7 p.m. – 9 p.m.

Dinner - Board and Past Chairs only

8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Best Practices Workshop

Welcome Reception & Baseball Game
Sponsored by GE Digital

Pick up your tickets with your meeting materials at the Conference Registration until 5:00 p.m.  If you are not able to pick up your tickets by 5:00 p.m., they will be held at the hotel registration in the hotel lobby for you.  Meet in the hotel lobby at 4:30 to walk over to the ballpark.  Dinner and drinks will be available until 7:10.  Game starts at 6:40.  For those who will be coming later, go to Gate C to enter the ballpark.  For those that arrive after the buffet closes, drinks and food will be available for purchase throughout the ballpark.

7:30 a.m. - 8:30 am.

Breakfast - Available to all attendees

8:30 a.m. - 9 a.m.

Jose Rivera, CSIA CEO
Welcome and Context for the "Future of Work"

More than ever and after a 2-year hiatus I look forward to our in-person CSIA Executive Conference in beautiful Denver. We have all gone through a dramatic period of survival, transformation and for many “thrival.” In my presentation, I will provide the context for our “The Future of Work” themed conference and an overview of the conference.

9 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

Keynote Speaker
Blair Simons, Engineering Manager, Raytheon Intelligence & Space
The New SI-End User Relationship

The relationship between customer and integrator has historically followed a fairly traditional path through the development and deployment of an automation initiative. With the emergence of new digital transformation concepts, advancements in automation technology, and the always-growing need for rapid & efficient deployments, the relationship between the customer and system integrator must evolve to meet this new standard of the future of work. In this talk, we will explore the position of the customer in this new environment and how system integrators can grow to ensure mutual success. The presentation will provide customer insight into the behind-the-scenes automation life cycle and how system integrators can meet the needs of the customer in this ever-changing landscape.

Panel discussion will follow the keynote presentation with Blair, John Dyck, Ryan Cahalene and Jose Rivera

Sponsored by AVEVA

10:30 a.m. - 11 a.m.

Break

Sponsored by Software Toolbox

11 a.m. - Noon

Keynote Speaker:
Brig Lamoreaux
The Transformed Workplace

While remote work had been an option for the selected few, the pandemic forced to make it a reality for all. Initially many thought that the office was going away. Far from it, the office remains but gets transformed to do those things that were hard to do remotely, e.g., brainstorming, networking, and mentoring. The emerged hybrid model demands flexibility, connectivity and an office layout that enables customization and that facilitates collaboration, including with those who remain remote. The office space may be shared with other companies as well. Technology can play a key role enabling the new setup by allowing employees to reserve their workplace for the day, potentially their parking spot (or a ride in the company shuttle from the public transportation station), a conference room for a group meeting during the day, preorder their lunch, etc. At the MS headquarters in Redmond, WA this vision is already a reality on top of delivering to high sustainability standards. This presentation intends to show what leading companies are implementing in response to new needs and expectations, particularly by the next generation of talent that everybody wants to attract and retain.

Sponsored by Software Toolbox

Noon - 1:30 p.m.

Lunch - Available to all attendees
Special Interest Group lunches: Women in Industry, Digital Transformation Committee, Insurance and Benchmarking Committee

Lunch sponsored by Iconics

Women in Industry Lunch sponsored by Graybar

1:30 - 3:00 p.m.

Surviving the “Workquake” Through Connection and Culture

Life and work have been turned upside down in the last two years, and we are still facing very real threats in the form of talent shortages and uncertainty about the future of work. In this 1.5-hour keynote, Heather will offer practical strategies to help leaders future-proof their businesses by focusing on people and culture. This session will be thought provoking, interactive and actionable.

Participants will:

1. Reflect upon the changes and challenges of the last 2years including shifting demographics and hybrid work.
2. Discuss the power of 4 levels of connection at work – people to their jobs, people to each other, people to their managers and people to the organization.
   1. Job connection is achieved when people get to use their natural strengths in doing their work and when they have the tools and training to excel.
   2. Peer-to-peer connection is the positive energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued.
   3. Employee-to-manager connection is achieved when employees feel safe, challenged, and valued.
   4. People are connected to the organization when they are aligned with and inspired by the mission/vision/values of the organization, and when they feel a sense of belonging within the work environment.
3. Explore tools for fostering connection at all 4 levels.
4. Learn and practice key leadership skills for communicating effectively in a hybrid work environment to foster connection and productivity.

3 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.

