Connecting in a Disconnected World

Hosting events is not new for the ICONICS team. After years of hosting our bi-annual Worldwide Customer Summit, which brings in hundreds of people from all over the globe, and coordinating countless regional seminars with our trusted partners in cities around the world, we are no strangers to the planning and preparation needed to pull off a successful event.

However, with the pandemic putting a halt to in-person events, we made the responsible decision to postpone our live summit. With so much information to share, we knew we could not wait until May 4-7, 2021, our new Transform 360 dates, to bring everyone together. We knew we needed to go virtual and Connect 2020, our first virtual conference, became a reality.

 
Connect 2020 gave us a unique opportunity to shine a spotlight on the significant role that ICONICS solutions have in this new reality. Our sessions provided valuable information on the current megatrends we see in the automation world today, including remote workers, secure IoT cloud, augmented reality, predictive analytics, and more.

We’ve heard your feedback loud and clear that the demos during the event were definitely a highlight for all who joined. My favorite was Zhi Wei Li’s demo during the Deploy Digital Workspace Solutions for the New Normal session (available here), where he walked us through the use of Workspace AnalytiX™, a workspace management system that gives users insight into occupancy levels, building data, and occupancy contact tracing from any mobile device or via a rich dashboard interface. With worldwide requirements to follow social distancing protocols, this solution fits the bill for modern office managers looking to manage a new, modern workplace. Being able to see it in the context of how we are making use of this technology right in our own building, at ICONICS headquarters, truly demonstrated the timely benefits it can provide in a real-world scenario, transforming workspaces and ensuring occupant safety.



_{Zhi Wei Li discusses with our emcee, Thom Singer, the customer journey from need to a working solution}

Another goal of Connect 2020 was to showcase our partners and customers and how they’ve succeeded in their businesses using ICONICS solutions. With countless success stories from customers around the world and across industries, it was difficult to only choose a few to be showcased during Connect 2020. It was important to show not only resilient customers, but those who are thriving during this time with their use of ICONICS products.

During the Architecting Connections of the Future session (available here), we interviewed Matt Erbs, from Madison Metropolitan Sewerage District, to hear about his experience using ICONICS software and the benefits they have seen as a result of implementing it. It’s an example of how, even amid widespread disruption, our customers have continued their operations, with software that is able to adapt to a dramatically changing environment.

_{Behind the scenes look of our recording studio in Norwood, Massachusetts}

“Being our first time hosting a virtual event, there was a lot of excitement surrounding Connect 2020,” said Jim Kent, ICONICS chief financial officer. “One cannot underestimate the amount of work needed to setup a top-notch virtual event, which I found on par with the efforts of a live one.  Having the ability to witness our team’s imagination and preparation come to fruition, gaining digital exposure and experience, and making great connections with partners and customers are what made Connect 2020 a milestone for us and a successful way to showcase the advances ICONICS has made and how we keep getting better, even during such difficult times.”

We had many expectations and ideas when we first envisioned how Connect 2020 would play out and I strongly believe we have met or exceeded all of those expectations. But don’t take my word for it. Check it out for yourself by viewing all of the content on demand here. With this being our first virtual event, we certainly had our share of lessons learned and plan on applying that knowledge to future ICONICS events.