President's Welcome Message

To the Worldwide IAM Membership and Special Invited Guests,

Please allow me to extend my personal invitation to all IAM members and invited guests to attend the 50th “Golden Anniversary” Annual Meeting of the International Association of Movers, October 10-13, 2012. 

The Association has been looking forward to celebrating this milestone event, appropriately being held in the city where it all began - Washington, DC.  We anticipate hosting close to 2,000 participants from the 175 countries in which IAM members are currently located.

In recognition of the significance of this year’s meeting, our conference theme is

Through our program and various planned events, we will take a look back at the history and development of the Industry and the Association over the past five decades, as well as set the tone and direction of our organization and business community for the next 50 years.

Our venue will be the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, located along the banks of the beautiful Potomac River in National Harbor, Maryland. National Harbor is just south of Washington, DC and immediately across the river from Old Town Alexandria, Virginia, where IAM is headquartered.

The Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center itself has close to 2,000 sleeping rooms and is the largest contiguous convention center space on the entire East Coast of the USA.

Within and just outside Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center are numerous dining and shopping options. The Washington, DC metro area offers a wide variety of tourist and entertainment attractions, offering conference participants the perfect mix of business and pleasure.

The IAM Annual Meeting provides numerous opportunities for attendees and guests to connect with peers from all over the world. Through our trade show, business sessions, Knowledge Labs, and a wide variety of social events, you will have the opportunity to share past experiences and memories, as well as position yourself and your company for growth and success in future years.

The International Association of Movers, through its strong partnerships with other major moving industry trade associations along with our industry’s major customers, works diligently connecting the stakeholders of our industry.  IAM’s Annual Meeting has become a huge contributor to the successful elevation of the industry’s image and its continual effort to address the common issues we all share, regardless of where we operate around the globe.

I encourage everyone to carefully review the Schedule of Events and check back often to the website to be aware of any additions or changes to the program. Staying abreast of the Association’s planned events will help minimize conflicts with your own face-to-face meetings, which we recognize are key to everyone’s participation.

We will again be providing members access to IAM GlobalMatch, our no-cost online appointment tool accessed via the Annual Meeting website. This online tool allows registered attendees to view business profiles of other attendees, to request appointment times, and to specify meeting points at the conference site.

A variety of education sessions will be offered in the Knowledge Lab (KL), including last year’s popular session for first-time attendees. I encourage everyone to view the KL schedule and make a note to attend programs of interest.

Please note that the IAM Hall of Honor Inductions, as well as recognition of the AFW Scholarship Awardees and Contributors, will be conducted as a breakfast function on the second day of the conference, on Thursday, October 11, starting at 8:00 AM. As part of this kick-off event, I will update the membership on the state of the Association and make a brief presentation on “The Pulse of the Industry.”

In our continuing effort to reduce the impact of IAM conference activities on the environment, the Association has once-again partnered with Carbonfund.org, a global non-profit entity supporting third-party validated renewable energy, energy efficiency, and reforestation projects aimed at reducing carbon dioxide and the threat of climate change. We are providing attendees with a means to calculate your carbon footprint and offset it by donating your footprint's dollar value to a carbon-offset project.

There are not too many people who can claim to be present at the very first Annual Meeting, but here is your chance to boast in future years –
 
“I was there at the 50th!”

I wish all of you safe travels and look forward to seeing everyone here in Washington, DC.  

Terry R. Head, President
International Association of Movers