Industry Expo and Reception

Sponsored by Red Lion & Siemens

5:45 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Emerging Leaders Happy Hour & Networking Event
The Emerging Leader Group helps develop aspiring individuals for future leadership positions within their companies and within CSIA. The group engages with the next generation of CSIA member executives and helps them leverage their affiliation for personal development and for the development of their association. If that is your, or you are looking for ways to grow the leaders in your organization, please feel free to join.

Meet on the Expo floor at Booth 21 at 5:30 or at Henry's Tavern - 500 16th Street Mall Suite 184B

Sponsored by Copia

6:30 a.m. - 7 a.m.                                                                    

Registration: 5k Fun Run/Walk

7 a.m. - 8 a.m.

5k Fun Run/Walk

Sponsored by CodiQ, ECBM, Outbound Technologies, Seeq, Software Toolbox & Win_911 

9 a.m. - 9:45 a.m.

Track 1

It was already challenging for SIs to “attract, retain, develop talent” before the pandemic. The “great resignation” made things worse. Our panel of seasoned recruiters will share what they have learned over the years, particularly the last two. Being in touch with candidates and employers daily they get to see both sides. Things have changed and if you aren’t meeting your recruitment goals these days you may want to attend this panel discussion.

Sponsored by Miller Resource Group

Track 2

Track 3

The convergence of IT and OT technologies is occurring at an incredibly fast pace impacting the way we approach customers in an interconnected environment.  This session will explore how the OT/IT convergence is impacting OT SIs and IT channel partners and generating new opportunities to help customers transform their businesses. 

Sponsored by CodiQ

9:45 a.m. - 10:30 a.m.

Track 1

For rapidly growing business, it is critical to continuously grow the next generation of leaders internally. Providing personal and career growth opportunities for emerging leaders is also an effective means of retention in today’s ultra-competitive talent market.

Recently, DMC developed an internal Leadership Development program to provide a better framework around disseminating best practices for leadership skills and to cultivate future generations of leaders more quickly at DMC.

This presentation will cover the why, what, and how DMC developed this program and then explore the benefits to employees and DMC. There will be discussion on the resources available to help you create your own program as well as lessons learned.

Sponsored by Miller Resource Group

Track 2

Marketing Panel: Georgia H. Whalen, Grace Clark, Diane Haig, Karen Griffin, Jennifer Palumbo, Rachael Fahey
Learn From a Panel of Fellow SIs Which Digital Strategies are Making an Impact on Their Businesses

As a follow-up to the digital marketing presentation on strategies to build your digital footprint, learn what tactics your fellow integrators are using -- what has worked, what has not, and what are the lessons learned. Hear how they are creating and distributing content, and how they are leveraging social channels, webinars, pay-per-click (PPC) advertising, online industry guides, partners, and more. What have the biggest challenges been? Is the effort impacting lead generation? You will not want to miss this one! Leave with inspiration and ideas to move the needle on your own digital marketing efforts.

Track 3

COPA Panel: Markus Bachmann, Tyler Redslob, Ravindra (Ravi) Jagasia & Chris Schulze
The Dawn of a New Approach to Process Automation

The companies represented by the panelists have joined the Coalition for Open Process Automation that is actively engaged in the creation of control systems based upon the Open Process Automation Standard (O-PAS). COPA’s objective is to demonstrate with QuickStart, an open, interoperable, and secure-by-design process automation system based on O-PAS. The goal is to lower integration, upgrade and maintenance costs, enable inclusion of best-in-class third-party components, and facilitate better approaches to cybersecurity.

If your company serves the process industry you may want to attend this interesting panel that will provide an overview of this initiative and speculate how this new approach impacts the work delivered by SIs.

Sponsored by CodiQ

10:30 a.m. - 11 a.m.

Break

Sponsored by Iconics

11 a.m. - 12 p.m.

CSIA Townhall Meeting

Not able to attend the 2022 CSIA Executive Conference in person? Or maybe you are attending but you want to extend the conference experience to your entire team at no additional expense?

Then the livestreamed 2022 CSIA Townhall Business Meeting is perfect for you.

This meeting, which is required by CSIA bylaws, will be broadcast live for the first time ever.

Set aside just one hour to hear from the CSIA Board Chair, Treasurer, CEO and others about the association’s financial health, strategic plans and other important updates.

Your entire team is welcome!

You can find registration here for the live stream event.

Sponsored by Graybar

Noon - 1:30 p.m.

Tracks 1, 2 & 3

1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Best Practices Workshop

1:30 p.m. -  2:15 p.m.

