By Jose Rivera
The 2019 CSIA Executive Conference was a success based on attendance, surveys and informal feedback. We had 534 attendees in Asheville, North Carolina, tying for second place with 2014 San Diego. The conference always represents the culmination of a long preparation road. This time we had a shorter preparation schedule because we were also searching for, selecting and onboarding the new association management company for several months. I’m very pleased with our new staff and their ability to make it all happen.
In Asheville, we reminisced about the start of the association in 1993 when Charlie Bergman invited a group of SIs to a meeting close to his home in Wrightsville Beach, North Carolina. The following year, the association was established. Twenty-five years later, we had two of the founding members share a few words about the early days. Bob Zeigenfuse gave an emotive speech during the opening reception, and Pat Miller made us laugh with his speech during the Awards Dinner.
See the transcript of Bob Zeigenfuse's speech.
View Pat Miller's presentation.
Asheville also made us look forward. To keep the association relevant, we have been working with the next generation of leaders. As we have been doing at recent conferences, a lunch was organized to allow this group to get to know each other better. Professional speaker Lisa Ryan shared her advice regarding onboarding younger generations. In addition, a panel of SI company owners provided career guidance to future leaders.
Next up: The Big Easy
As is the tradition at CSIA, we announced the location of the next conference. The 2020 CSIA Executive Conference, May 19-22, will be held at the Astor Crowne Plaza in New Orleans. The conference theme is “Claiming the Role of the SI in the Digital Transformation.” We will be working to develop this theme through the year through the Digital Transformation Task Force (chaired by Sam Hoff, president/CEO of Patti Engineering), which will hold its first discussion on Thursday, June 27, at 10 a.m. (CST). We welcome your participation.
This task force will contribute to the following events/media articles:
- Digital Industry USA, September 10-12, 2019, Louisville, Kentucky (in combination with SI Regional event)
- SI Regional Event, October 8-9, 2019, Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago (combined with the in-person Digital Transformation Task Force and Partner Committee the following day)
- Rockwell Automation EMEA TechEd, October 21-24, 2019, Munich (CEO presentation)
- “SI Giants,” November 2019 (CEO article in Global System Integrator Report)
Click here to learn more about the Digital Transformation Task Force.In closing, thank you to conference attendees and the generous sponsors for another great CSIA Executive Conference. We look forward to having the SIs claim their role in the digital transformation!Jose Rivera is CEO of Control System Integrators Association in Oakbrook Terrace, Illinois.