A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats
I can honestly say that attending the 2024 TIA Capital Ideas Conference was the best professional development conference that I have ever been a part of. I spent years as a high school educator, and in that time, I took part in several workshop development days when we had teacher in-services. I also had the pleasure of attending several coaching clinics across the country when I was coaching high school football. Of all the conferences that I have been to, this one was by far the most impactful.
The sessions that I attended were high-quality, well delivered material, and the networking opportunities are top notch. The welcome reception on Wednesday evening was a smooth transition into four days jam packed with meeting new contacts and connecting with old friends.
I was fortunate enough to obtain my Certified Transportation Broker (CTB) certification in the first trimester of last year. After the exam, I was invited to join the CTB Exam Committee, which reviews test questions and processes to make that exam the very best that it can be. I have already garnered great insight into the exam itself, and I am constantly impressed with the level of dedication and knowledge that the committee demonstrates at every meeting. I am honored to be a part of that group, and that group is how I became aware of Avalon Risk Management and their scholarship opportunities.
The freight market has put the squeeze on everyone in the trucking industry over the last two years or so. Unfortunately, because of that, my company had cut its budget for traveling and conferences. The only way that I was fortunate enough to attend this amazing conference is through the generosity of Avalon Risk Management.
From the moment I arrived in Phoenix, Cindy Amos and the entire TIA staff were extremely welcoming and did everything within their power to make all the scholarship winners feel welcome. They were readily available despite all their responsibilities and gave us guidance as to how to best utilize our time at the conference. I would be remiss if I didn’t also give an immense amount of credit to the staff of the JW Mariott Resort who were incredible and made sure the nearly 1,700 attendees were more than well taken care of.
From the opening keynote where Christoph Burkhardt illuminated the usefulness of AI all the way up to the economic update that closed the conference it was apparent how much effort and intentionality was poured into this event by the TIA staff. My goal from the beginning of the conference was to take at least one thing back to my company from each session. I left with pages upon pages of notes and enough takeaways to craft an hour-long training session for my brokers and management team.
The speakers hit on everything from hiring and onboarding, to what your training program says about your business, to the importance of nurturing your brand, to how to engage shippers. My sole most critical takeaway from Capital Ideas is that if your company can send someone to Capital Ideas, get them there, and if it is possible to send more than one person, send as many as you possibly can.
I was impressed with the conference from the very beginning, but once the exhibition hall opened, a new layer of opportunity was added to the experience. There were networking opportunities before the exhibition hall opened, but the sheer scope of that bustling ballroom filled with sales teams presenting the newest and best technologies and features in our industry was absolutely amazing.
The exhibit hall is simply a wonderful opportunity to shake hands with (or hug if you’re a hugger) your existing vendors, while having access to demos from what seemed like hundreds of potentially new partners within a few steps. It is difficult to say what part of the event is the most impactful.
The conference melds education with networking and gives plenty of opportunities for organic off-the-cuff conversations at social events as well. I cannot say enough about the entire event, but perhaps the most lasting impression I have came during the opening session, which included the inaugural award of the Bill Tucker Scholarship. As a CTB myself, I’m a bit embarrassed to admit that I didn’t know who Bill Tucker was. After hearing his story, and listening to his sons talk about their dad, and present the scholarship, I am honored to have those letters attached to my name.
TIA has taken up the mantle of advancing education in our industry, and they show that by not only offering the most recognized certification in the industry, but by constantly working to improve the instrument used to earn that certification. It is so incredibly energizing to spend four days surrounded by people who are driven to improve our industry. Every speaker, every presenter and every staff member made it apparent the goal of this conference is to share knowledge and make everyone better. A rising tide lifts all boats.
I could not be more grateful to Avalon Risk Management for giving me the opportunity to attend this conference for the first time. It certainly will not be the last, and if we only budget for one conference a year going forward, it will be the TIA Capital Ideas Conference. Winning this scholarship gave me the opportunity to soak in knowledge from some of the industry’s best leaders and up-and-coming superstars, and without the Avalon Scholarship, I would not have been able to bring all those actionable takeaways back. As the calendar rolls over to May, I can say without question that our April results were better because of some of the things I learned in the desert this year.
Until San Antonio, TIA.
