommends that your content ties back to APTAC’s Body of Knowledge (BoK). Selected speakers are expected to provide their PowerPoint presentation four weeks in advance of the conference and to attend a pre-event conference call for final details two weeks prior to the conference. Additionally, APTAC expects those submitting proposals to be available to present any of the breakout session timeslots.

APTAC forbids you from selling, promoting, or endorsing any products and/or services within your presentation. You may mention products or services, but further promotion is prohibited. Any speaker who chooses to make a pitch during their presentation will not be selected to speak at any future APTAC educational events. Speaking performance will be evaluated and used for speaker selection for future APTAC educational events.

Session Lengths: Each session is 60 minutes long, including time for questions and answers. A typical session will include 45 minutes of presentation and 15 minutes Q&A. All submissions are considered for both general and breakout sessions. Selected presentations may be offered twice, to allow conference attendees to attend all sessions. Please note, due to recent changes in DLA training requirements, most general sessions will be reserved for Federal speakers.

Optional Workshops: In addition to the standard session, each conference includes one or more optional workshops. Optional workshops are a great way to explore further into a given topic, enhancing the knowledge and/or skills of our members. Each Optional Workshop session is to be four (4) hours long, including time for breaks and questions and answers.

APTAC Administrator:
John Erdmann
(615-268-6644)

APTAC Vice-President:
Ms. Debbie Barber

APTAC Education Committee Chair:
Ms. Lenora Leasure
APTACconference@aptac-us.org