Thursday saw a very dynamic and interactive session for a small but passionate group of Accounts Payable professionals. 

Gail K. from UCSF (who is now one of my favorite AP networking buddies) led an informal discussion about filing 1099’s.  She used a narrative approach and talked about evey step in the process including vendor setup, how P-cards payed into the scenario/headache, the process she inherited, and her constant negotiations with IT.  She was stopped several times along the way with very thoughtful questions.  The group would scrum on the topic and then Gail would pick back up where she left off.  With a strong “project management” background Gail made really good points throughout about learning from mistakes, training her staff the “right way” and about empowering her people on a go-forward basis.

The group was small, but represented a number of big companies and unfortunately I do not believe today’s meeting attendees will be traveling to Dallas for tha annual IAPP conference.  This saddens me, because I can clearly see that there is a huge need for more networking. 

This is a very difficult landscape for Accounts Payable and I think the need to connect with with peers has grown in parallel with constantly expanding job duties.  In my opinion it is more necessary now to force the time into your schedule to attend chapter meetings or webinars or even to log on and follow a LinkedIn conversation.  You will not only benefit from the information that is circulating, you will be suprised by how much other people need to hear what you have to say.