AIX Virtual: A look back and glance forward

AIX Virtual was the best event of its kind that I’ve attended. Though I’d always prefer a face-to-face meeting with someone, the event was very well organised and facilitated perfectly within the different constraints and opportunities of the virtual environment.

 

Increased communication and collaboration

One of the true benefits of the virtual event was the increased access and collaboration we were able to offer our clients. These gatherings usually just involve salespeople and buyers, but this year I was able to introduce our engineers to those of our customers, allowing for deeper conversations. This enables the client to gain a better understanding of our solutions, and allows us to hear their pain points and potential opportunities.

 

Lessons for the future

Though I am looking forward to next year’s AIX in-person, this year did provide us with some useful lessons to take into the future. It’s not always possible or practical to meet our customers face-to-face, and we now have the right tools and resources to meet virtually.

Throughout the pandemic, many businesses have made changes and AIX gave us the opportunity to understand our customers and suppliers new capabilities, materials and processes. This, in turn, allows us to consider our next moves, as well as showcase our latest developments and customer wins, such as announcing KLM as our launch customer for our latest saf-Tglo SSUL-X floor path marking product.

 

New product launches

There were fewer product launches at AIX this year, compared to previous events. I know that R&D has continued throughout the pandemic, so I expect next year we will see a number of new launches. I’m already looking forward to next year, to meeting people in-person once again and to seeing how the industry responds to this latest challenge.

 

Dr. Sean O'Kell, Business Unit Director - Photoluminescence