Fall 2023 Conference & Annual Business Meeting Schedule

Embassy Suites by Hilton Denton Convention Center | Denton, Texas
November 6 - 9, 2023

The Texas Public Purchasing Association's Fall 2023 Conference & Annual Business Meeting Schedule will be posted soon. Note the scheduled pre-conference workshops are as follows: 

Monday, November 6, 2023

9:00 am – 11:30 am | TxPPA Board Meeting - Room: Denton

12:00 pm – 5:00 pm | Conference Registration

1:00 pm – 5:00 pm | Pre-Conference Sessions (included in registration and available a la carte)
     Session A: Construction Management Basics and Best Practices for Public Projects | Matt Graves, PMP, Project Manager, AG|CM - Room: Eagles 1

    Session B: RFPs 101 | Brian Lines, Ph.D., P.E., FMP, Associate Professor of Civil, Environmental & Architectural Engineering, University of Kansas - Room: Eagles 2

2:30 pm – 2:45 pm | Break/Networking - 

6:00 pm – 9:00 pm | TxPPA-Hosted Special Welcome Event (included in registration; pre-registration requested) | Andy B's Bowling Social

Tuesday, November 7, 2023

7:30 am - 5:00 pm | Registration

8:00 am – 9:00 am | Conference Opening Session/Welcome - Alan Phillips, TxPPA President - Room: Eagles 1&2

9:00 am – 10:15 am | Opening Keynote: Taking a Road Trip with Cooperative Procurement | Tammy Rimes, National Executive Director, National Cooperative Procurement Partners - Room: Eagles 1&2

10:15 am - 10:45 am | Break/Networking

10:45am - 12:00pm | Breakout Session I
    Session A: eProcurement Evolution | April Marzzacco and Jonathan Bey, EqualLevel - Room: Palomino
    Session B: That was Then, This is Now: Why Supplies are Still Choosing to Not Bid | Jeff Peskuski, Greybar - Room: Quarter
    Session C: Best Practices for Procuring Enterprise-Level Software Solutions | Dr. Brian Lines, University of Kansas - Room: Appaloosa

12:00 pm - 1:15 pm | Lunch (included in registration) - Achieving Excellence in Procurement and AEP Award Recognition | Kim Gould and Blake Skiles - Room: Eagles 1&2 (buffet available in Foyer)

1:30pm - 2:45pm | Breakout Session II
     Session A: Strategies for Procurement Collaboration | Ryan Kirkpatrick (Pavilion), Panel Moderator - Room: Palomino
     Session B: Purchasing 101 Roundtable | Cindy White, Shawn Willett and Matt Dobecka - Room: Quarter
     Session C: Cybersecurity | Tom Sauerhoff, Texas Department of Information Resources - Room: Appaloosa

2:45 pm – 3:15 pm | Break/Networking

3:15 pm - 4:30 pm | Breakout Session III
     Session A: P-Cards | Brandi Whittenton, City of College Station; Jeffery Spears, City of Friendswood - Room: Palomino
     Session B: GenAI | Dustin Lanier, Civic Initiatives - Quarter
     Session C: Organizations Must Lead to Succeed | Rick Grimm and Carrie Mathis, NIGP - Room: Appaloosa

6:00 pm - 8:00 pm | Opening Reception (enjoy entertainment and hors d'oeuvres) - Room: Triangle Ballroom

Wednesday, November 8, 2023

8:30 am – 9:45 am | General Session: Just be Freakin Fabulous!! | Denise Finn, NIGP-CPP, CPPO, CPM, CPPM, Procurement Manager, City of Fort Meyers, Florida; FAPPO President - Room: Eagles 1&2

9:45 am – 10:15 am | Break/Networking

10:15 am - 11:30 am | Breakout Session IV
     Session A: Pre-Disaster Planning | Lisa Potraza, OMNIA Partners - Room: Palomino
     Session B: Insurance and Coverage II – Caveat Emptor – it is all about the terms and conditions  | Todd Kiesel, TAC - Room: Quarter
      Session C: Why Aren't Bidders Responding? | Virginia Schabbing, Cintas - Room: Appaloosa

10:15 am - 11:15am | Vendor Session - Room: Eagles 1&2

12:00 pm - 3:00 pm | Vendor Expo and Lunch - Plan to enjoy lunch and networking with our wonderful sponsors and exhibitors!  - Rooms: Chilton/Kincaid/Pioneer

3:00 pm - 4:00 pm | Entity Networking - Join us for networking by entity! - Room: Eagles 1&2

4:00 pm - 5:15 pm | General Session: ListServ Live | Tim Slifka, CPPO, CPPB, Purchasing Manager, City of Southlake - Room: Eagles 1&2

Thursday, November 9, 2023

8:30 am – 9:30 am | General Session/Annual Business Meeting | Alan Phillips, TxPPA President - Room: Eagles 1&2

9:30 am - 9:45 am | Break/Networking

9:45 am - 11:15 am | General Session/Closing Keynote | Go Forth and Procure!! | Heisha Freeman, CRP, GMS-T, EVP/Chief Customer Officer, MoveCenter - Room: Eagles 1&2

Schedule subject to change.

REGISTER HERE