Track 1

Ryan Cahalane, Colin Gray, Mike Yost
Facing the Systems Integrator Dilemma

Industry is bounding back from the pandemic, looking for automation and smart solutions to counter their labor shortage and protect themselves from the next market disruption. It’s an amazing opportunity for us. Yet, we find ourselves with our own labor challenges, unable to fully utilize our resources and maximize the value of the incredible talent pool we steward. Highly disruptive market forces are changing project and support practices, not to mention employment models. Can we seize opportunity from valuable yet scarce or underutilized resources as other industries have with environments like Fiverr, Uber, Xometry, and AirBnB?

In this session, Ryan Cahalane, President of FZ Industrial Tech, will talk about his efforts to meet these challenges, looking at his people, his competitors, and the services landscape differently. He’ll outline a bold initiative he’s championing in partnership with ATS Global and tech startup, Bennit, to bring lessons and new models from the Gig Economy into the manufacturing and Systems Integration space. They’ll talk through the many complexities of SI businesses and opportunities to address them through a systematic, shared-resource model which could transform how we impact industry.

Sponsored by Miller Resource Group

Track 2

Track 3

A business approach to how to organize the digital workspace. Where to find the revenue streams that are there today and what future trends are gaining traction. What is the low hanging fruit and how CSIA companies can work in the eco systems with large consultancy firms, end users, and system suppliers.

Sponsored by CodiQ

2:15 p.m. - 3 p.m.

Track 1

Business is often cyclical and the demand for automation increased in the wake of the pandemic, so outsourcing is a key capability to staff up rapidly for larger projects. Through CSIA, SIs can develop networks, share capabilities and work together. For instance, you can leverage experts in automation areas requiring SMEs (e.g., robotics, motion, vision, ….) By working together, we can also provide our users with “single point of contact” for geographically diverse, even worldwide projects. In this session, the panel will share experiences, lessons learned, and best practices when outsourcing project work.

M&A Panel Discussion: Catherine J. Durham, Tom Hopkins, Walker Mattox, Clint Bundy
Strategic Buyers:  A Powerful Option for Control Systems Integrators

Strategic buyers have long been an exit option for business owners in the control system integrations sector. As the mergers & acquisitions market continues to accelerate in the control system integration market, the breadth, sophistication, and aggressiveness of strategic buyers have continued to evolve and grow. During this panel discussion, you will learn about the various types of strategic buyers (example -  other systems integrators, manufacturers eager to add technology services capabilities, technology organizations focused on expanding into the automation sector) and factors to consider when evaluating a possible sale to a strategic buyer.

Sponsored by CodiQ

3 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.

Break

Sponsored by Skkynet

3:30 p.m. - 4:15 p.m.

Track 1

Establishing long-term direction and executing in the day to day is challenging in the best of times. During the last 2 years, the COVID pandemic disrupted business as usual and required SIs to both react quickly in the short term and rethink strategy for a disrupted business landscape. Learn how this panel of SI leaders incorporated data into their decision-making process as they led their companies through the crisis and how that experience has reshaped their thinking as they lead their organizations forward post-COVID.

Sponsored by Miller Resource Group

The CSIA Executive Conference has always provided members with an opportunity to network. This year we decided to take it to the next level through two back-to-back speed networking session. SI and  Partner members will be provided with a few minutes to introduce themselves, their companies (including areas of specialization) and share what they seek from this networking session. Some participants will seek potential suppliers of engineering or specialists (e.g. vision, motion, robotics) for specific projects. Others may seek collaboration opportunities to serve a client that is expanding outside of their covered geography. Some SIs may seek potential members for a new peer group. If this interests you, come and join this session and prepare and rehearse your elevator pitch as things will move very fast…

Sponsored by Schneider Electric

Madhu Pai, Ph.D.
OT-IT Convergence: Jumpstart your journey in Smart Manufacturing with the AWS Cloud/Cloud Computing

Manufacturers are exploring new ways to optimize their operations and increase uptime in their facilities. Data is the essential component that is driving digital transformation in discrete and process manufacturing industries. However, operational technology data still resides in disparate data silos, and extracting data from such silos to obtain insights has been the key focus for manufacturers. Cloud computing, which refers to on-demand delivery of information technology (IT) resources with pay-as-you-go pricing, offers a compelling avenue to break data silos, add contextual information to data, and allow manufacturers to derive actionable insights from production operations. With a unique understanding of operational technology (OT) systems, system integrators play a defining role in driving OT-IT convergence: deliver data from OT systems to the cloud, leverage a range of cloud services to augment the value of data, and accelerate the deployment of smart manufacturing solutions that rely on this data. Join this session to learn how when combined with native cloud services, AWS’ solution offerings and programs provide an accelerated avenue for system integrators to deliver compelling business value to its end customers.

Sponsored by CodiQ

4:15 p.m. -5 p.m.

