by Gordon Weiler
This year’s NFPA annual meeting was attended by Daman Vice President of Sales, Gordon Weiler, who shared some of the highlights of the three-day event.
Held at the Mandarin Oriental in Miami, Florida, the 2020 Annual Conference welcomed over 220 participants representing over 110 companies and organizations. As usual, the conference was filled with outstanding networking and learning opportunities for those in attendance.
Presentations commenced on Wednesday with NFPA President & CEO, Eric Lanke, presenting the NFPA annual meeting update, which addressed industry growth and fluid power news. This was followed by "Growth to the Next Level – Leading With Your Best" by Fred Harburg of Northwestern Kellogg School of Business; "INVENTIGRATION ™" – Real Digital Strategies to Help Work... and Pay Off" by Dan Bagley of B&B Management Labs; and "Recruiting a Technical Workforce" by Gardner Carrick of The Manufacturing Institute. These insights provided great context for the future of the fluid power industry.
Thursday’s presentation cycle began with the NFPA Foundation Update given by Eric Lanke and that was followed by "Understanding the Neuroscience that Drives High-Performance Cultures" by Don Rheem of E3 Solutions and "The Trade War, Toward Disunited Nations, and What it Means for You" by Peter Zeihan of Zeihan on Geopolitics.
A highlight of the event was the unveiling of the NFPA Executive Leadership Program formed in collaboration with Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. The 18-month program focuses on building leadership skills and network expansion with its initial group of 23 members.
For Daman, this year’s conference was truly memorable, as we were honored to receive NFPA’s Legacy Builders Award commemorating the companies and organizations who have contributed cumulative donations
of $25,000 or more to the foundation. This relationship became even more impactful in 2010 when Daman became a host site for the NFPA Fluid Power Action Challenge. Having just celebrated our 10th year hosting the FPAC, we are truly grateful for the foundation’s support and partnership throughout the years which has allowed us to achieve this level of impact within our community.
As a NFPA partner, we strive to support the foundation in its quest to promote fluid power knowledge and innovation by giving back more than we receive. However, with the NFPA’s wide array of tools available to benefit our business and the fluid power industry as a whole, this goal becomes nearly impossible. While we provide several sponsorships to the foundation, the value we take away is so much more significant than the cost. Because of this, we will continue to provide our support for years to come - and we hope our readers here will too.
Daman’s NFPA Sponsorships
Legacy Builder Recognition
NFPA Gold Conference Sponsor
Fluid Power Action Challenge Sponsor & Host
Fluid Power Vehicle Challenge Sponsor
For more information on the National Fluid Power Association, visit nfpa.com. For more information on the 2020 NFPA Annual Conference, click here to read the official conference recap.