One of the best ways to learn about any kind of business is to check and see if it is served by an association. Associations are dedicated to the success of their members, and they focus on education, networking, and providing resources and a way for companies to share best practices and swap stories.
In April, Fibre Box Association (FBA) members will converge on The Montage in Laguna Beach, California for the association’s 80th Anniversary Annual Meeting. Since its founding in 1940, the association has annually gathered members to address industry issues, network and conduct association business.
As we begin yet another new decade, the association will celebrate 80 years of serving the corrugated industry with a program filled with engaging speakers sharing insights on hot topics impacting the business of making corrugated packaging. Here’s a sneak peak at the presenters:
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- Alan Jacobsen – Alan Jacobsen is a principal in packaging strategies/customer packaging experience at Amazon.Amazon is the world’s largest internet retailer with a mission to optimize the overall customer experience by collaborating with manufacturers worldwide to invent sustainable packaging that delights customers, eliminates waste, and ensures products arrive intact and undamaged. Alan will share Amazon’s approach to packaging, particularly corrugated packaging, and talk about what’s ahead for the retail giant– from Frustration Free Packaging (FFP) to Ships in its Own Container (SIOC). What’s next from Amazon?
- Keefe Harrison– Keefe Harrison is the CEO of The Recycling Partnership. In the last five years, the Recycling Partnership has served more than 1,300 communities with best-in-class tools, resources and technical support; placed nearly 600,000 recycling carts; reached nearly 60 million households – nearly half of the US population; and helped companies and communities invest more than $55 million in recycling infrastructure. Keefe will share insights from the recently released 2020 State of Curbside Recycling Report and the organization’s initiatives to build a Bridge to Circularity.
- Heidi Brock– Heidi Brock is the president and CEO of the American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA). AF&PA works to advance a sustainable U.S. pulp, paper, packaging, tissue and wood products manufacturing industry through fact-based public policy and marketplace advocacy.Through the association’s Better Practices, Better Planet 2020 sustainability initiative, AF&PA member companies demonstrate the industry’s commitment to continuous improvement. Heidi will share current Federal and State policy issues impacting the corrugated and recycling industries.
- Suzanne Shelton– Suzanne Shelton is the founder and CEO of Shelton Group, one of the nation’s leading marketing communications agency focused exclusively on energy and the environment. According to Shelton Group’s recent polling, Americans are now more concerned about plastics in the ocean than they are about climate change (and they’re VERY concerned about climate change). At first glance, this looks like cause for celebration for other competing materials, especially corrugated (Americans indeed see paper as a more sustainable alternative to single-use plastics). But it’s more complex than that. Curbside recycling programs are shutting down across America and Americans are noticing, which is causing them to question the recyclability of all materials. That’s leading to distrust — of brands, manufacturers and industries at large — and a rising demand that corporate America DO something to solve it. Suzanne will share the firm’s insights into consumer beliefs and expectations, the opportunities and challenges those beliefs and expectations present for the corrugated industry, and offer up ideas for how our industry can join others to solve the waste problem and create a future where the right materials are used for the right applications and waste is largely a thing of the past.
These are just some of the exceptional speakers set to take the stage. A full list of speakers can be found on the speaker’s page of the registration website.
I don’t know about you, but we are marking our calendars and looking at flights to California right now! Check it out!
