No limits at FPDA/ISD Joint Industry Summit

After what was considered one of its best events yet in 2018, this year’s FPDA/ISD Joint Industry Summit is heading south to Texas, bringing some new education and networking opportunities to members and guests alike. The event will be held in Austin, from October 6 – 9 at the AT&T Executive Education and Conference Center.

As always, the event includes several educational workshops, including a few which will be member-driven TEDTalk-style sessions, along with inspiring and energizing keynote presentations to facilitate highlevel networking and thought-provoking discussions.

The event opens with a keynote presentation, which is followed by a workshop by Mary Kelly, PhD, CSP, Commander, US Navy (ret). Her FPDA/ISD Opening Keynote: “Why Leaders Fail and the 7 Prescriptions for Success,” will provide insights into behaviors that may be sabotaging the loyalty of direct reports and will help attendees understand why their top talent may not be performing up to their potential. She will then moderate the ISD Emerging Leaders & FPDA Young Executives Workshop: “Top Secret Leadership.”

FPDA’s Executive Director Amy Luckado explained the changes. “After the ‘best Summit ever’ in 2018, we mobilized initiatives stemming directly from our attendee feedback. This includes an Emerging Leaders/Young Executives workshop session with our opening Keynote speaker, Mary Kelly; a “new twist” on the Golf Tournament – hosting a modern, fun, and inclusive (no experience necessary!) event at Top Golf Austin; a wider range of businessspecific workshops and educational sessions that will benefit attendees from every facet of your company; a Fun Run 4K (with proceeds benefiting a local charity) to kick off our wellnessthemed closing Keynote with Mike Staver; and the return of our most popular event ever: The Great Bingo Revival,” Luckado said.

Other highlights include:

• Educational workshop by Mark Dancer, Founder, Network for Channel Innovation, whose talk, “Facing the Forces of Change: Scenario Planning for Distributors,” will cover embracing virtual markets, revitalizing the value chain, and leading a real-world renaissance. He will follow with an IndustrySpeak Session, “Facing the Forces of Change: Can Distributors Innovate to Dominate?”

• Joe Ellers will host another IndustrySpeak Session – “Are You Sure You Know What Your Customers Really Care About.” This session will cover key end-user issues, a review of customer’s strategies, goals, and problems, and more for owners, sales managers, and salespeople. He will follow with an Educational Workshop – Strategies for Increasing Gross Margins, which will address the six most effective strategies for increasing gross margin percentage.

• Another IndustrySpeak Session, “A Practical Approach to Innovation – Theories into Reality,” will be presented by Andrew Johnson, CEO, ShelfAware. Johnson will explore several use cases that illustrate entry level innovations in process automation, the Internet of Things (IoT), and business optimization. His presentation will include demos of hardware and software to bring these hightech theories into reality, showing attendees how they can create value-added systems.

• The event concludes with the FPDA/ISD Breakfast & Closing Keynote, “Wellness Isn’t for Cowards” with Mike Staver, CEO, The Staver Group. He will highlight how your brain works against you and what to do about it, key steps to building a mindset and lifestyle that serves you, and how work/life balance is impossible and what the better alternative is for you.

The event also includes the FPDA/ISD Supplier Showcase and Networking Reception from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. on Monday, with live music by Brian Forte from 6:30 to 8 p.m.

As Luckado noted, instead of the usual FPDA/ISD Annual Golf Tournament, the event will include two hours at Topgolf Austin, for relaxing club swinging in climate controlled golf bays. Networking opportunities will include a scavenger hunt for young executives, tours including ax throwing and an Austin Bucket List tour, and the organization’s popular Studio 54 BINGO Party, featuring Reverend Rusty Reems and the BINGO dancers with a 70s inspired BINGO extravaganza.

The FPDA Motion & Control Network fpda.org