SPEAKER_00
0:37
This year we're forecasting, you know, north of 8,500 people. And my goal is to have more than 2,000 shippers on site because that's what that's what our sponsors they want. They want to talk to the people that are spending the money.
SPEAKER_01
0:52
Manifest has grown from a first-year show in 2022 into one of the biggest weeks on the logistics calendar. And it keeps upgrading year after year. My guest today is Katie Date. She is the SVP of industry relations and strategic initiatives at Manifest. She works on the relationships that bring shippers, providers, and technology companies into the same room. And she's here to help you decide whether Manifest earns your budget and your time away from the business. We're also going to get into how the show has changed as it's grown, what's new with the hosted shipper meetings, and how to network in Vegas without going crazy and what net what homework to finish before February. And then lastly, we're going to get into the 2027 agenda and where manifest now that it's part of the Hive group and expanding into Europe. So that that is a long intro, but we got a lot to get to. So first, yeah, first and foremost, I just want to thank you for your time because I believe you are the last one in my manifest, I think, entourage of getting on the show. And I'm so glad to finally have this conversation. So welcome in Katie.
SPEAKER_00
2:01
Awesome. Thank you so much for having me. And I'm I'm happy to uh help you complete your collection of manifest OGs.
SPEAKER_01
2:11
I'm just uh I'm like one of the Avengers. I'm just gonna keep gathering all of the infinity stones, and I feel like you're you're you're the the last one to the list. And so I love it. I wanna I wanna start off with something a little bit more lighthearted because you've had an impeccable career at MIT. I believe you were born and raised in Minnesota before moving to Boston and you're there with your family. Um, and you spent some time with MIT before you joined uh before you joined the Manifest team, which I think was just a conversation backstage after you got done with your keynote.
SPEAKER_00
2:43
Do I have that kind of summary right? Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I always say that I think I have the coolest story of how I ended up with Manifest because it was was never part of the plan. And I feel like so many people, their careers in supply chain are never really linear. Um, so yeah, in 2023, I had the privilege of um doing one of the keynotes at Manifest and had a conversation backstage and was asked, would you ever consider leaving MIT? Um at that point, Manifest was tiny and really just you know a startup, but I saw the potential and the amazing team that was that was putting it on, and I was like, sure, why not? And now, you know, three and a half years later, here we are. And um, here Manifest is. It's just it's unbelievable the growth. And um, as you mentioned, now we've been acquired by the Hive Group, which has given us just this tremendous boost, and um, to bring all their expertise to the table has been amazing.
SPEAKER_01
3:55
And now uh for for you, because you mentioned that the growth, I think the first year was like something around a thousand people, and then last year's uh it was around 7,000 people.
SPEAKER_00
4:07
Yeah, and this year uh we're forecasting, you know, north of 8,500 people. And my goal is to have more than 2,000 shippers on site because that's what that's what our sponsors they want, they want to talk to the the people that are spending the money. So the people who are making those types of decisions.
SPEAKER_01
4:30
And yeah, I I think before Manifest, we hardly ever heard from the shipper point of view or even like the shipper focus. And I think that's what the the logistics crowd has has wanted for so long. So it feels nice that there's actually a conference that focuses on that, where you know, shippers don't necessarily have to worry about if they show up to a conference or you know, hiding their badge or hiding who they're working with because they're, you know, one of only five shippers in attendance and they're gonna be hounded. And so sharing those those war stories um and bringing those stories to the stage is how we make this industry as a whole better. And I I think um that focus on on the shippers is one that I definitely want to tap into a little bit more um in just a minute. But I want to understand for for you, for as you've seen this conference grow and going from speaker to now, you know, a key part of managing and uh promoting the event and producing the event, what does your schedule look like whenever you arrive in in Vegas for like day one of Manifest? What does are you arriving on Sunday? Like, you know, other people, I'm assuming you're arriving much earlier than that, and you've got a lot of things to get done.
SPEAKER_00
5:45
Yeah, definitely. So um I'm I'm very lucky to have a strong operations team behind me. So they are the ones that are arriving early. Um, and I have the privilege of kind of being able to roll in on Sunday and really just kind of hit the ground running. There's always lots of interviews and um things like that that have to be done immediately when I get um on the ground. Same for you know, my call uh colleagues Pam and Courtney, but we love it. I mean, the it the energy of Vegas starts like from the minute you you get on site and everyone comes with just you know so much enthusiasm. And to your point before, our agenda is really run by the shippers, and from the very beginning, um, shippers have been at the core, and those are my people. And so I always feel like it's just like this giant reunion for everyone to come together.
