The 2011 annual ‘big event’ in the global supply chain industry was held in Philadelphia PA USA during the week of October 2-5. This event is organized each year, and is the official global meeting, for the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP, http://cscmp.org/events/annual-global/sessionsearch-after.asp). The conference featured risk-related topics ranging from inventory forecasting to reverse logistics planning in globally-impacted markets.