Iam annual meeting was held in Denver Colorado from 12-15th September.
Upwards of 2000 delegates from the global moving industry attended the 49th staging of the International Association of Movers (IAM) annual meeting in Denver, Colorado from 12-15th September.
Terry Head, President of IAM, said when inviting the industry to meet, that this was the first time the IAM meeting (previously HHGFAA) had been in Denver. “Through direct IAM member feedback over many years, we recognise how important the Annual Meeting is to the growth of your businesses, as well as your personal and professional development,” he said. He added that it was with that thought in mind that IAM had chosen a theme of - Connect. Collaborate. Elevate – for the convention.
He said that the Annual Meeting provided numerous opportunities for attendees and guests to connect with peers from all over the 
world. “Through our trade show, business sessions, Knowledge Labs, and a wide variety of social events, you will have ample time to discover ways to collaborate and thus elevate both your company and yourself. I also believe that IAM, by involving representatives from all the major moving industry trade associations and some of our major customers, connects our industry through mutual collaboration. Through this cooperative coordination the Association has been successful in elevating the industry’s image and its efforts to address the issues we all share, regardless of where we work in the world.
To aid networking the IAM organisers set up an on line globalmatch system for appointment making. Commenting on the success of the initiative Graham Puddephatt (Reason Global) said: “Judging by the activity at the meeting points this had been well used.” Graham also reported on the Knowledge Lab, a programme of presentations that took place throughout the three-day event. “It included presentations on how to maximise on the opportunities arising at IAM by ‘never eating alone’; how to ‘spot a 
fake’ - from golf clubs to hand bags, Cuban cigars and porcelain figures - a real claims quandary for removers; and how to build trust through cultural awareness.”
According to delegates the tone of the conference was very up-beat. Graham said that he had been very pleased with the high quality of the enquiries he had received at the company’s booth. “It appears 2011 had been considerably better that 2010; however some were still worrying about what the winter might bring.”
For Tony Tickner (EuroUSA) it was his 18th IAM/HHGFAA convention. “In view of the economy I was expecting the mood to be more subdued. I think people were just happy that the summer had been better than they expected. The consensus was that the busy period had started later than expected, but for many was still going on.”
By contrast it was James Hooper’s (Oceanair International) first IAM. He too said it was an excellent networking opportunity. “It was very casual, energetic, buzzing. It was really good.” He added that the networking opportunities started at Heathrow on the way out when the UK contingent gathered in the departure lounge. “It was really nice to see some familiar faces even before we left the UK.”
The only general criticism of the event was that it was approximately three weeks earlier than usual. This, combined with the late arrival of the summer rush, had meant that delegates had left busy offices back home to attend.
The welcome luncheon saw the awarding of the IAM Hall of Honour. This year the applause went to Richard DeWitt of DeWitt Moving and Storage, The late Dolf Gosselin of Gosselin, George W. Pasha III of the Pasha Group and Colin Quarrington, editor of FIDI Focus.