SPEAKER_01
6:46
How do you keep your schedule straight? I mean, I we're gonna talk about homework, you know, a little bit later on, but uh what does homework look like for you? I imagine if you're trying to connect with so many people, like how how do you prioritize where to go and what to do on each day? Because I'm sure a lot of folks would love to take tips on on how to tackle a conference with this many people. And not, and it's not just this many people, it's this many decision makers, I think is what is really different from other conferences.
SPEAKER_00
7:15
Yeah, absolutely. So you've probably heard me say it before, but like do your homework and have your plan ahead of time. This is not something where you can just roll in and, you know, show up and go with the flow. Otherwise, you're not gonna feel like it's been a productive time. And so it's it's the same thing for me. You know, I really have to be intentional with setting meetings and setting reminders in my calendar because, um, and I'm sure you have this problem too. The minute I enter the hall, it's like I keep getting stopped by person after person after person. And if I don't have a set agenda, like all of a sudden, you know, three hours have gone by and it's been productive. I've seen people, I've talked to people, but I haven't actually necessarily achieved exactly what I'm looking to do. So I always tell people, have, you know, don't over schedule yourself. Don't schedule the whole day, because otherwise, you know, you will miss out on some of those impromptu connections. Because I think at the core of everything that we do at Manifest, it's all about connection. It's creating opportunities for both those informal connections that just, you know, happen while you're waiting in line to play mini golf or, you know, getting a mocktail, but also the very intentional connections that happen via the one-on-one meeting zone. Um, and now new this year are our scheduled meetings.
SPEAKER_01
8:38
So what happens from the the shipper perspective? How can you know somebody at a you know a 3PL or you know a big time carrier, even someone in media, anybody who's attending that show who wants to connect with a shipper, how should they go about doing this so they're not annoying the crap out of them and kind of blending into a sea of notifications?
SPEAKER_00
9:01
Yeah. So so that's definitely the thing not to do. Blowing people up on LinkedIn, blowing them up on you know their emails, calling them. That's that's not the way to get their attention. Because, like you said, you'll just blend into a sea of of nothingness. So once the app comes out, really try to connect with, don't just send a blanket outreach to everyone that you potentially would want to attend with. I don't so definitely be strategic. If there's somebody who is speaking who you really would like to talk to, you know, don't blow up their LinkedIn, go up to them after. You know, these are humans too. Wait and, you know, talk to them after, or you know, present something that could be interesting or of value to them instead of. I see so many people that just do the copy paste the exact same message, they're sending it out to a thousand people half the time they've you know made a mistake with their mail merge and it's someone else's name that's at the top, or that's you know, that's that's not the way to do it. You need to make meaningful connections. And also when you're out on the expo floor, you're in the hallway, or pack, even when you're in the bathroom, look at people's name tags and see where they're from. Strike up a conversation, use you know, the the kickoff party or the after party when people have their guard down a little bit to to make connections. Because I feel like, you know, to your point, people are just getting bombarded with with so many emails and so many LinkedIn notifications that you just blend into a sea of nothingness.
SPEAKER_01
10:48
There are a lot of people in Freight who say that they want to own their book and bet on themselves. Then reality shows up with bad debt, clunky systems, claims headaches, and enough admin work to make you question all of your life choices. SPI Logistics is built for agents who want the upside of running their own business without carrying every single burden alone. You keep building the relationships. SBI helps with the back office support that keeps the wheels turning. If you've got experience, a book of business, and you're looking for a smarter setup, head over to SPI3PL.com. That's SPIthenumber3PL.com. And I think too, and I can only speak from like personal experience, when you just get so many messages that look the same or feel the same, there's almost like a level of anxiety on the recipient's part where it's like, I just don't want to open up any of them. And because you're just getting bombarded. And so you're you tend to maybe take a gamble on meeting somebody in person. But I think you can do it right. I think you can do it um with with you know the the the tips that you've said, and then also trying to find them at the conference itself. The badges make it super easy. The I believe you guys have you know your own customized app. Some some conferences will use, you know, sort of a generic template or white label solution, but you guys actually took it the extra mile and developed your own custom application. And then plus, you have the the connections badges, so it makes it super easy to share that information and then to have that information whenever you get back home or you're back on the plane, you know, to sort through, you know, who you want to follow up with. Uh from your lens of talking to so many shippers, how do you get them to kind of not only agree to come to the show, but then agree to talk about, you know, some of the challenges that they're dealing with and and in a public realm? Because I don't know that that has really happened at the scale that it's happened before until manifest, where you have this many supply chain experts in one area, in one event, and that can share those war stories. So, how do you get them to kind of be okay with opening up?
