The inaugural Global Fleet Management Conference, which was held in Phoenix September 30-October 1, was a truly international event, attracting attendees and speakers from every corner of the globe.  In total, more than 32 percent of attendees traveled internationally — from destinations, including France, Belgium, the UK, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, Switzerland, Italy, China, India, Canada, Nigeria, and Brazil — to learn from global fleet leaders and subject-matter experts. Demand was so strong that the organizers closed online registrations two weeks prior to the conference when attendance exceeded the capacity of the conference venue.

More than one-third of the attendees were prominent global fleet managers, such as Andy Sacha of Nestle, Alain Duez of Accenture, John Guarneri of Philips International, Keith Scolan of ITW, Giovanni Tortorici of Barilla, Bruce MacLaren of Microsoft, Christy Coyte Meyer of Johnson Controls, Andy Coulter of Ecolab, Tiffany Whittaker of Procter & Gamble, Chris Tinajero of Ericsson, and Wendy Dymokowski of Bristol Myers Squibb to name a few.

Subject-matter experts who traveled specifically to address the Global Fleet Management Conference were Robert Patrick, Sourcing Manager, EMEA Fleet and Professional Services for Merck Sharp & Dohme who came from the UK to speak about fleet market conditions in the EU and Middle East; Guillaume Bourst of ALD Fortune Leasing, who flew from Shanghai to speak about the emerging Chinese fleet market; Pascal Vitantonio, who flew from Sao Paulo to discuss the Brazilian market; and Denis Ferault of Arval, who came from France to discuss metrics for effective global fleet benchmarking and reporting.

During the conference, the subject matter was met with enthusiasm by all of the attendees. Every session was at or near capacity for every speaker. The format was interactive with the speakers engaging and being engaged by the attendees, making for lively debate, particularly on subjects such as procurement, technology, and calculating TCO in different global markets.

Conference Co-Chair Mike Antich saw the attendees’ enthusiasm as a sign of the times. “Global fleet management isn’t new, but it has definitely come of age as demonstrated by both the attendance and the high-level engagement we had from all of the attendees and speakers,” he said. “We see this as just the beginning. This event that will grow in the future, both in our North American and Euripean venues. We look forward to working with our industry partners in promoting the viability of global fleet management.”

The Global Fleet Management Conference was produced by Bobit Business Media, publisher of Automotive Fleet magazine, and Belgium-headquartered Nexus Communication, publisher of Fleet Europe magazine.

“Instrumental to the conference's success was our strong partnership with Nexus Communication, publisher of Fleet Europe magazine, who helped make this a truly global conference,” added Antich, who is the editor of Automotive Fleet.

(More indepth coverage of the Global Fleet Management Conference will appear in our next e-mail newsletter and the print editions of Fleet Europe and Automotive Fleet magazines.)

By Chris Wolski