The annual 2019 ISA Convention was held at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, April 6-8. This years’ show had record attendance and gave us the invaluable chance to spend time meeting some of our partnering distributors. If you weren’t able to attend, here’s what you missed:

The show’s central theme is that disruptive change is on the horizon. According to ISA President/CEO Ed Gerber, traditional supply channels and supporting sales models are no longer keeping up with end-user needs, and the rise of Industry 4.0 mandates new capabilities and standards to compete. The ISA “…has devoted countless hours and enormous effort over the last couple of years to repositioning itself as a driver of change in both industrial manufacturing and distribution.”

The opening night keynote speaker, Duncan Wardle, echoed the need for innovative thinking and change. Drawing on his 25-year career at The Walt Disney Company, most recently as the head of innovation and creativity, he provided great insight into unique creative behaviors we can use at work to drive innovation. He says, “The next 10 years will be the most disruptive decade of our lives,” and provided these insights:

1. Artificial intelligence is predicted to eliminate 30 million jobs in the U.S. alone.
2. Legacy brands are struggling to change their culture from a product-centric approach to a consumer-centric one.
3. The emerging generations – younger Millennials and Generation Z – care more about purpose than profit, a shift that has many companies struggling to maintain their relevancy.

On Sunday morning, Duncan returned to host a “Strategy Matters” conference to share case studies from his time as an innovation consultant for Apple, Pixar and the NBA to help us get over our “River of Thinking” (your own experience and expertise) to:

1. Challenge our own industry’s rules to create disruptive new ideas.
2. Discover insights that can lead to innovation by looking where our competitors aren’t.
3. How to look outside our own industry for innovative breakthroughs.

Ed Gerber and several distribution and manufacturing panel members also hosted “IMR 2.0”, a discussion targeted towards IMRs and manufacturers that outlined the need for IMRs to evolve and meet Channel 2.0 expectations. Their primary focus is to establish minimum requirements and expectations of the IMRs to improve the degree of professionalism and capabilities of the members. By having both IMRs and manufacturers on the taskforce, the goal is to establish expectations, processes, and practices that will lead to a certification program for all IMRs in the future.

The next ISA Convention will be held at the Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, April 20-22, 2019. Unlike previous events, which had us traveling through the weekend, this show will be held Monday-Wednesday. The Seco team looks forward to seeing you next Spring in Atlanta!

Need more info? Contact the ISA Team at info@isapartners.org.