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Our 2018 annual EUISSCA Supplier Sourcing Conference, held in Scottsdale, Arizona, was a huge success, with our highest attendance yet of 217 people. Daniel Kreeger, co-founder and Executive Director of the Association of Climate Change Officers (ACCO), kicked off the Conference with his keynote address about the big picture on climate change from academia, government agencies and multinational corporations. His energy brought some valuable insight to our attendees about the need for suppliers and utilities to develop Climate Mitigation Plans now to appropriately plan for the future. We inaugurated our new Supplier Affiliate Memberships with 52 Charter Members.Our main goal of this membership was to create closer collaboration between electric utility industry leaders who are addressing the challenges of creating a cleaner, more efficient and more sustainable supply chain, with their suppliers. See more information on the SAM program – including how to join for 2019. The Sustainability Project(TSP), our new Supplier Survey tool designed to educate suppliers on environmental best practices and benchmark their sustainability progress, launched during the Conference to enthusiastic support. Through multiple streams suppliers and utilities were exposed to the value of the tool and trained on both completing the annual survey as well as how to leverage TSP to improve one’s performance. Additionally, our SF6 Alternatives meeting, which was an extension to our conference, brought collaboration across the value chain to better understand the current status of SF6 alternatives and the potential role that member procurement departments, suppliers and EUISSCA can play in accelerating those. Throughout the event we also heard 14 best practice case studies, over 20 Showcase Suppliers presenting their most innovative new products and plenty of networking opportunities for all those who attended. The event was charged with forward thinking and innovative ideas. We are very excited to see where this new Survey Platform and Supplier Affiliate Membership will take us and we look forward to providing an update at our Conference next year. The 2019 Conference will be held the last week of September. Remember to hold a spot on your calendar!