President's Column - August 2025
Hello Members and Industry Friends,
I’ve always liked trade shows. Sure, there’s plenty to grumble about, and I certainly do. The time, the cost, the planning, the hours on your feet in a booth, but I still enjoy them. I really do.
It’s the people. There are folks I only see at shows every few years, but some go back 25+ years. Real friends made. We get to see what other companies have to offer, what do you do better, what do they do better, good ideas you have to tip your cap to for thinking of it or pulling it off. When we get lucky it’s in a great location. A fun city with a great work team is where memories are made. We all have those stories that have to get busted out from time to time. Those on the road and show circuits could write a book! And certainly, we can’t forget the reason we do it: making deals with clients and customers.
So it’s no surprise that I’ve always had a soft spot for the Odyssey Expo. It’s our association’s crown jewel, a one-of-a-kind event, for our specific part of the industry. Every President is asked to “do an Odyssey” during their two-year term. That means different things to different people, but no matter how you slice it, it’s a lot of hats to wear. What’s asked of the President is nothing compared to what the staff pulls off behind the scenes, but there’s still plenty to get done.
I’ve mentioned before how my first few Odysseys shaped my connection to the IADD. Back then I was a field tech, there to install and operate diecutters. I gave technical sessions in banquet rooms and demos on the show floor. Honestly, I’ve been doing that kind of thing at every show since.
Public speaking has never come naturally to me. I don’t have much in the way of stage presence, and I usually get pretty nervous beforehand. But like a lot of us, you just get up there and do it. Most of the time, once I start talking, I settle in. Most of the time.
There was one time at Odyssey, though, I didn’t.
I was presenting Hot Foil Tips & Tricks for a faster makeready. I had my notes, practiced my bullet points, but the nerves were strong. They mic’d me up, pointed a big camera in my face, and I suddenly went pale. I felt a wave of heat rising up my legs and genuinely thought, “I’m going to pass out right here.” I looked at my colleague and in a “hot mic” moment said, “I’m going down!”
Thankfully, I didn’t faint, but I might as well have. I looked down on my bullet points and they could have been written in another language. I could read the words but they meant nothing to me. Completely blank. So instead of each one being a 5-10 minute talking point, I had about six incomplete thoughts on a paper. What should have taken me 45 minutes to get through, I think I was out of there in 20! I knew it was bad because nobody even tried to fake a “good job” afterwards. Just the polite, “Hey, it happens,” or “We’ve all been there.” True enough. But still, those are the moments where you want to crawl under the machine and disappear.
To make it worse, I knew it was filmed. How could I forget with that big camera in my face? At the time, all the technical sessions were recorded and put on the IADD site. Not all the sessions made it to the site and it took a bit of time and expense to edit and produce the videos. I kept my eye out for that particular gem. For years. Thankfully, it never surfaced, until recently.
When we migrated to a new CRM for the association, we had to comb through all the old content and decide what to keep. IADD CEO Jenny divided up the tasks and asked for volunteers. One of the categories? Videos. I couldn’t volunteer fast enough.
Sure enough, I found it. I knew the exact title I was looking for. I clicked open the file, saw a young me standing there and closed it immediately. Couldn’t bring myself to watch the train wreck. Instant delete. Gone forever. What video? I’ve probably done of hundred of them since, but that one sticks with me.
And now all these years later, here I am doing multiple speaking sessions per day and with real responsibility for putting on the event, not just my company’s product presentation. I remember that sinking in and hoping I’m not going to mess it up again.
And I don’t think we did.
It’s true, Odyssey today doesn’t look exactly like it did twenty years ago. The world has changed, and so have trade shows. We have to acknowledge that. But that doesn’t mean what we’re doing now isn’t worthwhile. It is worthwhile. And it’s evolving with purpose.
In last month’s column, I wrote about my role as President being partly about a course correction, not because we’ve veered wildly off track, but because the terrain around us has changed. Odyssey fits into that same story. The reasons people come to trade shows, or join associations or participate in professional communities, those reasons aren’t always the same as they used to be. So, we need to make sure what we’re offering continues to matter.
Now that I’ve “done one,” I can share what I thought worked and what should be reviewed. We had some wins this year, things that worked, things that connected. We also have some areas to revisit. That’s healthy. It’s not about chasing what used to be; it’s about meeting people where they are today, and delivering value in a way that feels relevant.
Odyssey is still a special event. It still brings our community together in ways that online platforms can’t quite replicate. It still sparks conversation, learning and even still some deals. It still matters. But we owe it to ourselves to make sure it keeps mattering.
That means being honest about what worked and what didn’t. It means asking hard questions, like we’ve been doing at the Board level: How do we keep Odyssey strong? Should it look different in the future? Should it be more digital? More regional? More frequent? Less frequent? Nothing is off the table.
At the heart of it all, the IADD is still about people helping people. Whether that’s across a trade show floor or across a video call. Whether it’s sharing best practices in a packed Techshop or in a ten-minute podcast. The format can shift. The mission stays the same.
So yes, I still like trade shows. And I’m proud of what we accomplished with Odyssey this year. But we’re already thinking about what comes next for the event, for our members, and for the future of this association.
Stay tuned!
Rob has 27 years of experience at Bobst, one of the world’s leading suppliers of substrate processing, printing and converting equipment and services for the label, flexible packaging, folding carton and corrugated board industries. He currently serves as Tooling Director.
Rob is based in Switzerland, with his wife Monica and their children, Leo and Manuela. His older son, Khai is engaged and remains living in New Jersey. Rob enjoys camping and cooking as well as being a full time chauffer to hockey and swimming practices.
He is proof that being one of those “take it apart and see how it works” kind of guys can lead you to a wonderful career, meeting new people and experiencing the world.
The President's Column appears in The Cutting Edge, the IADD's monthly magazine.
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