SCIP used to stand for the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals, but as of summer 2010 it changed that name to Strategic and Competitive Intelligence Professionals. No matter what name you call it though, the SCIP is an organization dedicated to supporting people who work in the Competitive Intelligence industry. Ever the dutiful researcher, I spent some quality time on their relatively dense website, and here are five key takeaways to consider before taking, what could be a good chunk of time, to visit:
1. Finding: SCIP is just over 25 years old, and as of now it enjoys participation from just over 20 chapters scattered about the United States. Conclusion: The odds for networking look pretty good.
2. Finding: Not surprisingly, the SCIP’s reports and educational manuals come at a price, but the price point is usually $50-$100 depending on membership status. Conclusion: These are a good investment in training materials that could become touchstones for a fledgling CI department, or for those who want to cultivate a new skill set.
3. Finding: The SCIP News Archive has a broad swath of articles about the CI industry, grouped by month, dating back to 1998; unfortunately the only navigation available is scrolling. Conclusion: If you want to turn the spotlight around and study CI itself, this is a solid, if slow, place to start.
4. Finding: The monthly ebulletin dubbed scip.insight., is a compilation of free articles from SCIP bigwigs that have insider perspectives you’ll be hard pressed to find elsewhere. Conclusion: It’s much more satisfying for non-members to peruse this resource instead of the magazine, as most of those volumes are password protected.
5. Finding: As of this writing the job web has 134 highly relevant postings kept up to date. Three are from this past week alone. Conclusion: Bookmark this site if nothing else for the job web, where you’ll find new openings and keep abreast of what the field demands for new hires.