SPEAKER_00
13:57
Yeah, so I think we've done uh a couple of things. First, uh the first the first few that came forward and were the brave ones, they, you know, those are the real rock stars because they took a risk and we were able to really earn their trust. We've also created some very intentional programming that's specifically targeted at them and giving them the opportunity to network with each other. Um, a lot of the feedback that we've gotten from senior executives is they go to these events and they don't really get the opportunity to talk with each other. And so um, we've done some things like creating shipper-only roundtables. So they're able to sit down with their peers and have a conversation without, you know, fear of being sold to and they can exchange ideas because I firmly believe that the best lessons are are learned across fences. You know, there's only so many different challenges that you can have in supply chain. And whether you're in pharmaceuticals or you're in grocery, like there are similar cold chain issues, for example, that are happening with both of those, and you can really learn from each other. Another thing that we've done is the leadership suite. Um, and so that's uh private event, invite-only event where senior leaders come together for just a couple of hours with specific programming for them. Um, and that's really given them an opportunity to, again, earn our trust. Or they've, you know, we've earned their trust by creating this space, but also to earn the trust of each other to be able to share those stories.
SPEAKER_01
15:31
I love that. And though those are all, you know, sort of private conversations. Those aren't the, you know, the stage talks, I guess, that get recorded and distributed out. So it's a chance to kind of have those that extra layer of not to say that they're not honest on stage, but you can be a little bit less polished in a round table than, you know, up on stage, I think is what is is what I'm trying to mention. Because there was one shipper in particular that that I talked to last year, just ran into him uh walking the expo floor, and he was so excited to see all of the different technology solutions that were on the expo floor that he had no idea existed. He was so excited to be able to, you know, write these companies down and be able to try them out as soon as he got back into the office. And later on, I I chatted with him a few months ago, and he's now doing business with several of those companies. And so these things do happen that, you know, shippers are wandering the expo floor and engaging with different booths and making those connections that eventually become deals later on. Um so for I guess for for the value for the other side, is the other side, you know, for the the three PLs and the brokers carriers, um, technology vendors, you know, what kind of I guess uh programming exists for for those different types of of the market? Um, I know you had like a cold chain area of the expo floor last year. Um, is there any kind of initiative like that that's coming up for this year?
SPEAKER_00
16:55
Yeah, so um new this year on the expo floor, we have an expanded AI pavilion. And one thing that you'll notice both in the AI pavilion as well as when you look at the content on the agenda, we've really moved past the like AI hype curve. So many companies, you know, jumped on that bandwagon and we're really bringing forward the companies that have actually taken it into execution, that are really putting it into practice, can talk about this is what worked, this is what hasn't worked, and really share those stories. Because I think there are a lot of companies that are still like in that beginning phase and they don't really know how to use it, they just know they have to use it, you know, and um so for people to be able to have the trust to get up on stage and you know, share some of those stories, I think is gonna be super valuable for everyone in the audience, but particularly for the solution providers, because they're gonna be able to see like this is why and where, you know, our our buyers are are using AI as an example, and it'll help them to inform, you know, how they market their solution, but also how they they change and evolve to meet the demands of the market.
SPEAKER_01
18:10
Yeah, because it's really tough to be able to, I think for a lot of folks to share like where they've screwed up or where they've wasted money or time. And so being able to hear somebody else like on a stage talk about those same things that's happened to them. It's like you guys, we're all trying to figure this out all at once. This is a new information era. It's probably a new operating system that that we're all working with and we're all trying to understand together. Um, we all don't want to waste, you know, a bunch of tokens on, you know, needless tasks. Um let's figure out how to you know get past some of those initial barriers and keep building sort of the the you know the rising tide lifts all sales philosophy. For the the expo floor, I'm curious if there's any, you know, uh the infamous puppy lounge, of course. We just briefly touched on, you know, the the cold chain that you guys had last year. Uh are there any newer activations? Uh, you know, the mocktail lounge, I think was another one. Um, Dan Reese, unfortunately, probably doesn't have his cat lounge yet. Um, but he's pushing hard though.
SPEAKER_00
19:11
I think, I think that's something that is is definitely going to potentially get looked at for 2028. Um, but the puppy lounge will be there. The mocktails, the cocktails, the rose all day, be an arcade, there'll be uh mini golf, all the you know, all the fun stuff that you can do. And again, people let their guard down, they have a little bit of fun, and you know, who knows who you're gonna meet while you're in line for that.
