Paper Meets LIVE! 2024: Reflections, Lasting Connections and a Dolphin's Leap

My NPTA Paper Meets LIVE! 2024 conference summary by the numbers

• 2 days
• 21 meetings
• 1 Emerging Leaders roundtable
• Countless takeaways

While the grind of this year’s Paper Meets conference was real, so was the value of being together as an industry to touch base, make new connections and build out existing partnerships. Being able to meet once more at the beautiful Opal Sands Resort in Clearwater, Florida, provided a calm respite as we transitioned from meeting to meeting. I even caught a glimpse of a dolphin jumping as I settled in for my first morning meeting of the conference.

One of the most poignant moments of the event for me was getting to celebrate the storied career of my friend and fellow AIPPM compatriot, Tom Groves from West Coast Paper. I had the opportunity to spend some time with the newly minted Stanley O. Styles award winner over a glass (or three) of wine on Monday evening. I took away many nuggets of wisdom from our conversation, but what resonated most was my extraordinary appreciation for the exceptional people and companies, like Tom and West Coast Paper, who embody our NPTA community and the broader paper, pulp and print industry.

The conference culminated with an opportunity to join Scott Hider of Clampitt Paper Company and Courtney Enser of Millcraft on a panel at the NPTA Emerging Leaders event Thursday morning. What started as a traditional panel format morphed into a two-hour collaborative discussion around key items related to our industry, including (but not limited to) career progression experiences, best-practice sharing, goal setting and the future of our respective businesses.

While there are myriad uncertainties facing our domestic and global economies at present, I left that final Paper Meets session among some of our industry’s best and brightest talents, with a sense of encouragement for what is to come. As the saying goes, “those were the days …” But in equal proportion, so are these.

Upon further reflection, and after a solid 10 hours of sleep in my own bed, the word that best describes this year’s conference for me is "rejuvenated." I not only have a renewed outlook but also a clearer roadmap for moving forward than I did when I entered my first meeting at the start of the week. As the leaves begin to change and the air acquires the crispness that signals winter’s arrival here in Minnesota, I close my eyes and envision that dolphin leaping in the early morning sun. I look forward to building on the opportunities discovered and the relationships made through NPTA at this year’s Paper Meets event. Until next year...