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Monday, Oct. 2

8:30 AM - 9:30 AM

Eric Termunde
Co-founder, NoW of Work Inc.
Bio
Track: Operational Excellence

Blueprint to the Future: Leading in a New World of Work
While the trends, charts, graphs, and predictions about the future of work are interesting, the rhetoric around the future of work is often stuck on what it might look like, not how we get there. Instead of wasting time trying to predict what’s next, we need to understand the specific steps we need to take to focus on building teams that thrive in the face of adversity and uncertainty and have each other’s backs along the way. In this presentation, workplace culture and leadership expert Eric Termuende shares his research-backed blueprint for successful leadership in a world that has yet to be created.

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Monday, Oct. 2

9:45 AM - 10:30 AM

Daniel Cardamone
Global Commercial Director of Sustainability, Guidehouse
Track: Sustainability

The Supply Chain Sustainability Imperative
How you respond to the challenge of sustainability will profoundly affect your company’s future competitiveness — and perhaps even survival. This unprecedented journey requires an overarching vision, strategy, and road map. But where do you go to get started and how do you continuously improve? Join this panel led by Daniel Cardamone of Guidehouse Consulting as major firms and supply chain partners discuss their journey with the Supplier Leadership on Climate Transition (Supplier LoCT) training program. Learn how they developed their Scope 1, 2 and 2 footprint and moved toward target setting, abatement, and disclosure.

Panelists:

  • Michael Okoroafor, Chief Sustainability Officer, McCormick
  • Theadora R Iacobellis, Marketing Analyst, Silgan Closures
  • James Lee, Manager, Supplier Sustainability, Moderna
  • Naika Colas, Sustainability Director, Ovation In-Store

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Monday, Oct. 2

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Keynote: Jason Schenker
Chairman, The Futurist Institute; President, Prestige Economics
Bio
Track: Operational Excellence

The Storm Before the Calm? Waiting for Normalcy in the Material Handling and Economic Outlook for 2024 and Beyond
What is the outlook following the twists and turns of 2023? This year has been full of surprises for the economy, banking, financial markets, and the labor market. Not all of those have been pleasant surprises! Looking ahead, will 2023 prove to be the storm before the calm, or are we poised to experience more volatility? Join award-winning economist and futurist Jason Schenker for a lively discussion of the material handling and economic outlook for 2024 and beyond.

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Monday, Oct. 2

1:15 PM - 2:00 PM

Keynote: Gerd Leonhard
Gerd Leonard, CEO, The Futures Agency; Founder, The Good Future Project
Bio
Track: Emerging Technologies

The Future of AI, Business and Society
The world is buzzing with both utter excitement as well as with deep concerns as AI applications are starting to surface everywhere, both in the enterprise space as well as in consumer products and services. While the gold-rush-like hype has recently calmed down a bit, every company now has AI-centric development plans and generative AI, in particular, is increasingly being rolled-out in chat-bots, customer service applications, content production, coding and synthetic data projects. AI's impact on business and society is sure to be vast and fast, in many good ways and in many worrisome ways. How can these tools help us to achieve ‘The Good Future‘, both in commercial terms as well as in terms of our collective humanity? Will it be heaven or hell?

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Monday, Oct. 2

2:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Port Everglades Site Tour
Port Everglades Florida
Track: Operational Excellence

Behind-the-Scenes Tour of Port Everglades
Join this behind-the-scenes tour of one of Florida’s leading economic generators, Broward County’s Port Everglades. The Port is the gateway for international trade and cruise vacations. Consistently ranked among the top three busiest cruise homeports in the world, Port Everglades is also one of the nation’s leading container ports and South Florida’s main seaport for receiving energy products including gasoline, jet fuel and alternative fuels.

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Monday, Oct. 2

2:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Solutions Community Panel
Presented by: the MHI Solutions Community & Bob Treblicock, Executive Editor, Modern Materials Handling
Track: Operational Excellence

Embracing Change: Navigating Today’s Trends and Challenges, Shaping Tomorrow’s Vision & Goals
The MHI Solutions Community invites you to join us for our session activities, featuring a panel discussion who will share their insights and experiences in the field. In addition, there will be an open roundtable discussion and networking with industry peers and practitioners. The Solutions Community membership meeting is open to all Annual Conference attendees.