SPEAKER_01
19:39
Yeah, absolutely. And it it just brought to memory of like I think Vegas is the only place that I have been on a plane and we land in in the town where you are going, and people clap and cheer. Like they're so excited to be in that city. And so I think you know, the uh the mantra that I've heard you say is uh I I believe it was the founder maybe of Manifest that said something like uh he wants all of his events to be in a fun city because then that leads people to let their guard down a little bit and to be more open to conversations. Um, I believe also if you have a uh have an event in Vegas, the attendee, the average attendee size is something like 10 or 11% higher than any other city in the United States. So it it makes people, if it's in Vegas, people want to go to Vegas and and have a little bit of a good, you know, not a little bit, maybe a lot, good time. That's what has happened to me several times. Um now from the the event itself, it's held at the Venetian, it's in February. And so why the I I guess why stay maybe at the Venetian? Uh, because I know that you guys were at the Paris and then you were over at Caesars for a little bit, and then the move over to the Venetian. What does the Venetian offer from a I guess a hospitality perspective that no other area in Vegas offers?
SPEAKER_00
21:00
Yeah, absolutely. I always joke because you can literally enter the Venetian on Sunday and not leave until you have to leave the Venetian to go to the after party. I intentionally go out to see some sunlight, but you don't have to because everything is there. You have, I think there's like 30 plus restaurants, there's shopping, there's obviously the event, and there's just so many different areas where you can, you know, network and meet people, and you just you don't have to leave. And that's not something um that we had at previous previous venues. And we don't have to worry if it's gonna rain. I don't know if you went a few years ago when we had the like monsoon. Um we don't have to deal with that anymore.
SPEAKER_01
21:55
So that as a Floridian, it was it was very uh it was very interesting to see people freak out because of rain. I'm like, everything's fine. And then I saw the actual infrastructure and it's like, oh duh, like uh, you know, some of these places can't handle a lot of rain. And so yeah, it causes flooding, you know, a little bit of runoff. Um, but it just made it a little bit more exciting because to to your point, at the Venetian, like you I don't think I ever see sunlight at all during that trip. Because even when I'm walking over to the big concert, uh it's at night, and so that's usually the first time I'm seeing, you know, all the Vegas lights, and it's beautiful, it's gorgeous. Um, and but yeah, you're right. It the Venetian does offer that unique opportunity where you are right there, and also the sphere is right there too. So it just makes for just such a good walkable experience where everybody is staying around that area, the event is around that area, and that's very rare uh as far as an event is is concerned. Now, with coming up on the sixth year uh of Manifest, I'm curious how the event has grown. What are some things that you're able to do now, especially after the acquisition? Uh what are some things that you're able to expand on and do more of now that maybe you weren't able to do in previous years?
SPEAKER_00
23:14
Yeah, so for those of you who have attended a hive event before, whether it's shop talk or grocery shop, they are famous for their meetings program. And so they have brought to us their infrastructure for a meeting program. Meetings program, which has allowed our sponsors to really narrow in on the buyers that they want to meet. And it's also giving our buyers the opportunity to instead of you know doing meetings that they don't know if it's really gonna be a fit or not, the algorithm will match them with the people. So each of them are doing surveys, and the algorithm will match them for meetings with people that have a solution that will solve the pain points that they're having, or you know, the vendors, the sponsors will have the opportunity to actually meet with the decision maker, the person who's looking to buy that WMS or that TMS or you know that um different AI solution instead of having to guess who in the organization is the one that that really has the decision power. So um this year the meetings program will be small, but we're really looking forward to growing that program. And it also gives the opportunity for us to give some money to the shippers to get them to take these meetings, which in times right now where you know things are a little bit tight, a little bit more tight for our shippers, a lot of them appreciate being able to get that 75 that $750 um travel reimbursement really helps move the needle for them to be able to attend the event.
SPEAKER_01
24:57
So and so I'm sure ha being able to to to have these conversations just in person just moves things so much more efficiently than trying to figure out how to who's gonna be the best fit and you know, and probably combating against, you know, dozens or maybe thousands of emails that are coming across their inbox of people trying to sell them different software.
unknown
25:19
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00
25:20
Yeah. The shippers um that I've talked to really appreciate the opportunity to let us do kind of the heavy lifting for them and so that they don't have to sh, like you said, sift through hundreds, maybe a thousand emails. They can do their six meetings and know that that those six meetings are gonna be the ones hopefully that are gonna address the pain points that they're looking um to solve.
SPEAKER_01
25:43
Now, is that all part of the app ecosystem or is that a separate sort of invite-only kind of relationship?
SPEAKER_00
25:50
Um, so for the sponsors, they have to opt into the program and then they're able to purchase the number of meetings that they're looking to do. And then for the retailers, the brands, the manufacturers, the people that we consider shippers, they enter our hosted shipper program. And depending on the level that they're at, then they can get matched into doing um doing meetings with our sponsors or attending one of the sponsored roundtables.
