The national political scene, innovation and technology, the economy and global development highlight the Association of Equipment Manufacturers (AEM) annual conference agenda. The event brings together senior-level executives in the off-road equipment manufacturing industry to better understand and act on industry issues and to network with peers.

With the theme “Momentum: Leaders Never Stand Still,” the AEM annual conference will be held Nov. 3 to 5, 2013, at the Hilton Bonnet Creek Resort and Waldorf Astoria properties in Orlando, Fla.

New for 2013 are executive locker room discussions: fast-paced open-forum sessions that promote candid peer dialog and problem-solving on key issues of innovation, technology, succession planning and customer support/parts business.

A conference mobile event app will ramp up social engagement and interaction among attendees, allowing immediate feedback on presentations, information and alerts on conference activities, audience polling and more immediate results from the AEMPAC fundraising auction.

Conference keynote is Peter Diamandus, a leading authority on innovation and chair and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation, which provides large incentive prizes to spur radical breakthroughs benefiting humanity. He’ll challenge companies to promote intelligent risk-taking that embraces the opportunities of rapid growth in technology, crowd sourcing and structural efficiencies.

Returning by popular demand is Peter Zeihan, president of Zeihan on Geopolitics, with executive briefings on Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America. His information and insights will help attendees dig deeper into forces shaping the new world order to take advantage of market opportunities.

In the conference’s Economies of Our Industries panel, the lead economists from Caterpillar Inc., American Farm Bureau Federation, Wells Fargo and Company and Associated General Contractors will examine the effects of multiple economic trends on off-road equipment manufacturing and will share strategies for driving growth.

Also on the AEM agenda are Michael Jones, chief technology advocate of Google; Jim VandeHei, co-founder and executive editor of the POLITICO news media company; Bob Buker, president and CEO of U.S. Sugar; and Kirk Samuelson, senior vice president operations of Kiewit Corp.

AEM will conduct its annual business meeting during the conference, with election of directors, recognition of longtime members and progress reports on association business and advocacy initiatives. AEM also holds its annual AEMPAC fundraising gala at the conference, this year with a “dueling pianos” theme, and it announces and celebrates the newest inductees into the AEM Hall of Fame.

For more information, visit www.aem.org.

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