More than 150 people attended ICON, the ConnectShip Technology Conference from June 15 through June 17 held at the Hyatt Regency McCormick Place in downtown Chicago. Attendees were treated to keynote speakers, multiple tracks for breakout sessions, and special events designed to provide networking opportunities. ICON15 was the third technology conference hosted by ConnectShip to bring customers and partners together to discuss the future of international shipping, and best practices in leveraging the ConnectShip shipping solutions.

The event began with a keynote presentation from a ConnectShip partner, Pantechnik International, and customer, Honeywell who demonstrated the first implementation of a new solution, the Pantechnik International Component, certified by ConnectShip. This new component, an addition to the portfolio of existing international carrier components supported by ConnectShip, allows users to access a library of additional international carriers available from Pantechnik International. While currently only available in limited release, ConnectShip will make a formal announcement when the component is generally available.

Keynote speaker, Juan Perez, Vice President of Information Services of UPS, wrapped up the conference with a presentation on the strength of UPS technology, stating that the company invests more than $1 billion to deliver on services to its customers around the world. He praised the work that ConnectShip is doing to support the UPS global growth strategy with the release of the new international carrier component. This was the first time that the event has been opened to the public and Mr. Perez's presentation was well attended by people who were new to ICON.

Multiple sessions offered the opportunity to hear directly from customers about their experience using the ConnectShip suite of on-premise and off-premise solutions to optimize their shipping operations for a competitive advantage. Attendees gave high marks in survey questions about the value of attending the sessions (4.52 out of 5.00) and the topic knowledge of the speaker (4.75 out of 5.00).

A racing theme tied the special events together. Attendees took the controls to race radio-powered stock cars at the Welcome Reception and competed for prizes for teams who found the most shipping-related items at an Amazing Race themed networking event. A global café of international foods completed the experience.

The event was produced by ConnectShip with support from the following companies:

UPS, Pitney Bowes, and Pantechnik International, ADSI, Endicia, and OnTrac.

The event will take place in Dallas in 2017. Information on the upcoming conference will be posted to the ConnectShip website.