SPEAKER_01
26:20
Nice. And so I I would imagine, and I know we we've kind of briefly touched on it, but with the app itself and with the homework side of things, for the folks who are hoping to be on the end where they they make the great connection, they they do the research, and they're able to try to coordinate a meeting that is on site, all most of that is all coordinated within the app itself. About a month before the event. So are we looking maybe like early January timeline of when that that part of the program kicks off?
SPEAKER_00
26:53
Yeah. So the app typically goes live about three weeks ahead of the event for the general public. Um, but those matching into the hosted meetings program, they'll be getting access the end of December, beginning of January to start making those, making those connections. So that's that's another incentive to be a part of the hosted meetings program because then you're going to be able to start scheduling your meetings and being matched with with folks way ahead of the general public.
SPEAKER_01
27:27
Yeah, because uh that app is really, I love it. I keep it, it's one of the few like event apps that I keep on my phone all year long. I don't know why, um, because it really, I can really only use it from like December to to March, but I keep it on my phone because sometimes it's nice to just go in there and just be able to check out, you know, what conversations I had last year. Maybe there are people that I, you know, forgot to to follow up with and and and want to look them up again. Um, but that homework really starts so it starts around the holidays, personally for me. Uh, because I'm already working out. I probably already have my flight and in and travel booked. But then from the the time logistics standpoint of when you arrive and what you're doing, it is it's almost set up to the hour. I have to actually schedule in mandatory breaks because otherwise it will just get filled with, like you mentioned earlier, just walking through the hall and you you see somebody that you didn't intend to, and you want to catch up with them. And oh, this is a quick, you know, good opportunity conversation. And but that homework really starts uh around the holidays. So for folks who haven't been to manifest before, or maybe you you've gone and you you want to get better at sort of, I guess, your your time while there, that's one thing I highly recommend is get that app as soon as possible, as soon as they release it, fill out your information. That's your your initial homework. And then after that, what homework would you tell people to start doing? Is it the research? Is it um the you know the the meetings that you want to try to secure? What happens after you kind of you know set up your profile and and then move into that next decision phase?
SPEAKER_00
29:06
Yeah. So I would actually back up and say your first piece of homework is once you have your ticket and you know you're coming, share it on LinkedIn. Um our marketing team has worked really hard to make it super easy for you to share your attendance on LinkedIn in a beautiful, colorful, well laid out um manner. And so I really encourage everyone to share it right away because a lot of these companies that you're connected with, people that you're connected with, once they see, like, oh, life is going to manifest, okay, I want to invite her to one of my private networking sessions, or I want to invite her to this dinner or this happy hour. And it's a way to before the app even comes out, make it known to people that you're gonna be there so that you get kind of into some of those, you know, invite-only type situations of people that are are in your network. So that's what I would say. People can start doing that now. And once you've downloaded the app, once you have your plan, for me, I'm I love the app, but I'm also a paper person. And so I love to like put everything in my planner and really like sketch it out so that I have for me, it like helps me retain it in my memory a little bit better. And the other thing is I plan ahead of time my outfits that are like my plan A, and then my outfits that are my plan B because I've had too many times where there's been some sort of wardrobe malfunction, and so I always have like a few plan B items, and then I always have different shoes. Like, you'll never see me wearing the same pair of shoes two days in a row because I need that like different, different height, different like arch, like because you're gonna do a lot of walking. Like people always say they, you know, they they do 20,000 steps when they go to Disney. You're gonna do 20,000 steps going to Manchester. Easy, easy, so you know, don't don't be getting out those three-inch heels, ladies. Like, put on the comfy shoes because otherwise you are gonna be suffering.
SPEAKER_01
31:12
Yeah, I I absolutely echo that statement because I will bring the I'll only wear heels on the first day. That kind of just sets everything up, that sets the bar, and then it's tennis shoes the rest of the time. Or I love what Pam Simon does, uh, who's also part of Manifest for folks who don't know, but she has those super high platform sneakers. So she still gets the height that come with heels, but she stays comfy all day. And so I'm thinking I might uh copy a little bit of uh of what Pam does. And and another thing I heard you mention in another interview is that you always wear a bright colored sports coat or a bright colored, like maybe jumpsuit or something like that. I think that's such a good idea, too, because for for women, I I know I need to start thinking. Now we're talking about this, I need to start thinking about my outfits that I'm gonna wear for the event. So this is another thing we need to put on our homework list is you know, for anybody else who wants to think about this along with us and brainstorm with us, what's in your sort of uh conference emergency bag? Like you've done the outfit planning, you got the shoe planning, but what's like in your bag that's on you at all times? Is it uh I don't know, like band-aids or eye drops or deodorant. I I have those are I'm just naming off the things that are in my bag.
