Events

The joint TAPP and ETPA Professional Development Fall Conference was held on October 26‑28, 2011, at the Music Road Hotel and Conference

On Wednesday, we will have the NIGP seminar "Managing Your End‑User and Supplier: It's all About Relationships?" Lunch will be provided to the

participants on site. Beginning at 5:00 p.m. we will have a joint TAPP and ETPA Evening Mixer and Networking Opportunity. This is a great

chance for the two chapters to come together and get to know each other while we enjoy some heavy hors d'oeuvres.

On Thursday, we will begin the conference with a presentation from Joe Jarret, Knox County Law Director, on "Avoiding Personal Liability". In

today's litigious society, plaintiff's attorneys are increasing suing public sector employees in their individual capacities, rather than

merely suing the public agency. These attorneys are attempting to hold the public employee personally liable for damages. As such, it is

imperative that pubic officials and employees learn how to protect themselves from such law suits by recognizing where they are vulnerable,

what actions they should avoid, and what they can do to minimize their exposure. We will also have a presentation from, Jami Miller, Market

Consultant with the Tennessee Department of General Services to discuss statewide contracts and Edison. Thursday afternoon we will have a

training session from Dr. Fadia Alvic, Assistant Director, Distance Education and Independent Study, University of Tennessee on "Effective

On Friday morning, after the TAPP business meting we will be offering an NIGP webinar titled "Do I have to take the Low Bid? Tools for Obtaining Qualifies Contractors".

The webinar will be purchased by TAPP and shown to all attendees. If you wish to obtain a NIGP certificate for the webinar you will need to register on‑line with NIGP, the cost to

register is $55. Everyone that attends the webinar will receive 1.50 CEUs from TAPP for participating. This is a great cost effective opportunity to get those much needed training

On Thursday, we will have our 2nd annual vendor trade show. We encourage you to meet with vendor and learn about their products and

Please contact the Music Road Hotel and Conference Center at 303 Henderson Chapel Road in Pigeon Forge, to book your reservation, at

The leaves are changing and they have predicting this to be one of the best years to be in the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg area.

April 19-21, 2011 - Held at the Nashville Electric Services Building located at 1214 Church Street, Nashville, TN 37246. This is a joint TAPP and MTPPA spring conference be held in conjunction with the NIGP class (see Training).

Click on the link below for PDF printable information below regarding the Fall Conference in Pigeon Forge, TN in October 2010

TAPP SPRING CONFERENCE 2010

Our Spring Conference was held on Monday through Wednesday, April 26-28, at Nashville Electric Service in Nashville. TAPP conducted the first two days of meetings and collaborated with the Middle Tennessee Public Purchasing Association (MTPPA) on the third day for some professional development. World Class Procurement Practices was presented through NIGP. Attendance was up over recent meetings. Twenty-six members attended the first two days and twenty-one attended the professional development class. That was a direct result of some very long hours and hard work, especially by Vice-President Brian Wilcox who put together a program team including Artie Pritchard, Susan White, and Amanda Cochran. Sondra Howe and Darin Anderson put together an excellent professional training program and worked with us on all the front end planning. Pamela Cotham and Teresa Johnson took care of all the many details that have to happen to make a conference successful. And most importantly, our hosts at Nashville Electric provided meeting space free of charge for three days, made sure our stay with them was enjoyable, and went the extra mile to make our conference successful. Sheila Douglas, Amanda, and Darin were just super in taking care of us.

Highlights of the conference included:

--Cooperative Purchasing Opportunities

-- Updates on recent and pending State legislation

--Discussion on fuel hedging

--GSA purchasing programs available to our agencies

--The always favorite Best Practices roundtable

--A wonderful evening of fellowship at Loveless Café

--The auctioning of gifts from members

The highlight of the conference was an off-site visit to the Franklin Police Headquarters. That brand new facility is a 100% Leed-certified facility. Led by Brian Wilcox, the tour was an eye-opening experience of how buildings can be properly planned and designed over time and brought to fruition with the input of all stakeholders. From plants on the roof to motion detecting light systems to wells for collection rain runoff for recycling, this is a building that will be a model for the future.

Discussion also took place regarding a proposed amendment to our by-laws regarding some compensation to officers for services rendered. This would be in the form of payment of conferences fees. Those in attendance agreed this was very worthwhile and needed to attract candidates to serve. It will appear on the agenda at our Fall conference.

Finally, we are told that timing is everything. One week after our conference, Nashville and Middle Tennessee were hit with a flood not seen in over a hundred years. Among the structures hit hard were many of the NES facilities, hundreds of government buildings and properties, and untold damage to homes. Included in the damage was the Franklin Police headquarters where we visited. Nashville, Franklin, Clarksville and other areas were especially hit hard. Many of our members continue to have long hours in the cleanup process. We are learning if our emergency guidelines are working.

Please visit our Meetings site to see pictures from our conference.

Best to all of you.

The Fall Conference took place on October 28-30 2009 at the Music Road Hotel and Convention Center in Pigeon Forge, TN.

Music Road Hotel & Convention Center
303 Henderson Chapel Rd.
Pigeon Forge, TN 37863

The 2009 Fall Conference is scheduled for October 28, 29th, and 30th at the Music Road Hotel in Pigeon Forge, TN

The Tennessee Association of Public Purchasing Fall 2008 Conference was held in Pigeon Forge, TN.

The TAPP Fall Conference was a great success this year and enjoyed by all. This success was due to the hard work of many. We would like to take a moment to recognize all those that participated in making this event informative and fun for everyone.

George Street - Special thanks to George for continuing to update our website year after year. He is one of the first members of TAPP and is truly an asset to this group. George has been given the designation of an honorary member of TAPP in recognition of his relentless dedication.

Speakers - We were fortunate to have an exciting group of speakers. They were very gracious in sharing their knowledge and expertise with our membership and we thank them for their participation.

Ralph Cross, University of TN, MTAS
Mary Pelfrey, US Communities
Kim Raia, Environmental/GIS Consultant, University of TN, CTAS

David Goodridge, National Intergovernmental Purchasing Alliance
Jonathan Overly, East TN Clean Fuels Coalition

In addition to those listed, we also wish to thank the Music Road Hotel and Convention Center for the great service they provided to our group. They were most accommodating.

We also need to thank our wonderful members. We appreciate each and every one of you for making this all possible.

The Tennessee Association of Public Purchasing Fall 2008 Conference was held in Pigeon Forge, TN.

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UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE, KNOXVILLE - “LEADERSHIP”