5 Tips to Get the Most Out of the Best Practices for Automotive Conference
There is just under a week to go until the Best Practices for Automotive Conference, Detroit, Sept 11–13th. I am ready to get the most out of the conference — are you?
This will be my first time in Detroit, the Motor City, and I am excited to visit a city that I have heard so much about and has such a rich automotive history. I am curious: what kind of cars are on the roads? What is the most popular brand and type of car? Is the traffic better or worse than in the Bay Area? Finally, how popular is Uber compared to Lyft? All important questions.
However, as we live and work in an increasingly digital and remote way. I don’t travel for work as much as I used to, so it is even more important that the time taken to attend a conference is spent wisely. Therefore, here is my list of 5 priorities to ensure that I reap the most out of the conference that I can:
1) Networking — I really appreciate the opportunity to meet and talk to people face-to-face at conferences. I have found the best conversations and most interesting perspectives usually come from chance conversations — the people you meet at the networking sessions or visiting booths in the exhibition hall. I am excited to attend the both evenings receptions on Tuesday and Wednesday 5:30 PM. I will also make the most of the exhibition hall time to learn something new and make new connections. This conference ensures that there is a lot of time to network and visit the exhibition hall between sessions.
2) Build Pre-Existing Relationships — I have created a list of people I want to meet: colleagues, customers and partners; people that I have worked with for a long time and never met in person. No matter how well you work with someone, it is always good to meet them and put a face to a name.
3) Attend Keynotes — Looking through the keynote topics: the key theme throughout is innovation, technology and the ongoing transformation in the automotive industry — it looks inspiring! Themes include a perspective on a “The Networked Future: how the rules are being shaken up to re-define the automotive industry”. Followed by how the automotive industry is pivoting and what is needed to drive innovation through agile experimentation. Finally what could the next generation of vehicles look like to help tackle the issues of urban mobility.
4) Excellence Awards — The excellence in automotive awards will be presented on Thursday, 10:15 AM. These awards honor automotive organizations that have shown commitment to excellence in technology, operations, and business process. A panel of judges will choose the finalists. It will be interesting to see the organizations and companies that are chosen and their innovations.
5) Company Stories — There are so many great customers presenting interesting stories at the conference, it would be difficult to attend all the sessions. Ford, GM, Goodyear, Gestamp, NTT, BorgWarner Turbo Systems, Toyota, and Adient are all presenting. Hearing companies share their stories is always a highlight of a conference, providing both a reality check and inspiration — often at the same time. Continuing the theme of innovation, I am really looking forward to General Motors talking about how they are “Transforming & Disrupting with SAP”. And Goodyear sharing their “Journey into Back Office Automation”.
If you can’t be with us in person — there are still ways you can stay up to date on what is happening at the conference
Listen to the live radio interviews! In conjunction with VoiceAmerica and Gamechangers: Future of Cars, there will be a 2-hour live radio event streaming on Thursday 10:00AM. Tune in to hear perspectives on the conference from attendees, speakers and sponsors.
Follow us on @SAP_Automotive using the hashtag #BP4Auto.
Hope to see you there or online! @jucubiss