SPEAKER_00
32:28
Yeah. So I I always in my you know little go bag, I always have a little like sewing kit because inevitably there'll be a button that pops or you know, uh a seam that comes out. So I always have that, always have safety pins, I always have like a little tiny pot of like either like Fasoline or ucerin or one of those because inevitably like something's just not gonna, you know, totally feel right. Plus, it's super dry in Vegas, so you can put your lipstick on and then put that over your lipstick and it'll keep your keep your lips moisturized. Mints.
SPEAKER_01
33:13
I always have mints a bottle of water. Yeah. Because we know who the people are who don't have mints in their bag.
SPEAKER_00
33:20
And you're doing gonna be doing a lot of talking.
SPEAKER_01
33:22
So keep keep the consideration for other folks as well, especially if you're having like a ton of garlic or you know, some kind of onions in a salad or something like that. You gotta be you gotta stay prepared, you gotta stay ready. Um I I we're we're talking about, especially from like the female perspective of you know how how far out we have to think about things that probably men aren't doing. There is one aspect of manifest that I have loved that you guys have done for years now, since the inception is the women's lunch. And it's not just exclusive to women, that men are invited as well. So help me uh understand, I guess, or not help me understand. I know that I know this, but why the focus on the women's lunch and then maybe what challenges are women dealing with today working in supply chain and logistics that maybe they weren't experiencing a few years ago?
SPEAKER_00
34:15
Yeah, absolutely. So from the very beginning, it was very important to Courtney, who is our president, to create a space where women and men can come together and talk about the issues because studies have proven, and this, you know, was my area of research at MIT, that diverse teams are far more innovative. And supply chain really actually is ideal for women and the way that women's brains work, and you know, having to have multiple balls in the air at the same time. And so even when I was at MIT, it always kind of surprised me there's this like I don't know, view that supply chain is like dirty, but it's that's like small little distributions, distribution centers. Okay, there's so many, there's so many roles within supply chain that you know are you know collar jobs, yeah. But and so kind of taking that stigma away from it was really important for her. And then, you know, when I came on board, obviously it's been very important to me just to continue the conversation. So over the years, you know, we've had different themes, um, whether it be mentorship or you know, allyship. And and so we always try to pick out one aspect of challenges that um are impacting the supply chain. And to your point, it's not just exclusive to women, but we're talking about women because they're the ones that are experiencing a lot of the challenges within supply chain. And we're trying to create more opportunities for them to grow and also a little bit of like education for the men and giving them ideas because oftentimes they want to help, but they just don't know how.
SPEAKER_01
36:08
What what are maybe some of the success stories that that have come out from the you know, the the women's lunch? Has you know, have men maybe gone back into their, you know, companies or departments and been able to enact change? Are there any kind of like feel-good stories that that have come from maybe some of the lunches that you can recall?
SPEAKER_00
36:28
Yeah, so one of my favorite is um I won't name the person or the company, but a gentleman who uh came to the lunch and was sitting at a table with his team. And it turns out that his team was two guys and three girls. And in the lunch, we talked a lot about the pay gap. Um, this is something that I talk about a lot because there's still a huge pay gap for women that are doing the same job as men and getting paid different money. And so, as a result of that conversation, after he went to HR and he was just curious, you know, I have five people that are basically doing the same role. What's the difference? And he found out that, you know, the the women on his team were in fact making pretty significantly less. Wow. And so immediately he said to HR, this isn't acceptable. I will not be a leader that leads a team where, you know, I'm I'm part of the problem. And so all three of those women received raises just based on that education at the lunch. That's awesome.
SPEAKER_01
37:37
Because that's not something that I know, I it it's definitely something that I I struggle with, and you know, uh asking for more money and you know, just asking, I think from for money in in general, I it's just something I have always personally struggled with. It's an awkward conversation. It's you know, it's it brings in or it brings up to light, you know, uh, what am I value? What valued at? What uh what am I worth? And if you don't know what others are making that are doing the same exact job as you, then you you you have no way to so I think it's almost like it just speaking for my own personal self, it's I have been always a little hesitant to even talk about it because it's like, well, I I don't know. I don't know what I'm worth. But if somebody else is doing the same job as me and they're getting paid X, well, why the hell? Why am I not getting that same amount of money too? And so I think it just it helps having the conversations help women or it would help me, you know, develop that level of confidence to be like, well, what is what is exactly the difference? And why can't we have the same, you know, sort of outcome for the same role that we're doing? So I I love that uh you shared that story because that's something that um I didn't know happened af after, you know, a manifest event. So what a good success story.
