Tuesday, October 25th 

11:00 a.m. 

We kicked off this year’s conference with our annual Supplier Partner Awards ceremony and luncheon. For the sixth year, we recognized our supplier partners that have consistently gone above and beyond throughout the past year for numerous categories, including humanitarian commitment and sustainability. Read more about the entire event and see the 2022 winners here.   

2:15 p.m. 

That afternoon, Altair Global’s Data Compliance Officer, George Powdar, spoke on a panel for the Global Compliance Policy Forum. Worldwide ERC’s public policy forums are the place where workforce mobility professionals come together during the conference to identify and find solutions to the legal and regulatory hurdles confronting the mobility industry. They work directly with policymakers and in coalition with other industry associations to shape public policies. 

During the forum, Powdar and other panelists discussed the voting on the American Data Privacy and Protection Act, enactments on this act, and efforts of Worldwide ERC and relocation partners on language to protect the personally identified information of transferees shipping household goods to the U.S. 

Wednesday, October 26th 

11:00 a.m. 

On the second day of the conference, hundreds shuffled into the main conference hall to hear Altair Global’s President and COO, Kathryn Cassidy, along with other top mobility leader panelists, in a discussion on the state of the relocation management company (RMC) industry and how they continue to navigate the changing tides.  

Cassidy and the panel discussed everything from ongoing supply chain struggles, potential mergers and consolidations, remote work, and the effects of the war on Ukraine to micro trends impacting mobility, diversity, equity and inclusion, and a heightened focus on customer experience (of which Altair is a leading provider thanks to #AltairXM). There was a focus on questions from the audience as to whether or not RMCs are seeing customers shy away from moving to certain states because of issues around access to healthcare, or to specific countries with a history of not treating the LGBTQIA+ community the same as elsewhere.  

4:30 p.m. 

The doors opened to the exhibit hall, and it was clear to see that GWS was back in full force! The more-than-1200-attendee conference was hustling and bustling for the opening reception as the first exhibiting hours were underway. 

Over at Altair Global’s booth, SP7, we were busy meeting and greeting new and old faces alike as we gave away our handy conference travel kits to enhance one’s experience in Las Vegas, containing conference essentials such as ear plugs, aspirin, queasy drops, sanitizing wipes, band-aids and a sleep eye mask.  

We also encouraged participants to drop their business cards for a chance to win our raffle prize: an Oculus Meta Quest 2, in honor of our session surrounding virtual reality and its use in mobility (read more about this session below)!  

Thursday, October 27th 

3:30 p.m. 

On Thursday, Altair Global’s Vice President of Client Services, Matthew Eschrich, joined Tricia Sirois with Adobe, William Taylor with Relocity and Robert Wyatt with Synergy Global Housing to discuss the advent of the metaverse and how both metaverse and virtual reality as a whole could impact client, RMC and supply chain experiences.  

While the benefits of virtual reality are already realized in destination services and temporary housing assistance from a supplier perspective, the session focused on the idea that we are just scratching the surface at the uses for virtual reality in global mobility, including the implication for a company’s Environment Social Governance (ESG) strategy and its ability to have a profound impact on reducing carbon output for the environment.  

“The RMC bridges the ecosystem,” Eschrich said. “The metaverse could have that kind of implication for the future and meet the needs of our customers and the changing population—the Gen-Zs of the world—with RMCs as the ones pulling it all together.” 

So when could we see something like this occur? Eschrich estimates that we could expect to see some shift in the mobility space within three-to-five years. 

6:30 p.m. 

As sessions for the day came to a close, several attendees got dressed up to “Party with a Purpose” at Worldwide ERC’s Foundation Celebration, where proceeds from the event benefitted Move For Hunger and Family Promise.  

As a diamond-level sponsor, Altair joined clients and colleagues at this exclusive, invitation-only event for a night on the dance floor to enjoy some energizing music while giving back to those in need. The celebration raised more than $23,000 in donations to help both organizations.  

Coming together on the heels of two somewhat-virtual years in the conference space thanks to COVID-19 and travel restrictions, it was wonderful to see our team members together in one space celebrating together in person again, including Barry Potter out of our London office and Benny Tan from Singapore! 

Friday, October 28th 

On the final half-day of the conference, Altair Global’s Brian Potts, EVP of the Americas, attended a closed-discussion session as part of Worldwide ERC’s Sustainability Advisory Council.  

With roughly 25 people in attendance, Potts met with the Sustainability Coalition Group to discuss solutions for the mobility industry as it relates to sustainable goals. Each area of mobility (corporate housing, household goods and RMCs) all agreed to focus on being able to offer a “green” move in efforts to work harder toward more sustainable measures. By the end of 2023, each business will offer a green option of which the consumer can choose apart from their standard offering.  

In Conclusion

As you can see, it was a busy, insightful week for Altair at Worldwide ERC’s annual Global Workforce Symposium, and we’re already taking all we’ve discussed and learned and putting it into action. As well as gearing up for next year. Boston, we’re coming for ya!