The three-day online journey of TOC Americas Virtual Expo

TOC Americas is more than an event, it’s an institution. For two decades, the conference has led the most relevant content, up to date with industry trends and keeping the heartbeat of the Latin American region’s role in the global maritime supply chain. That’s why the event is looked forward to for the entire year and when the pandemic started shutting down venues and moving conferences and webinars all over the world into digital format, TOC Americas knew it was time to take the step into the virtual world. From Tuesday October 27 through Thursday October 29, the sessions and panels of the TOC Americas Virtual Expo flowed like a river of knowledge and insight into the present and future of maritime logistics and port operations.

The three days combined a mixture of Container Supply Chain webinars, TECH TOC sessions and Bulk panels, leaving no stone unturned, and even included one-to-one conversations with AP Moller Maersk’s Latam lead and the Deputy Administrator of the Panama Canal, so delegates and other attendees were able to get a rounded view of the Latin American region’s reality from all angles.

Content

On day one, international trade outlook, impact of COVID-19 and automation were the main topics discussed, with the participation of the industry’s leading executives providing insight from different perspectives. “The Automation Debate: Part 1,” kicked off the day -and the event- with moderator Alexis Pangalos, Managing Partner - bloog GmbH and speakers Christian Blauert, Global Director Port & Terminal Development Moffatt & Nichol; Matthias Jablonowski; Head of Maritime - Nokia; Mika Seppä, Vice President, Customer and Project Services – Kalmar; and Uno Bryfors, Senior Vice President – Ports – ABB. The second webinar - Trade Outlook 2020- was moderated by John Fossey, Consulting Editor - WorldCargo News, with presentations by Andrew Lorimer, Managing Director – Datamar; Dinesh Sharma, Director – Drewry; Flor Pitty, General Director & Maritime Ancillary Industries - Panama Maritime Authority; Jan Hoffmann, Chief - Logistics Branch – UNCTAD; and Ricardo Sánchez, Regional Expert on Infrastructure and Ports - United Nations - Economic Commission for Latin America & the Caribbean, where the speakers analyzed international and regional trade in the face of COVID and other factors. The final session “Port Operations: The New Normal,” as part of the TECH TOC sessions, with the participation of Stefan Wiech, Managing Partner - bloog GmbH as moderator and speakers Andrés Repetto, COO - Terminal Pacifico Sur Valparaíso S.A.; Marcelo Tardioli, Director Services, Latin America - Kalmar; Mauricio Franco, Flexterm Simulation Emulation Manager Moffatt & Nichol; Michael Houen, Director – Smart Port Strategy – Hatch; Noel Hacegaba, Deputy Executive Director & COO - Port of Long Beach; and Sylvia Wong, Principal – Smart Ports – Hatch. The day ended with a virtual tour of the Port of Long Beach, the second largest container port in the United States.

On Wednesday October 28, day 2 of the conference, bulk and reducing emissions in port operations were the key topics of the day. “Green Port Tech & Operations”, part of the TECH TOC sessions, moderator Sahar Lemanczyk, Managing Partner / Consultant – bloog, led speakers through a conversation on environmental regulations and ‘green’ ports looking for more sustainable operations with the use of environmentally friendly equipment and tech. Chris Pretorius, Director Smart Infrastructure - Siemens; John Elisson Regional Sales Director Americas – Konecranes; Jonathan Paris, Director, Risk Management and Customer Experience - Termont; Marcelo Goncalves Director Mobile Equipment Solutions - Latin America - Kalmar; Sebastian Simon, Product Manager Port Equipment – Liebherr; and Simon Poulin, Sales Director – Effenco participated as speakers.

The highlight of the day was the One-To-One conversation with Robbert van Trooijen, Senior Vice President, Head of Latin America & Caribbean - A.P. Moller – Maersk, and Rachael White, Content Director - TOC Events Worldwide, where the Danish company’s leading exec for the Latam region shared what they’ve been up to during the pandemic, where the world is shifting towards in terms of trade, way of working, logistics and, of course, the Maersk-COVAXX agreement for distributing the COVID-19 vaccine to emerging economies. Later, “The Automation Debate: Part 2,” continued the conversation on automated operations with the participation of Luis Cabrita, Cranes HQ Business Development; Ralf Albujar, BDM - Encoder Systems Solutions by Hübner Giessen; Rob Jordan, Founder and Managing Director - IT Partner B.V.; and Steven Detre, Sales Director – Camco. The “Bulk Shipping Outlook” closed the day, where Pietro di Michieli, Managing Director - AUMUND Fördertechnik GmbH, moderated the session. Speakers Andrés Osorio, CEO – COMPAS; Cesar Contreras, Port Captain - G2 Ocean; Christian Kassu, Partner & General Manager - Lighthouse Chartering SpA; and Guilherme Peixoto, Regional Director South America - TBA Group, talked with special focus on bulk in the West Coast South America ports.

The third and last day was full of excitement. “Port Expansion, Infrastructure & Investment,” was the first presentation with Rommel Troetsch, Owner/President - Maritime Logistic Group, as moderator for speakers Griff Lynch, Executive Director - Georgia Ports Authority; Jonathan Daniels, Chief Executive & Port Director - Port Everglades; Patricio Junior, Director - Terminal Investments - Terminal Investment Limited; and Paul McClintock, Senior Vice President - South Carolina Ports Authority; with specific mention on the Brazilian port privatization proposal and US ports and their shift towards remote work. “Liner Shipping Update” followed on the program with John Fossey repeating as moderator for a session focused on container transport, blank sailings, increase in rates, among other trends. Erick Alarcón, LAWC Operation Manager - Ocean Network Express; Howard Finkel, Executive Vice President - COSCO Container Lines; and Juan Carlos Croston, President - Caribbean Shipping Association, participated as speakers. The One-To-One Conversation with Ilya Espino de Marotta, Deputy Administrator - Panama Canal with Rachael White, where gender equality and equal opportunity managerial positions were the key topic, finishing as the cherry on top of a conference packed with interesting information and people.  

All speakers had bios detailing their positions and professional trajectory in the industry, so the virtual public could know more about them at any point during their presentation.

Networking

Coffee breaks, luncheons and evening cocktails are a great way to mingle and get to know people at an event. In the absence of physical presence, a custom-made platform catered to the needs of the authentic TOC Americas experience, including the much-awaited networking exchange. So, the team at TOC Events, organizers of the event, put together an AI powered matchmaking solution for making contact with speakers, delegates, exhibitors and attendees in general. Participants were able to search by name, company, region, job title, etc., and identify people of interest. The AI powered contact-building tool would make recommendations based on your areas of interest, previously detailed in your personal profile. You would then be free to take into consideration the suggestion by showing interest and starting up a conversation or even schedule a meeting.

Exhibition

TOC Americas is not just about the speakers and their presentations, it’s also about the exhibitors that showcase their innovative equipment and solutions, and the online edit was not about to cut with tradition. The virtual exhibition allowed for navigating through digital booths with all sorts of technology.

By MundoMaritimo