With just a hint of good fortune this October issue of The Mover should be gracing your inboxes just as we gather in what the weather forecasters promise will be a stormy Chicago for the annual IAM bash.  2500 movers from every crevice of the globe meeting to chat, have a beer or three, talk business and sell their wares unashamedly.  Wonderful! What could possibly be better? 

Well, every year, on returning from IAM (and many other trade conferences for that matter) I find myself trotting out the same mantra.  I can never understand why the business sessions are so empty.  Now I know that not everything is of interest to everyone.  But at every conference that I attend I find most of the business sessions very interesting and yet, at IAM especially, they are attended by less than 10% of the attendees.  What a waste. Maybe it’s that everyone has been in the industry so long that they think they know everything.  Well, I think I can pull rank on most of you in that respect.  45 years before the mast and I learn something new every day while I’m at conference.  I think you might too.

Of course, there are meetings to be had.  I have a few booked myself. Having the whole industry in one place is too good an opportunity to miss.  But would your balance sheet really suffer that much if you cut out just a few reciprocation bargaining sessions and spent a little time sharpening the pencil?  I defy anyone to attend an IAM business session and not learn something useful – or at least interesting – if they turn their phones off and pay attention that is.  One of the sessions for example, to which I am making my own modest contribution, is from IAM Learning. I admit not to be much of a scholar, but I can confidently predict one thing: if you are not there you won’t learn anything. The same goes for all the other sessions.

So, I look forward to seeing you all again.  I’ll be there with the camera around my neck and sporting The Mover’s ‘Get the App’ shirt (though I presume you have all got it by now).   And if you find your diary is crammed, morn till dusk, with agent meetings, may I suggest you take a step back.  There is a lot more to IAM than meetings in the foyer.  Don’t miss out.