Heading to FreightWaves’ Transparency19

Transparency19, presented by the folks at FreightWaves, begins Monday, May 6 in Atlanta, Georgia. I’m looking forward to attending this year. It’s a great conference with a lineup of smart speakers and terrific demos. This year’s conference promises to cover “Innovation and digitization trends across trucking, logistics, supply chain, blockchain, IoT, telematics and data.” It’s a power-packed three days.

There are a few things I really like about this event.

First, I’m pretty excited by the format. I’ve been to lots of conferences where speakers and education sessions are drug out–for whatever reason. The agenda for Transparency19 is fast-paced with alternating sessions and demo periods. The demos are 7-minutes long and PowerPoint presentations are not allowed. I have to admit, I am not a big fan of PowerPoint presentations, so this is a huge bonus.

Networking would be next. The attendees at Transparency19 are a slightly different breed than the attendees at most transportation conferences I’ve attended. Because this conference is tech-focused, the people tend to be open-minded and willing to study, invest in, and implement new technologies. It’s a great vibe! They’re excited by technology, and so am I.  

In fact, at AM Transport, we’re focused on learning as much about technology as we can. We know what’s available, and how we can apply it to our business. Transparency19 provides us with a great opportunity to take a look at a large sampling of available tech. It’s especially helpful to us because we’re located in the heartland and not Silicon Valley or some other tech hub.

Finally, one thing I try to do at every conference I attend is learn from the presenters and the speakers. And I’m not talking about the products they’re demoing or the topics they’re speaking about. I’m interested in their ideas and their specialties, but I’m also interested in how they present them. It would be crazy to go to a good conference and not learn how to give a great talk from the best speakers. I’m always looking to improve my presentation skills, so why not learn from the best!

I’ll be at the conference Monday morning, ready to get started. Let me know if you’re attending. We can compare notes.