It was a bold decision by the team at IPWEA Fleet and Plant Management to commit to a fleet conference earlier this year while the COVID landscape was still uncertain. Rob Wilson and the team confirmed that they would go virtual. And we can report at the end of the first day it was the right decision.
“We designed the 2021 Fleet Conference with a mix of recorded content, panel discussions and live Q&As to keep everyone engaged during two days in front of their computer screen,” said Rob Wilson, Director Fleet at IPWEA. “And I’m very happy with the result after the first day. We had some great engagement in the chat room throughout the day.”
In 2020, the IPWEA Fleet Conference was held on the eve of lockdown in Australia which impacted attendance. So it was exciting to see up to 120 people join the online conference during the first day.
The conference opened with a some great presentations from Ian Kay, Chief Financial Officer at ARENA, and Mark Palavestra, industry consultant and host of popular podcast Talking Automotive. Both provided an overview of Fleet Management Now and in the Future which is the theme of the 2021 IPWEA Fleet Conference.
Being an online conference, technology provided some challenges early in the day though they were quickly resolved with the help of the IPWEA team. These issues were insignificant considering the high attendance and an agenda packed with more international guest speakers than a traditional conference would allow.
Sponsors weren’t left out of the agenda with several opportunities provided for Isuzu and Komatsu to deliver brand messages via informative videos. Did you know that the Komatsu name translates to ‘Small pine tree’ in Japanese?
We’re looking forward to the second day!
