We have just arrived back from the spring 2012 Logistics and Supply Chain Conference at the Doral Resort in Miami, Florida. Richmond Events (based out of the UK) holds two conferences annually, one in the spring and one in the fall.  Trendset Information Systems discovered these unique networking opportunity almost two years ago when we attended our first event in Scottsdale, AZ.

Richmond Events has put together a unique conference structure that matches suppliers with representatives from companies who come to the conference looking for specific solutions.  This format provides companies such as Trendset a great opportunity to sit down one on one with these reps to have focused discussions on how our solutions can help solve their global supply chain challenges.  The conference ran from Sunday, June 3 trough Wednesday, June 5, during this time we met with almost 50 individuals and had a great time interacting with supply chain professionals during the networking receptions.

The event kicked off Sunday afternoon with a keynote presentation by Mark C Thompson (Virgin) discussing “Managing Through the Next Five Years of Change.”  What a great title and subject to include in a keynote considering the supply chain industry is one that is seemingly always faced with implementing, reacting, and embracing change.  During Mark’s 50 minute keynote discussion he touched on the subject of the importance of passion within your employee base.   Mark included some thoughts from individuals he had met already before the conference even began, and called upon the individuals to discuss how their organizations were reacting to changes within the industry.  He also asked audience members to speak about the moment that defined they had reached success, interesting question right?  Answers ranged from waking up everyday excited about doing your job to making a difference and being a reliable source of information to your peers at work.  Mark did a great job of setting the bar for the conference to include making our time there a successful one, and I would have to say that Trendset did achieve success this week.

Other conference sessions included:

Jim Bengier, IBM, Global Retail Industry Executive
Next Generation Mobile Supply Chain Technology

Dee Biggs, Welch Foods, Inc., Director Customer Logistics 
Using Collaboration to Drive to Innovation

Craig Casto, Dow Chemical, Global Leader, RFID, GPS & Auto ID
   Innovative Brand Protection Program

Greg Flickinger, Snyder’s-Lance Inc., Vice President
The Science of Change

Michael Ginn, CBP-Field Operations, Director
   Customs-Trade Partnership Against Terrorism

Chris Glover, Milliken & Co., Director
   Discovering the Blind Spots in Your Value Stream

Adrian Gonzalez, Adelante SCM Corp., President
   The Real Opportunities of Social Media

Mark Green, Pitney Bowes Inc., Director
Reducing Global Logistics Costs

Mike Jacks, Coca-Cola Refreshments, Senior Manager
Coke’s use of Voice in the Warehouse

Gary Lupinacci, TSA/TSNM, Asst. Branch Chief
Certified Cargo Screening Program Update

Joan Motsinger, Seagate Technology, VP
Transforming a Crisis into Opportunities

Dr. Bob Wright, Wright Business, CEO
Towards Transformational Leadership

Here are some pictures from the actual conference including our pictures with Mr. Trump:

The site for this event was the Doral resort, about 10 minutes from the Miami airport.  Upon arriving at the resort, we were met with a welcome letter from Donald Trump stating that next week he would officially be taking over the resort and investing upwards of $200 million into the property.   So naturally there were reports all weekend of Trump sightings throughout the resort, as he and his daughter were staying there, probably conducting some meetings and research.  We scouted different parts of the property to try to meet the Donald, and all was not lost because right before we jumped in our cab to head to the airport we ran into Mr. Trump and Ivanka outside the reception area!