Worth the trip

Managing a business, especially a recycling-related business this decade, is a multifaceted endeavour that requires extraordinary amounts of time and attention. Getting away from the office or plant, whether for a vacation or for a conference, can seem like an intolerable interruption.

At the Recycling Today Media Group, however, we believe we can offer several reasons why attending our annual fall conferences will provide numerous bottom-line benefits.

First, the details. We are offering three venues for recyclers and solid waste management professionals to gather in fall 2016: 1) in Rotterdam, Netherlands, for the co-located and concurrent Paper Recycling Conference Europe and Plastics Recycling Conference Europe, 2-3 November; 2) in Chicago for the Paper & Plastic Recycling Conference North America, 19-21 October; and 3) in Long Beach, California, for the Renewable Energy from Waste Conference, 14-16 November.

The schedules for all of these events, available at www.RecyclingTodayEvents.com, demonstrate the list of vital topics to be discussed.

Presentations in Rotterdam, Chicago and Long Beach will provide insights into trends and new operating methods influencing the industry—insights that ideally provide bottom-line profit-and-loss reasons to attend one or more of the conferences.

When we market the conferences, we inevitably refer to the value of the networking that takes place, and we structure our events to offer maximum networking opportunities.

“Seeking advice and looking for what has worked elsewhere can be done from an office chair, but a gathering of people who are having similar experiences can provide an even better setting.”

When one thinks of networking, certainly the ability to find a new trading, buying or selling connection comes to mind first. Ideally, those kinds of results await all or most attendees.

Subtler, but perhaps just as important, is the value of talking to fellow business owners and managers who are facing the same challenges and dealing with the same problems as the delegate who was reluctant to leave his or her desk for two or three days.

Camaraderie can be hard to find within one’s own organisation if one is expected to make difficult decisions that can affect everybody else in the building. Seeking advice and looking for what has worked elsewhere can be done from an office chair, but a gathering of people who are having similar experiences can provide an even better setting.

Whether you’re best able to travel to Rotterdam or Chicago (or, if your chief responsibilities involve waste-to-energy processes, to Long Beach), consider the merits of spending time with kindred spirits at a Recycling Today Media Group event.