Read last week’s #EvalTuesdayTip about choosing a conference organizer.
Zambia’s Scaling Up Nutrition National Conference recently took place on September 13th and 14th, 2023. Khulisa’s Scaling Up Nutrition Learning and Evaluation (SUN LE) team, which was responsible for choosing the conference’s organizer, learned several lessons during the selection process – one of which was the importance of flexibility.
The SUN LE team, led by Learning and Dissemination Advisor John Manda, solicited bids from three companies who competed for the role of conference organizer. The company that the team selected, Châteuax 42, provided the lowest bid. But despite the lower costs, Châteuax 42 also provided something extra: flexibility.
“We were working with a very lean budget, and so the cost was a big consideration. The conference organizer we ended up with was the least cost of the three,” said John. “And one huge advantage we saw was their flexibility to remove items if the committee decided that maybe certain things were not relevant. They were very flexible in terms of removing and/or adding [tasks] as we progressed during the planning process.”
In this case the lowest bidder was also the best – not because they were the cheapest, but because they were the most flexible and responsive. Read more about the Scaling Up Nutrition National Conference in our recent blog post.
