by Eileen McMorrow
Like all facilities professionals, you are very busy at your workplace and can’t imagine getting away for two to three days to attend a conference, but if you consider NFMT in Baltimore, this is what you my experience:
- Valuable education at the conference sessions;
- Direct access to industry experts;
- Solutions companies to visit in the exhibit hall and product zone sessions;
- Connections with peers who share the same goals; and
- Learning that results in Continuing Education Units.
The McMorrow Reports & FMLink have been attending the National Facility Management and Technology Conference & Expo for at least 20 years, and we know our readers should, too. It will be worth the time invested when facilities managers, executives, engineers and allied professionals gather March 21-23 at the Baltimore Convention Center in Maryland. Both the educational conference sessions, starting on Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. and ending on Thursday at 4:45 p.m., and the expo floor are bountiful with resources and exhibitors for all FM segments.
Sessions of note for corporate office and other commercial FMs include: Three-Pronged Approach to Manage the Building Envelope of Your Facilities with Sergio E. Pagés, Client Relations Manager, StructureTec; The Value of BIM across all Building Operations Stakeholders with Jacob D’Albora, FMP, Director of Digital Building Operations, VIATechnik; and Leveraging an Owner’s Project Requirements (OPR) Documents to Support Facility Managers with Rodney Ashmore, CxA, NICET, Sr. Commissioning Project Manager, WSP and Michael Scott, P.E., CxA, Associate – Commissioning, WSP.
The Asset Management track explores: How to Build an FM Team with the Right Skills & Knowledge, with members of the ProFM commission and recent ProFM credential-holders; Facility Management Innovation and the Future of the Built Environment; and Pace Utilization and Facility Condition Assessments, Anand Sankey, Director of Maintenance Services, Western Michigan University among others.
Of note, the Energy & Sustainability Track offers topics that are high on the FM radar again, such as What Leading Organizations are Doing Today to Drive Decarbonization; Mission Critical: Net Zero Diesel for Emergency Generator Power; and Funding Your Energy Project with New Tax Incentives Related to the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), along with related sessions.
The conference tracks include:
Asset Management; Energy & Sustainability; Future Trends; Health & Safety; Maintenance & Operations; Security; Technology and the Think Tank.
Opening for 90 minutes on Tuesday afternoon, the expo hall kick-off is followed by NFMT’s notable Networking Party from 5:00 to 6:00 p.m. The Women in FM panel and reception returns on Wednesday afternoon along with the Solutions Exchange. The fnPrime Lounge is available every day. Product Zones, 20-minute sessions during expo hours, occur on the expo floor each day.
NFMT offers a Justification Toolkit (PDF file) for potential attendees to share with their management. It includes a justification letter, cost and budget analysis, and post-event report.
Use NFMT’s event explorer while registering to pre-register for sessions. Build your agenda to include conference sessions roundtables, networking functions, product zone sessions, and time in the exhibit hall. Research the education sessions and the exhibitors to successfully choose the ones that apply to your position and company needs.
Pricing is offered at the Basic, Pro, Elite and Non-Buyer Levels.