SPEAKER_00
38:52
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01
38:52
Um what do you what are you most excited about for for this upcoming event?
SPEAKER_00
38:58
Well, I'm I'm super excited about the growth. Um, the energy last year was like, I wish I could have bottled it. And so the prospect that it's going to be even bigger is is super exciting. We have some really great senior supply chain leaders that are going to be on stage from you know companies like Target, L'Oreal, Gap, Albertsons, Unilever, and they're going to be talking frankly about lessons that they've learned. Um, all these people are prepared to be, you know, a little bit on unfiltered and are there, you know, I think you mentioned it earlier, rising tides lift all boats. And so these leaders are really committed to sharing what has gone right in their organization, but also what they've learned in hopes of of really helping the industry as a whole.
SPEAKER_01
39:53
And so with the with the agenda, are there any topics that I know you said earlier that the shippers kind of help dictate like what is what's important to them, what they're struggling with, and and that helps shape some of the agenda. Are there any maybe central themes? I'm sure AI is going to be part of the conversation. You you actually mentioned that earlier. Uh, are there any other central themes with the agenda? You know, as the the time of we're recording this, this is October 15th. And so the agenda, preliminary agenda, dropped today. And so I was going through it earlier. And it, I mean, obviously all of the talks look incredible, but what are maybe like the sort of the high-level, like eagle-eye view of how you're shaping out the agenda?
SPEAKER_00
40:33
Yeah, so resilience and designing resilient supply chains is really a common theme that is overarching throughout the agenda. I would say, to your point before, AI, but really taking it from pilots to really being a part of the PL. Um, automation and the physical network is a huge theme that goes through it. Uh, we'll talk be talking a lot about freight and ports, last mile, sustainability, but sustainability really made operational, which I think is so important for sustainability to move forward. You know, we have to look at it as a cost-saving center on our PLs, not just this like good thing to do. It's it impacts, you know, the bottom line of companies. And that kind of feeds into the whole idea of supply chain being a really strategic value engine within organizations.
SPEAKER_01
41:32
Yeah, I'll I'll definitely be sure to share a link to that agenda in the show notes when this episode goes live, because there's so much just good content. If this was available online right now, I think I would have a binge session this weekend to watch a lot of this. Um, because you guys really are at the forefront of these conversations and and leading the industry into not just a pulse of where it's at, but where it's going. And so, well, speaking of where it's going, you guys have another show as well. And this was, I believe, part of um that with the hive group acquisition. This is uh technically it happened last year, but this is technically the first year where you know, yeah, you got a show under your belt, and now you got the full backing of the Hive Group and how they can help put Manifest on steroids. And so, not just with Vegas and you know, increasing that attendance event to, I think our estimates to 100 is what you said earlier, uh, but also expanding out into Europe. I'm I'm curious as to why was, I guess, Europe the the next logical place for Manifest to expand to.
SPEAKER_00
42:38
Yeah, so there were there were a lot of signals. Um, so when I first came on board in 2023, one of the things that I did when I was at MIT is I created geoclones of what we did at MIT. Um, and so two of those centers were in Europe. One was in Luxembourg, one was in Zaragoza, Spain. We had a center in Malaysia, a center in China, a center in Latin America. And so one of the first conversations that we had was where do you think Manifest should go? And so we started talking about Europe. And, you know, you mentioned Pam earlier. Pam has a lot of connections in Europe, and um, Tanzil, who also does content and works with our executives, started having a lot of conversations. And he was hearing from a lot of companies that they don't necessarily want to travel to the US right now. You know, their senior leaders, if they're based in Europe, they want something like this in Europe. So then we started debating whether it be in Amsterdam, because that's, you know, kind of a logistics hub. And back to your original point about Jay, our founder, he wants these events to be in fun places. And so um, when we started talking about Lisbon and Portugal, it really kind of fit the bill. It's it's a port city, so you have that logistics infrastructure there. It's a really innovative city. There's a lot of um startups and innovation that's happening in it, which is also central to manifest. It's a fun, vibrant city for people to go and have fun. And it's it's a direct flight for a lot of people in the US, which makes it really easy and accessible. And to be very honest, it's cheaper than a lot of other places in Europe for people to travel to. So that was something that um we kept in mind as well because a lot of the supply chain folks are a little bit more budget conscious. Um, and so Lisbon kind of just checked all of the boxes um as we kind of individually were having conversations. So we're super excited to be able to launch it in 2027. Um, we have a great leader in Sophia Ahmed who comes from uh the supply chain event space and is really, you know, driving it forward and and putting it on the map. And so I look forward to everyone joining us there as well. And that that's October 2027 time frame, right?
