There are many events happening in the international trade arena in the coming months. With a wide variety of topics, covering issues from importing/exporting basics to supply chain security, it is important to stay up-to-date on the latest topics. I wanted to try to bring some of the most relevant to the attention of the trade community and have listed several calendars and sites with regularly scheduled events.

• Sourcing Innovation (http://blog.sourcinginnovation.com) – Supply chain roundtables and seminars
• AAEI (www.aaei.org) – Trade webinars, seminars, and conferences
• Foreign Trade Association of Southern California (www.ftasc.org) – Trade events in Southern California
• Midwest Global Trade Association (www.mgta.org) – Trade seminars and classes in the Twin Cities
• FITA (www.fita.org) – Trade events and shows around the country
• NEXCO (www.nexco.org) – International trade events

Zepol's CEO and President, Paul Rasmussen, will also be participating in a panel discussion on "Importer Identity Theft" on July 14th in Long Beach, CA. This event is being conducted by the Foreign Trade Association and will delve into one of the hottest topics in importing today. Not only does importer identity theft impact your bottom line, but it is becoming an important enforcement area for law enforcement agencies in the United States.

For more information about this event or questions about what it will cover, check out our events page here. We are happy to answer any questions that you have about how Zepol is helping companies proactively protect themselves from this crime. In addition, please comment on this blog to understand how Zepol is ensuring the security of U.S. Customs trade data.

I attended the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals' annual conference in Chicago last week. During the three days, I attended several classes and talked with many members of the business intelligence community including a few customers. I thought I would pass along some observations from the show.

1. Ethics is always an important topic for SCIP members. Collecting information on competitors is a sticky topic for many companies and understanding what is acceptable for a competitive intelligence professional is difficult. One way to avoid ethical quandaries is to use sources available publicly, either on the Internet or from the U.S. government. Many companies that inquire about Zepol’s U.S. Customs trade data tool, TradeIQ, are relieved to find out that we receive all of our data through the United States’ Freedom of Information Act directly from the U.S. government.
   
   
2. Proving a return on investment ensures that the value of CI professionals is measurable in their organizations. Value for competitive intelligence professionals is more about what they can do with the information they collect than the price of the service they use. I spoke with several people who reiterated this point by talking about how the best tools they use do not just spit out data, but transform it into organized information that creates knowledge. Knowledge allows CI professionals to show executives actionable intelligence that shows real, balance sheet impact.
   
   
3. Michael Treacy gave a rousing keynote speech that hit home. Mr. Treacy talked specifically about how CI professionals can use the fundamentals he detailed in his book Double Digit Growth to grow their organizations. Understanding how business intelligence departments can provide the knowledge that executives need to make informed, smart decisions about the future of their companies is essential to achieve sustainable growth instead of stagnant results. While luck is part of how companies succeed, a methodology of choosing the correct path by allowing ideas to compete multiplies success in the long term.