Transparency19 Aims To Be Informative And Interactive, But Not Overwhelming

Slync.io Chief Executive Chris Kirchner with FreightWaves Chief Marketing Officer Lisa McGinty (Photo: FreightWaves)

The freight business is constantly changing and it's hard to stay caught up, which is one of the main reasons to attend Transparency19. To that end, the event is geared to shake things up a bit for 2019 to allow attendees to soak in more of the hottest freight technology and innovation coming to market.

FreightWaves Chief Marketing Officer Lisa McGinty says feedback from the widely attended Transparency18 and MarketWaves18 conferences led to some changes in the format of Transparency19, which takes place in Atlanta May 6-8.

While the goal remains to provide an informative, lively and interactive experience, McGinty says Transparency19 aims to make sure the audience can absorb all the unique and valuable content that the event has to offer. Therefore, Transparency19 will take place over three days instead of just two as Transparency18 and MarketWaves18 did.

The extra time allows for additional high-profile keynote speakers, as well as panels and fireside chats with industry experts, and the addition of more live product demonstrations, a key hallmark of their previous events.

Speaking of the previous Waves events, "we crammed a lot into two days," McGinty said. Transparency19 will offer "more time to explore emerging innovation and solutions in freight technology and more time to understand and address the deficiencies that are occurring across the freight ecosystem. "

Confirmed keynote speakers include Gary Vaynerchuk, chief executive of VaynerMedia; David Rowan, founding editor of WIRED; Andrew Clarke, chief financial officer of C.H. Robinson Worldwide CHRW; and Shelley Simpson, chief commercial officer of J.B. Hunt JBHT.

One of MarketWaves18's biggest draws was the chance for attendees to see new freight technology in action during the live, seven-minute product demonstrations offered on the first day. But with 40 companies demonstrating in just one day, McGinty understands it was a "jam-packed day."

Previous event  attendees "loved our demo day," McGinty said. "But it's very fast-paced and chockful of new information and ideas. With only a one minute transition between each presenting company, there wasn't much time for your mind to reset for the next demo. We listened to attendees, and in 2019, they will have more time to consume what they saw."

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To that end, Transparency19 plans smaller blocks of product demonstrations, which will be interspersed with panel discussions and fireside chats across all three days, versus one dedicated demo day. Each company demonstrating will still be held to a seven-minute slot with no slides or PowerPoint presentations allowed.

Moreover, attendees of MarketWaves18 do not have to worry about seeing the same presentations at Transparency19, because all returning presenters are  required to demonstrate entirely new products or features/functionalities.

The event also plans to add some new, immersive and interactive experiences to the agenda not previously done before. "Our goal with all our events is to enlighten our audience with unprecedented content and to blow them away with an unforgettable experience from start to finish," McGinty added.

There's a lot of innovation occurring now in the freight industry, and the best way to catch up with it is through Transparency19. McGinty says FreightWaves wants the new format to be "more consumable, even more enjoyable and highly informative for the audience."

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