First IPAF Innovate event is a beacon of success
The IPAF North America Regional Council presented its first industry workshop event in Houston Texas October 16-17 and the new Innovate event received great reviews from the attendees.
The event was open to all industry stakeholders – from CEOs to equipment operators or service technicians, from manufacturers to end users – and provided the opportunity to both share and listen to the ideas of others on key industry issues.
For this inaugural event, ten different topics were identified, attendees preregistered to be part of one of the ten groups, and the first afternoon was a workshop format that allowed each group to collaborate on their chosen topic to decide on a key issue to address and develop a potential solution. Each group worked together for hours and developed solutions that were presented to all attendees the following morning.
After the completion of the workshop, each group presented their solutions to all in attendance, who then voted for the idea that would be supported by the resources of the industry. Tony Groat, IPAF’s North America Regional Manager, says of the event: “The presentations were informative and delivered with passion. It was engaging to be part of the workgroup focused on one topic and then to have the opportunity to listen to everyone’s ideas and then select the idea that should move forward.”
Ebbe Christensen of Reachmaster, Chair of IPAF’s North American Regional Council, adds: “The best way to predict the future is to invent it – all participants were ‘leaning-in’ and innovating ways to improve our industry.”
IPAF will shortly produce a white paper in response to Innovate and it will contain advice and actions for the industry to take forward over the coming weeks and months.
