Altair Global Showcases Partnership and Experience at WERC GWS 2024
It was an action-packed, insightful, and fun week at WERC’s 2024 Global Workforce Symposium in National Harbor, MD. We’ve recapped the highlights from our Altair Global team, from our annual Supplier Partner Awards luncheon to participation in panel sessions to evening festivities.
Honoring our Superb Supplier Partners
To kick off the week’s festivities, we held our 8th annual Supplier Partner Awards onsite at the Gaylord National Convention Center in Maryland, where we honored 13 recipients for all their excellent efforts serving our relocating customers, as well as one recipient of the annual Move For Hunger award. See all of the 2024 Supplier Partner Award winners here.
Interviews with the award-winners found that our supplier partners truly value the partnership they have with Altair Global, allowing them to reach communities they may not have been able to before. Some winners even went so far as to say that the word to describe Altair Global is “family.”
Celebrating Altair Global at the Exhibit Hall
The energy was inspiring at WERC GWS 2024, where the conference saw huge turnout with more than 1,400 attendees. And that energy was clear to see at our booth, where our team members shared more about our 35th anniversary as an organization as well as the work we’ve been doing for the past five years as an XM-based company. Read more about our dual 35/5 anniversaries here.
Back by popular demand, we came ready with commemorative, limited-edition enamel pins, showcasing fun relocation-related quips like a “no ruff relos” relocating doggie in a plane window and an event-specific design with the National Harbor Ferris wheel.
Learning and Educating with Mobility Colleagues
RMC Industry Vertical Panel
On Wednesday, with coffee flowing, the morning started with a moving session with special guest José Andrés, internationally recognized culinary innovator, author, educator, and humanitarian, who joined WERC President and CEO Anupam Singhal for a fireside chat. After that, it was time to get down to business.
Chad Sterling, CEO at Altair Global, joined fellow relocation management company (RMC) leaders on stage for a discussion on cost containment in the industry, what everyone is seeing in terms of volumes compared to past years, the economics of relocation transactions in light of the recent NAR lawsuits, advancing technology, and—of course—AI.
Chad shared from Altair’s own experience with our generative AI-powered virtual assistant, Ali, that AI takes away the easy, surface work, thereby strengthening our workforce. In his own words, “it is a great leveling up for our industry.”
U.S. Buyer Broker Litigation: Updates and Town Hall with WERC’s Ad Hoc Group Leaders
Altair Global’s Kathy Couture, SVP of the Atlantic Region, joined a town hall session that expanded on the recent National Association of REALTORS (NAR) settlement and its impact on both global mobility and the real estate sector.
Kathy stressed the importance of education and transparency with clients, relocating customers, and broker partners in this unprecedented time, explaining how everyone within the industries are working together to navigate the ever-changing landscape and look forward to the light at the end of the tunnel through collaboration.
Sustainability in the Mobility Industry: Now, the Future, and the New Normal
On the final day of WERC, Altair’s Brian Potts, EVP of the Americas, took part in a panel focused on sustainability legislation and initiatives in the mobility industry. The session was filled with detailed information to stay up to date on the latest sustainability news across EMEA and the U.S., such as the Climate Disclosure Rule and standardization coming to the EU, and what different groups in mobility such as The Coalition for Greener Mobility are doing to support the industry.
Sustainability has been at the forefront of mobility for the past few years, with RFP requests increasingly asking for environmental policies, certifications, and/or initiatives to support client programs, and goals. Brian shared what Altair has seen through experience, the benefit of partnering with environmental organizations like EcoVadis and CDP, and the importance of sustainability reporting. His take is that this is not a “nice to have,” but rather a must-have going forward, stating that organizations are going to need a sustainability individual or expert on their team to start calculating GHG emissions and other relevant data, to determine a baseline and subsequent goals for reduction.
Altair has been doing just that through our ESG initiatives, crunching the numbers year-over-year and developing target goals where we can improve within our CATALYST initiative. In an effort to educate, bring awareness, and inspire action to reduce or eliminate environmental impacts, to engage in and give back to our local communities, to safeguard the information we’re entrusted to protect, and to follow the rules and regulations as we go, we created our 2024 ESG report. This report details the progress toward these goals while reflecting our commitment to transparency.
Household Goods (HHG): First-hand Accounts and Solutioned Outcomes
Rounding out Altair’s involvement with WERC sessions was Patrick Keery, VP of Move Management, who joined a panel for an insightful and—dare we say—humorous session covering the wild mishaps of unique situations each panelist has encountered through HHG involvement in a relocation.
Things don’t always go according to plan throughout a relocation, but the important thing is how these situations are handled. The panel relayed their own real-life stories and discussed how to properly manage these unexpected, disruptive experiences and how to adapt processes to prevent such events where possible.
The group stressed the importance of having empathy for the customer, understanding how to work with them, being patient with all parties, and how communication is key. Patrick stressed the importance of getting all players in a relocation together early on and being transparent on the communication.
Taking in the Sights with Our Client Partners
It wouldn’t be an Altair-attended conference without a little fun! Our Altair team members and client partners enjoyed a sunset boat ride across the Potomac River where they took in the scenery before docking and walking their way down charming, historic King Street in Old Town Alexandria.
Dinner was served at Landini Brothers, a traditional Italian restaurant in a building as old as George Washington (original wood beams included!), where special guest Martha Washington herself made an appearance (did you know? Martha and George were experienced in relocation themselves, having done assignments in New York City and Philadelphia!). Later, we took an after-dinner stroll around D.C.’s iconic monuments by night.