SPEAKER_01
45:13
Yeah. So now we are we're really gonna have to we're just gonna have homework all year long.
SPEAKER_00
45:20
All year long.
SPEAKER_01
45:21
But like the best kind of like you make money off of this homework if you do it right. So right. No, exactly. Cool. I I think that was about all of the questions that That I had because I just I I love this event. I think it's it's one of the few must-attend events for me. I've never missed one. I never plan on missing one. I'm a knock on wood just to save myself or you know, cover my basis. But I'm curious if there, if there's anything that you're personally looking forward to, or if there maybe if there's anything that you feel is important to mention that we haven't already talked about, would love to have that space to talk about it now.
SPEAKER_00
45:56
Yeah, so um, you know, I'm I'm really looking forward to we have some new features this year. So our kickoff party will be off site this year and is gonna be at a super fun location that will be announced very soon. So um that that's kind of a a new fun activity that will get us out in the daylight out of the Venetians, so that's gonna be great. We're gonna have some great speakers on day zero, which is kind of our kickoff day, which we don't normally have speakers on that day. So that's a little bit of a shift, and it could be more of a celebrity speaker. Um, so hopefully, we I know you're gonna have Tansel on in a couple months. So hopefully he'll be able to talk a little bit more about that. Um, and then as always, we're gonna have a great after party with um a really great act that of course I can't say who it is yet, but it's it's gonna be awesome.
SPEAKER_01
46:58
Yes, because that is one of the key pieces too. And I I think I tell people all the time, uh one thing that completely changed my mind, especially with like conference events, is that one year uh you guys had Flow Rider, and I, you know, I'm a millennial, and so I was like, okay, that that'll you know definitely be fun. One of the best conferences I've ever been to. I it was blown away fun. So the fact that like I look for his tour dates now ever since that event. And and and I can, I'm getting this weird to say, I'm getting goosebumps, like just talking about like how much fun I had. There's proof right there. Goosebumps. Um, but it was so much fun. And he actually came, and I unfortunately I was out of town, but he came, you know, to Orlando, which is near where I'm at in Jacksonville, and wasn't able to make it because I was already out of town, but I would have drove to see him. So shout out to the the manifest events team for for putting together concerts that are now like must must attend. And I tell all of my friends if you have a chance to go see him, go see him. He's so much fun. Um all right, Katie. This was such a great conversation. This feels like the official when I talk to somebody from Manifest, it feels like the official kickoff to the holidays. And then we we end the holidays with a manifest event. And you know, there's Valentine's Day around that time too, and that and that's great. But Manifest is like the official like end cap to a busy holiday season. Um, but hopefully it, you know, it kicks the the year off for a lot of folks. Right now, yeah. Uh so anything else you you would like to add? I mean, obviously, you know, event date, but usually the first couple weeks in in February. So if you just want to go ahead and block that off on your calendar every year, then you'll be all set for manifest each year. Um, all right, Katie, where can folks connect with you? Uh obviously, I I would imagine LinkedIn is is the best route.
SPEAKER_00
48:48
Yep. Absolutely. Reach out to me on LinkedIn. Um, and I if you have any questions at all, if you are a retailer, brand, manufacturer, and you're like, ooh, I don't know if I can afford this, definitely reach out to me because the hosted shipper program is the way that you can come get a free ticket, maybe get some extra cash to help support it. It's a really, really great program to help, to help um assist them. Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01
49:18
And you have to ask yourself, like in this day and age of technology and innovation, like, can you afford to not make it and to not adopt you know some of these strategies that are being uh in conversations that are being had at this event? So uh Katie, thank you so much for your time. I'll put all of those connection notes in the or in the show notes rather. And then I'll also add a link to where you can save $200 off of your ticket if you buy it through the Everything is Logistics podcast link, which is important to mention because we want to make sure that everybody's listening that you if you're gonna get a ticket, use my link to get a couple. Gotta get a discount.
SPEAKER_00
49:53
Yes.
SPEAKER_01
49:54
Get your discount and then help me compete against the other podcasters in this space. We we have to we have to show that we're that we're doing a good job. So 100%. Thank you again so much for for coming on and sharing the story about manifest and where it's headed. It's all you know, great insight, great conversations, and I can't wait to see you in just a few months.
SPEAKER_00
50:15
Yeah, my pleasure. Thanks for having me.
SPEAKER_01
50:18
Awesome. Thank you so much.
