
Columbia Movers at IAM Conference 2018 – Everything we learned at the 56th Annual Meeting
As members of the International Association of Movers, we were excited and proud to attend the 56th IAM Conference this October in Maryland, Washington DC, USA. The event is always interesting, we meet lots of great people and hear some fascinating industry news, but we think this meeting was the best one we’ve ever attended, and we had a superb time. The event was very well attended, with around 2000 attendees, representing 1700-member companies from 160 countries! It’s so great to meet other people working in our industry from all over the world, and a wonderful opportunity to share ideas.
The focus of this year’s event was a celebration of the long career with the IAM of Terry Head, and a warm welcome for Senior Vice President Charles White who will be taking the helm in January next year.
There were several talks about the future of the IAM and the industry as a whole, and from what we learnt, the future certainly looks bright! We enjoyed browsing the huge array of exhibits with some interesting glimpses into the future of technologies that could be very useful for ensuring that we remain a cutting edge moving company in a worldwide market.
It was a great opportunity for networking, and we set up a range of business meetings which will certainly help us to keep improving the services we offer and grow our business in the future. We worked hard, but we also found some time to socialise and have some fun while we were there. Each year the IAM put on some great social events and we certainly enjoyed the Welcome Reception, the perfect opportunity to meet up with old friends while enjoying drinks and some stunning harbour views from the 18th floor of the Gaylord National and the Sunday Social Mixer event at Bobby McKey’s Dueling Piano Bar.
The IAM will be posting news and presentations from the conference over the coming weeks, so do make sure you keep an eye for those posts.
Finally, we’d like to say a big thank you to the IAM for putting on such a brilliant event, and all the other IAM members for making our visit truly special. We know it’s hard work organising a conference on this scale, and you certainly did it with style. It was fascinating, it was informative, and it was fun. We could have wanted for nothing more and we look forward to seeing you all next year!