ISRI Has Significant Presence during 2021 ITAD Summit

This week’s Industry Voices was written by Craig Boswell, ISRI’s Electronics Division chair, and co-founder and president of HOBI International.

ISRI had a significant presence during the 2021 ITAD Summit, which took place Aug. 18-19 in Huntington Beach, Calif. Along with sponsoring the event and operating a booth, several ISRI members chaired and/or spoke during sessions.

Rike Sandlin, CEO of Rivervista Partners, discussed business transformation in the IT asset disposition (ITAD) sector during the Business Transformation for ITAD session on the first day of the summit. Sandlin examined areas of transformation that can take place to advance an ITAD company in this rapidly growing and changing space. Karen Fedder, ITAD director at Blancco, moderated a session called ITAD Reboot: Opportunities and Challenges. The session featured industry veterans, and offered a client’s perspective on emerging trends in the space. Russ Ernst, Blancco’s executive vice president of products and technology, participated in the Automation in ITAD Services session, giving an insightful presentation on new automation techniques for companies in the ITAD space.

The first day of the summit concluded with The Unexpected Power of Mentoring session, featuring Joe Clayton, vice president of business development at ARCOA Group; Jim Levine, CEO of Regency Technologies; and me. Clayton and Levine are both past chairs of ISRI’s Electronics Division. The three of us discussed the impact that mentorship has had on our careers. We all agreed mentorship is an important aspect of career development. We also agreed the networking opportunities provided by associations such as ISRI represent a fertile ground for finding mentors.

The second day of the summit featured a keynote by CEO Miles Harter of Dynamic Lifecycle Innovations. Harter offered tremendous insight from his experience at Dynamic. Another session, Growing Your ITAD Partnership Network: Don’t Say No If You Can’t Go, featured Sean Magann, chief commercial officer of Sims Lifecycle Services.

The ITAD Summit represents one of the best networking events of the year for the industry. The Electronics Division will have a follow-up call Thursday, Aug. 26, with several companies that expressed interest in joining the division.