After a two year hiatus of in-person events, this year’s Special Operations Forces Industry Conference was a very large affair with lots of industry and government participation.
So it came as a surprise when the National Defense Industrial Association, which presents the event in conjunction with the United States Special Operations Command, posted this message :
Dear Valued SOFIC Partners,
USSOCOM has informed NDIA that they will not execute SOFIC in 2023.
NDIA is extremely proud of our strong partnership with USSOCOM and the exceptional conferences we presented over the past 12 years, including our very successful 2022 Conference.
NDIA will continue to work with all stakeholders to promote collaboration between government and industry to deliver innovative capabilities to our warfighters.
We are extremely grateful for all your support to NDIA and SOFIC over the years.
Regards,
Christine M. Klein
Sr. VP, Meetings, Divisions & PartnershipsAllison H. Carpenter
Director, Exhibits & Sponsorships
Over the years SOFIC has been one of the best events for industry and military interaction.
While it seems that USSOCOM won’t be holding a major flagship event, chances are good that SOFIC, or a similar event, will return to its roots and become smaller with less official command involvement. We know that several organizations have been vying to sponsor such an event.
We will keep you posted.
To my knowledge, USSOCOM doesn’t pay for the event, we do, the vendors. and it ISNT A CHEAP Show; as a matter of fact, its one of the most expensive to exhibit at.
On the other hand, the demonstration is always cool, but its not needed for a successful event. I could see that being that potential problem ($), with local support, coordination (for land sea and air assets) and traffic.
I don’t expect any changes aside from official logos being authorized for use for the event? If not, I smell another SHOP SHOW? (Looking at your Ang)
No, they don’t. But they do authorize personnel to participate, including the direct interaction with the Program Offices.
Global SOF Team has been selected to partner with USSOCOM to execute SOF Week (formerly SOFIC) 2023. We are very excited about this opportunity and will be releasing more information in the near future
Please fill out the form at link below to stay informed. #SOFweek2023
?https://sofweek.org
Yes, we discussed this here:
https://ssdaily.tempurl.host/2022/07/15/gsof-to-host-sof-week-in-place-of-sofic/
What puzzles me is USSOCOM’s RFI issued on 15 July seeking organizations to run SOF Week.