Track 1

Best Practices 6.0 Panel Discussion:Tony Valasek, Mary Riedel, Stan Reyna & Remco Kappert
BP 6.0 – Major updates and Roll-out Schedule

As is always the case with every BP manual revision, the BP Committee engages in a thorough review and update over many months. Join this panel discussion and learn from the review leaders about the most important changes, the process the BP revision goes through, the comprehensive roll out plan and potential implications for your certification or recertification.

Sponsored by Miller Resource Group

Track 2

The CSIA Executive Conference has always provided members with an opportunity to network. This year we decided to take it to the next level through two back-to-back speed networking session. SI and Partner members will be provided with a few minutes to introduce themselves, their companies (including areas of specialization) and share what they seek from this networking session. Some participants will seek potential suppliers of engineering or specialists (e.g. vision, motion, robotics) for specific projects. Others may seek collaboration opportunities to serve a client that is expanding outside of their covered geography. Some SIs may seek potential members for a new peer group. If this interests you, come and join this session and prepare and rehearse your elevator pitch as things will move very fast…

Sponsored by Schneider Electric

Finance Panel Discussion: Tim Finerty
Work 2.0: Reimagining the Future

Between the pandemic and the fast pace of digital transformation, business owners have a rare opportunity to examine their business with fresh eyes. What’s working? What should change? And, what would you like the future to be? Clayton & McKervey Shareholder Tim Finerty, CPA, will discuss these questions and more with leaders in the systems integration industry to take a sharper look at the future of work.

Sponsored by CodiQ

6 p.m. - 7 p.m.

Cocktail Reception

Sponsored by Skkynet

7 p.m. - 9 p.m.

Awards Dinner
Hosted by Wright Sullivan
*Event will be livestreamed*

Experience the 2022 CSIA Executive Conference from the comfort of your home/office when you join CSIA CEO Jose Rivera and Emcee Wright Sullivan as they present the CSIA Awards Ceremony live from the 2022 CSIA Executive Conference.

“Bring” your whole team to celebrate the winners of the 2022 Integrator of the Year, Partner of the Year, Rising Star Award, and Charlie Bergman Award.

Find registration for the live stream event here.

Sponsored by AVEVA & Schneider Electric

8 a.m. - 9 a.m.                                                                                       

Breakfast

Panel Discussion: Still More Lessons from the Hot Stove: Post-Pandemic Edition
Moderator: Mark Voigtmann
Panelists: Arlene Weichert, John Sullivan, Jody Pardue, Matt Holman

Automation projects rarely go according to plan.   Correction—automation projects never go according to plan.  Which brings up a saying of Mark Twain: “ A cat that sits on a hot stove will never sit on a hot stove again.  But of course, that cat won’t sit on a cold stove either.”  That’s why we call this popular session “Lessons from the Hot Stove.”  Each of our panelists will tell us about a project where the temperature of the stove was elevated.  That doesn’t mean it was unsuccessful—that just means there were a few things that went wrong.  And in true confessional fashion, our panelists have promised to tell us what they learned as a result of the experience so that those in the audience will feel confident enough to “climb back up” on their stoves again.

*(Spouses Welcome)

11:00 a.m. - Noon*

Closing Keynote Speaker
Alex Chausovsky
Building an Effective Talent Strategy - Proven Tactics to Attract, Hire and Retain Your Most Valuable Asset

The war for talent is escalating. Some organizations are ill-prepared to handle the challenges of an increasingly complex labor market, shackled by the “we’ve always done it this way” mentality. Others are thriving, armed with analytical insights, and surrounded by allies, allowing them to snap up and retain highly performing impact players and supercharge their growth. What kind of an organization are you? More importantly, what kind do you want to be in the future?

This presentation will deliver key insights designed to help business leaders and decision makers elevate their talent-focused activities. The session will:

• Peel back the curtain on recruitment and stress the need for partnerships and alliances
• Identify the key elements that make an organization attractive to top talent
• Share best-in-class hiring strategies including metrics and practices
• Convey the top factors that drive talent retention
• Deliver practical and actionable advice on what businesses can do to become better at attracting, hiring, and retaining workers

1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

Best Practices Workshop

12:30 p.m. - 5 p.m.

Walking Tour of Denver
$120 per person

Enjoy a Private Walking Tour of Downtown Denver and its Breweries. Tour Includes:

• Lunch
• a guided 1.5 mile stroll through the Ballpark and LODO historic districts
• visits to several microbreweries in downtown Denver - 10+ beer samples along the way!
• interesting and interactive beer trivia
• scandalous Denver history tidbits and more!

7 p.m. - 9 p.m.

Closing Reception