2024 Fall Meeting Recap 

By several measures, the recent Fall Meeting of our membership was arguably GAM’s best ever.  

The comments received were overwhelmingly positive. In our post-event survey, folks gave us roses for the meeting location (The Ritz at Lake Oconee – not a hardship trip), the many new faces in attendance, the bonfire and s’mores social hour and – most importantly -- the impressive collection of speakers and topics.  

Looking back, it was an all-star roster:  

• Speaker Jon Burns joined us to share insights on legislative matters in the state. 

• Dr. David Gattie from UGA gave a presentation on energy and national security that got everyone’s attention.  

• Dr. Roger Tutterow from KSU (a perennial GAM favorite guest) wowed the crowd with his impressive insights on state and national economics – and in usual Roger style – injected some humor along the way.  

• Gardner Karrick from the National Association of Manufacturers provided an overview of the current state of workforce development as well as an outlook on federal politics.  

• PSC Chair Jason Shaw talked about upcoming energy developments in Georgia. 

• Georgia Power President and CEO Kim Greene gave remarks on the power utility’s heroic recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Helene. 

• And GAM’s staff coordinated several panel sessions on cyber security, artificial intelligence and CEO issues.  

I’m very proud of the content delivered to our members. In true GAM fashion, all topics were timely and topical. 

I’m also very proud of the scores we received from the post-event survey: 

• Over 90% of respondents said they were “very satisfied” with the meeting 

• Over 70% said the meeting “exceeded” their expectations 

• And over 90% said they were “highly likely” to attend future GAM meetings 

The survey also yielded a bundle of comments. I liked this one regarding GAM meetings: “I will be there no matter where they are held”. Now that’s the kind of engagement I like! 

Ok, all that said, we have some things to work on, too. We are striving to bring our meeting costs down as much as possible. Despite running events at near break-even, we hear you. We are also striving to hold more meetings in Georgia (it’s hard to find beaches, but we’ll try!). And we will continue tinkering with the format for our signature meetings to ensure members get enough downtime to enjoy location amenities. We’re on it.  

With the Fall Meeting behind us, we now set our sights on the Spring Meeting at Jekyll Island May 13 – 16 and our inaugural Operational Excellence Council Meeting at the Cloudland McLemore Resort near Lafayette June 10 – 13.  

GAM is striving hard to ensure it delivers meeting experiences like none other. Meetings rich with content, socializing, fun and the one thing you can’t get anywhere else: Our community of leading manufacturers.  

That’s a combination that can’t be beat.  

 

Interested in attending future meetings? Click here to RSVP and be the first to know when registration opens.