Conferences, motivation and benefits

Part of my life nowadays is going to conferences and doing presentations and answering questions. I seem to get pretty good feedback from audiences, because the organisers usually invite me back, on the basis of feedback from the paying delegates.

I just counted up the presentations and events I’ve done so far in 2019, and it’s slightly scary: in the first six months it was 10 presentations: one at each of 10 events in parts of the world as diverse as China, Panama, Singapore, Istanbul, Germany, Netherlands and other countries, in addition to participation at private corporate events. If you add in chairing open Q&A sessions and chairing conferences, then the number creeps above 20.

That’s averaging more than two presentations a month on subjects as diverse as Change management; technology; the future of the tire industry; EVs and the Development of raw materials; Mixing; China and Sustainability.

I really enjoy doing it, mostly because of the dialogue with my fellow speakers and the delegates.

This really is the point. For me, and I think for the vast majority of attendees, the main benefit of attending a conference or other event is in the conversations you have outside the formal sessions, and the access to senior people that such intense events bring.

However, when delegates have to justify time away from the office to the boss – not to mention the attendance fee – it is the formal programme that forms the basis of the case to attend.

Over the last few years, I have adopted the habits of what used to be called ‘road warriors’. A laptop, phone and generous data plan (and sufficient battery capacity) means we can be just as effective from an airport lounge or hotel room (or conference room) as we are in the office.

Pretty much everyone I meet at these conferences is the same, so the loss of time at the office is less important than it once was. We also agree on another thing: it’s the personal contact that brings the real benefits.

Above all, going to these industry events gets us out of the echo chamber of office life. I’ve been fortunate enough to present to a number of corporate strategy groups and board meetings, and there is one thing in common – they all say (maybe after a beer or two), that what I say is refreshing, because it is different from the accepted line of thought within the organisation – or at the least, I somehow manage to approach the same situation from a different perspective, which brings new insights.

Seeing a range of different perspectives is especially important in the current environment when the tire industry is seeking to manage a global downturn, at the same time as preparing for huge change in the mobility sector.

The downturn affects cashflow and profitability, while preparing for the future is going to need some significant funds to prepare for a new business environments. Business managers are facing a short-term cash squeeze when they really need seedcorn funds to develop the business for the future

However, even all the funds in the world won’t help executives plan for a future, when there is no clear vision of what that future will look like. 

Conferences as sounding boards

Bringing these themes together, I think in these times of uncertainty, it is more necessary than ever for business leaders to attend the most insightful conferences. Partly to get a vision of the future; partly to break out of the corporate echo chamber and partly to understand how others in the industry are thinking.

Dennis Gabor who was later awarded a Nobel Prize in Physics, famously said, “The future cannot be predicted, but futures can be invented”, which we might paraphrase as “The best way to predict your future is to create it.”

I don’t think there is a clear view of the future for the tire industry. Most of us who have been watching can say that there will be much greater emphasis on data and software and on data acquisition and new business models.

I can also say with confidence that alliances, cooperation and cross-disciplinary skills will be vital to developing a successful future.

It is also pretty clear that words like agility, flexibility and organisational simplicity will play a strong role.

It is much harder to say what those business models will be, and how those skills and data will be put together into revenue-generating initiatives.

This, I think, is where well-selected conferences start to deliver value. There are far too many conferences on the tire circuit. I get too many invitations to speak at them, and, having worked with all the conference organisers active in this industry, I have learned which are a good use of time and which are less productive.

Aside from Tire Technology Expo, which is an absolute must-attend event, probably the one I get most out of is the IQPC Intelligent Tire conference. This year it is being held in Leipzig at the end of November.

It is not a large event, but the people who do manage to get there are a relatively diverse bunch, and represent car makers, tire makers and upstream suppliers. It is one of the few annual events – perhaps even the only annual event – that brings these groups together.

Furthermore, the conversations and presentations are not about wet grip and rolling resistance, but about data and systems integration and sensors and how they fit into the chassis system.

Because there are people from all different parts of the value chain, and most of them don’t have much knowledge or involvement in polymer science, it is a refreshing change from the rest of the tire industry, and I have had some of the most stimulating conversations around the future of the mobility industry while at the IQPC event.

I think the event manages to deliver a consistently good formal programme at the same time as delivering excellent opportunities for networking.

Oh, and one of my presentations in the second half of the year will be at the IQPC event, and I’ll be looking at how TPMS can contribute to a new business model as well as the impact of new TPMS legislation in China.

IQPC Intelligent Tire Technology takes place in Leipzig from 26-28 November this year.

https://www.automotive-iq.com/events-automotive-tires

Download the agenda here

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Disclaimer: this is part of a promotional programme for the IQPC Intelligent tires event, but the organisers have not seen this article prior to publication, and they had no say in the content; nor did they try to influence my views in any way.