This month we decided to catch up with Livia Rice, ARM’s Marketing and Communications Manager. Among her other responsibilities at the Institute, Livia is also responsible for planning the ARM Institute’s Annual Member Meeting. We are kicking off registration this month for our 5th annual event, scheduled for November 15-17 in Pittsburgh.
Livia, give us the basics on the ARM Institute Annual Meeting.
The Annual ARM Institute Member Meeting convenes representatives from across our 300+ member organizations for 2.5 days of networking, collaboration, and knowledge-sharing. This is the cornerstone event for our organization where we showcase new projects, institute initiatives, project calls, and so much more. As much as this is a chance for the Institute to showcase new work, it’s also a celebration of our Members. Going into our fifth year hosting this meeting, we have a very robust agenda and new interactive sessions planned.
The Member Meeting is free to attend and only open to ARM Institute Members. Our 2021 Meeting will take place November 15-17 in downtown Pittsburgh, PA as a hybrid event.
What can first time attendees expect at the event?
The ARM Member Meeting is the best way for members to meet other members and learn about their organizations, get an update on the Institute itself, and the projects that our members are working on or have completed. Our entire team looks forward to meeting our new Members in-person this year!
What will be new or different for this year’s event?
This will be the first year that we offer a hybrid event! Last year, we hosted the Member Meeting virtually and saw record attendance. While we hope to see many of our Members in-person at this year’s event, we are also excited to offer this new format for those who may be unable to travel into Pittsburgh and welcome more representatives from each member organization.
We have also launched a number of new projects and member services since the last time that we convened our Members at an in-person Member Meeting, including RoboticsCareer.org (our national capability that connects education seekers with training for manufacturing careers working with robotics), new functionality in the Member Community including better access to project outputs, several pandemic focused projects, and more.
Additionally, while our CEO Ira Moskowitz was on-board for our 2020 Virtual Member Meeting, this will be the first opportunity many of our Members have to meet Ira in-person in his role as our CEO!
We are also implementing new COVID-19 safety precautions. All attendees must show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test within 72 hours of our event with date of test shown. We will also require attendees to wear a mask when not eating or drinking. More details about these protocols will be included in our event invitations and registration page.
We also have a number of exciting announcements planned. Stay tuned for a detailed agenda!
What makes the Member Meeting unique from other conferences and similar meetings?
The composition of our membership inherently makes the Member Meeting unique. The ARM Institute facilitates collaboration between industry, government, and academia to catalyze impactful robotics and workforce projects that are helping to shape the future of manufacturing. At the Member Meeting, you’ll see organizations that may be considered competitors working together towards the ARM Institute mission that is shared by our Members: working to lead the way to a future where people and robots work together to respond to our nation’s greatest challenges and to develop and produce the world’s most desired products.
How can I learn more?
Registration for our event is now open! Members can log into the Member Community to register or email [email protected] for more information.
Organizations that are not currently members should reach out to [email protected] to learn more about joining the ARM Institute in time to attend the Member Meeting.
About the ARM Institute
The ARM (Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing) Institute is a Manufacturing Innovation Institute (MII) funded by the Office of the Secretary of Defense under Agreement Number W911NF-17-3-0004, and part of the Manufacturing USA® network. The ARM Institute leverages a unique, robust, and diverse ecosystem of consortium members and partners across industry, academia, and government to make robotics, autonomy, and artificial intelligence more accessible to U.S. manufacturers large and small, train and empower the manufacturing workforce, strengthen our economy and global competitiveness, and elevate national security and resilience. Based in Pittsburgh, PA since 2017, the ARM Institute is leading the way to a future where people & robots work together to respond to our nation’s greatest challenges and to produce the world’s most desired products. For more information, visit www.arminstitute.org and follow the ARM Institute on LinkedIn and Twitter.