Mixing an in-person event with the opportunity to join in online. Steve Jordan summarises an unusual but ultimately successful IAM.
In October the IAM (International Association of Movers) held its 59th annual meeting, this time in Orlando, Florida and online. The format was, of course, a hybrid, with around 800 attendees in person and a further 300 or so joining via the Internet.
The organisers, despite all the difficulties, were determined to stage an in-person event as it was clear that the industry was crying out for some physical contact after months of Zoom calls and lockdowns. From where I was sitting - i.e. in my office in the UK – I would say it worked. That said, online involvement really isn’t like the real thing. But it is better than nothing and, as most of the world was excluded from crossing the US shoreline at the time, there was little choice.
The agenda was as full as always. As well as the opportunity for individual groups to host their Roundtable events, the topics for the business sessions covered a wide gamut with something there for everyone it would seem. There were RMC presentations focussing on each geographical area; and discussions about US military work including a presentation by Chuck White, IAM President, aimed at explaining the way the industry works from a layman’s perspective. We also saw discussions about the global supply chain crisis; developments at IAM Learning; and two new initiatives from IAM: the US Domestic Asset-Based Group; and the Leadership Alliance. Both are described in this issue of The Mover and we will be running in-depth interviews with the leaders of those groups in the future. The general session, as always, included the presentation of the Alan F Wohlstetter scholarships, the Hall of Honor (see The Mover, November 2021) and, for the first time, the YP (Young Professionals) Rising Star presentation.
All in all, I thought IAM did a very good job under very testing conditions ...
Photos: The Core Members Panel (right); The IAM 2021 exhibition hall (left).