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TOC Blog - SEPTEMBER EDITION

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Friends,

I hope you are keeping well and safe during these uncertain times and your businesses are adapting and surviving. Like any industry, the effects of the pandemic are widespread and have come at a considerable cost to the transport and logistics sector. The event industry has been hit hard too as you can imagine, with little to no trading taking place for the best part of a year. The effects of this have been pretty damaging, not only for organisers such as TOC but the great many suppliers that rely on physical events taking place. Now is a time that we and others are adapting our services and preparing for the next normal, a process which has taken a great deal of reskilling, learning and creating completely new strategies. 

We will soon be sharing with you the 2021 vision for TOC Events Worldwide, a suite of digital, physical and ‘hybrid’ products weaved into an overarching content programme. More details of this will follow but for now, I’d like to turn your attention to our imminent TOC AMERICAS VIRTUAL EXPO which takes place on October 27-29th. 

Whilst the format of this event is clearly different from what you will know, our dedication to quality content and networking remains unchanged. The event consists of 3 days of ‘conference’ content as well as numerous opportunities to meet and connect. Exhibitors will be given the opportunity to showcase product, upload demos and reach out to the attendees using the AI-driven platform we have commissioned. There are 3 packages available. Click here to view these options and prices.

Visitors are invited to the event to access certain TECH TOC sessions and to connect with exhibitors at no cost, but however, to get the most out of the event we recommend upgrading to a delegate pass for just $200. Delegates have access to all of our content and a free reign to contact everyone else on the platform. There is also access to our ‘deep dive’ green room content and port tours – to name a few. For a full list of inclusions and to compare the difference between delegate and visitor permissions click here.

PLATFORM

Having done extensive research on platforms, we have settled on one by the name of GRIP. Behind the scenes, like any such product, I can’t say it’s been easy to set it up and to fully master the functionality but we are there now and ready to go. As a user, however, the system if very straight forward once you have logged in, very similar to some social networks in terms of uploading profiles and images etc. 

Understandably here have been quite a few questions about the platform but I want to assure you that as a customer you will find it fairly simple. A list of FAQ’s can be found here. The platform goes live on the 30th of September giving you the opportunity to start reaching out to other people and arrange meetings at the show. As an exhibitor, you can then begin to create an attractive profile and start receiving enquiries so I would recommend getting involved in the near future to get the most out of this experience. Delegates can also begin networking from this date.

CONTENT

We have assembled the usual high standard of speakers for this event with companies such as Maersk, COSCO, Port of Long Beach, Drewry, Caribbean Shipping Association and a whole host of others. Click here for a full list for speakers and to view the programme.

Running an event virtually does bring certain advantages. We’ve been able to expand our reach geographically and attract speakers from other regions that may not have been able to attend a physical event due to time, distance and cost. I’d like to thank in advance all of our top quality speakers for agreeing to share with us their time and insight.

FINALLY

Thanks to all of you who have already signed up and please do register if you have not already done so. We at TOC will have a booth at the event so if you have any further questions you can visit us on our ‘stand’. As well as on-site support, before the event opens there will be a dedicated helpline service for all delegates and exhibitors. This resource will assist you in building your profiles and uploading any content you may wish to share with the attendees. Special thanks to our partner MundoMaritimo for all of their work on this project. Also to APN Peru for agreeing to support the return of TOC AMERICAS LIVE in 2021. 

This is a new experience for us all and, no doubt will remain an important part of the new meeting landscape for some time to come. We have plans to return to live events of course but I’m confident this virtual experience will offer a lot of value as we all need to stay connected regardless of external factors outside of our control. We look forward to seeing you at the show!

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