Highlighting PPC’s commitment to educating and engaging its members, the conference will feature a variety of illuminating speakers. Setting a new groundwork for effective leadership, Steve Wiley and Jared Peatman from The Lincoln Leadership Institute will use history—including the Battle of Gettysburg and the Alamo—as a metaphor for examining leadership in today’s rapidly changing workplace. Later, Beth Ziesensis, author and self-proclaimed tech nerd, will show attendees how they can use technology to streamline daily projects, all while introducing dozens of apps and online tools that put the ideas from the session into action.
 
Other speakers will include Michael P. Doss, president and CEO of Graphic Packaging International, Alon Bar-Shany, general manager of HP Indigo, and Jeff Rosensweig, economist and professor from Emory University.
 
“Leaders from folding carton companies across North America come to PPC’s conferences to learn new skills and best practices for bettering their businesses,” said Ben Markens, PPC president. “We carefully curate the lineup of speakers maximize value for our attendees.”

Further improving the member experience, the conference will feature a number of smaller special interest sessions, including a sustainability and marketing workshop, an industry benchmarking committee meeting, a rigid box committee meeting, the women’s leadership conference, the new generation leaders workshop, and a special session on the art of selling.
 
Additionally, attendees will take part in two large panel discussions that will facilitate collaborative learning. The first will feature brand owners who will address their criteria for choosing packaging substrates and how paperboard stacks up. During the second panel, the designers of some of the winning entries from the 2016 North American Paperboard Packaging Competition will explain how they solved their customers problems and open a dialogue with the audience about innovative solutions.
 
Fall Meeting will also include a welcome celebration at San Antonio’s famed Buckhorn Saloon and Museum, as well as a special banquet and ceremony to reveal the winners of the 2016 North American Paperboard Packaging Competition. 

“Fall Meeting is a time when we come together as an association,” said Markens. “There is a true power in the air as friends and colleagues discuss the opportunities and challenges that matter to them most. I hope to see representatives from all parts of the industry in San Antonio.”