Panelists:

  • Rick DiMaio, SVP Logistics and Supply Chain, Ace Hardward
  • Karen Betancourt, Vice President – Enterprise Logistics & Product Development, Cardinal Health
  • Karli Howe, Senior Manager of Value Chain Transformation, Bimbo Bakeries USA
  • Brianna Welch, VP R&D and Tech, Husqvarna

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Tuesday, Oct. 3

8:30 AM - 9:30 AM

Chris Finan
Cybersecurity Entrepreneur and former White House Cybersecurity Official
Bio
Track: Emerging Technologies

Cyberconflict in 2023: The state of geopolitics and how companies can get ahead of risk
Over the last decade, cyberattacks on U.S. critical infrastructure have exploded. How can essential companies, like those that support the country’s supply chains, best prepare their cyberdefenses for a prospective rise in nation-state and criminal attacks? Join one of the United States’ leading cybersecurity strategists for a look at how the US is confronting the threat of cyberattacks and preparing for the future. Participants will gain insight into the evolution of cyberconflict over the last decade and an understanding of how the government, the tech sector and organizations are preparing their people and technologies to meet the challenges ahead.

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Tuesday, Oct. 3

9:45 AM - 10:30 AM

Kathy Varol
Purpose Strategy Expert; CSR & ESG Consultant/Speaker
Bio
Track: Sustainability

Creating An Effective ESG Strategy: From Zero To Execution
Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) continues to grow in importance every year. A thoughtful ESG strategy can attract top talent, boost business performance, ensure regulatory compliance, and future-proof your company. In this presentation, through captivating stories and real-world business examples, Kathy will reveal a step-by-step process that will help your company set the ESG gold standard for your industry. This presentation is perfect for leaders and companies just starting their ESG journey, who need help to identify and focus on the ESG topics that matter to their company, or who want to be a leader and set the gold standard in their industry.

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Tuesday, Oct. 3

11:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Keynote: Laila Ali
4X Undefeated Boxing World Champion, Entrepreneur, and daughter of Muhammad Ali
Bio
Track: Operational Excellence

Reach! For Inspiration
Prepare to be inspired as we present an extraordinary session with the incomparable Laila Ali in "Reach! For Inspiration." Laila will take you on a captivating journey through her life, sharing her secrets of remarkable success as a world-renowned 4X World Champion Boxer and advocate for empowerment. Her presentation transcends the boundaries of sports, offering universal insights into reaching the pinnacle of achievement.

Join us as Laila delves into the qualities defining champions - unwavering self-belief, relentless dedication, and the ability to conquer adversity. Her personal experiences will illuminate the path to greatness, offering invaluable lessons for dream chasers in any field.

Whether in your professional or personal life, Laila Ali's message will resonate deeply. Join us for this transformative session with Laila Ali and discover the limitless possibilities that await when you dare to "Reach! For Inspiration."

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Tuesday, Oct. 3

1:15 PM - 2:00 PM

Keynote: Dr. Sam Potolicchio
Professor, Georgetown University
Bio
Track: Operational Excellence

Redefining Leadership in an Uncertain World
This session rehabilitates and reconceptualizes a leadership term that sometimes gets unfairly maligned. Proposing a mindset refashioning, this session argues that preparation for a rapidly changing world requires us to overcome the greatest resistance to a proper education: our own brain. A true education is the ability to train yourself to lead outside of yourself. Changing your perspective changes your world by allowing you to cultivate the necessary cognitive competitive advantage that will be in high demand in the future. The session is structured around a diagnostic quiz outlining specific challenges that our brain presents us with.

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Tuesday, Oct. 3

2:30 PM - 3:15 PM

Dr. Sam Potolicchio
Professor, Georgetown University
Bio
Track: Operational Excellence

WORKSHOP - Overcoming Skeptics: Influence and Persuasion in a Polarized World
Persuasion is difficult. Even without the added pressure of skeptical, if not hostile, audiences who pride themselves on their recalcitrance, we have plenty of obstacles in recruiting people to change their minds. Centered around a pair of video critiques, as well as a participant-driven simulation, this session offers a prescriptive rubric on making persuasive progress with difficult audiences. While this fast-paced, interactive session will dedicate special attention to moving those who don't want to budge, the larger message of the curriculum is thinking seriously about the psychological pillars of effective communication.

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Tuesday, Oct. 3

3:30 PM - 4:15 PM

Peer-to-Peer Discussion
Interactive Discussion

Employee Succession – Discussions to Effectively Manage Talent in Today’s Market
Who will fill your organization’s key positions should they unexpectedly become open? The period of great resignation revealed the talent management vulnerabilities in many organizations. How to effectively and efficiently fill key positions lies within an organization’s succession plan. Is your next manager, director or vice-president already in your midst? Join your peer for this discussion group and to share experiences and processes to develop and manage succession planning with in your organization. What is a Peer-to-Peer Discussion? It is not a presentation. There are no prepared PowerPoint and there is no speaker. The subject matter experts are the participants. The Peer-to-Peer Discussions are facilitator lead conversations driven by the group’s participation. Together the group will share their challenges, insights and solutions. It is an opportunity to engage and learn from your peers.