Augury recently hosted its first L.A. Manufacturing Meetup in a suite in Dodger Stadium. The evening proved to be a real winner as a new way to trigger meaningful conversations with the larger manufacturing community. It also represented Augury’s new Field Marketing & Event Manager Sam Maxwell’s first months on the job. “It was inspiring how people connected – thanks to being in the same manufacturing ballgame.”
It was a big night – and a culmination of my first 90 days at Augury as our Field Marketing & Event Manager. It was a trial by… baseball. On August 24, Augury invited 30 manufacturing professionals to Dodgers Stadium for a learning and networking event capped by an exciting game between the L.A. Dodgers and the Tampa Bay Rays.
I stepped into the project on my second day and spent the next three months keeping my eye on the ball while working step by step with colleagues to take this one evening from concept to execution. It was a fun way to explore what my role would look like moving forward.
It was also the first time Augury had hosted an event like this – one where we could give something back to the local manufacturing community and offer those who work the factory floor to connect and share their experiences.
You could tell it was already a success when everyone walked in. People introduced themselves. They were excited to mingle with peers. In fact, we really had to wrangle everyone together for the fireside chat.
A Whole New Ballgame
It all began with the knowledge that we had many connections in and around L.A.. And we wanted to say thank you to our base. So, we started brainstorming ideas on what out-of-the-box experience we could offer them. A unique dinner? A factory drive-by with an ice cream truck? It was about breaking the trade show cycle of walking stands for six hours a day and perhaps meeting up for a free drink during a company happy hour.
Now, here’s my full disclosure: I grew up a baseball fan. After getting a college degree in sports management, my first job was an internship with Major League Baseball.
I started digging, and indeed, Dodger Stadium proved to be a central location and was perfect for the one-to-one intimacy we wanted to create for our guests.
My manager said, “Go!” And we went full blast. Yes, there were plenty of road bumps, but a few days before the day, we could step back and go: “Hey, we made it!” I love it when a plan comes together.
Hitting It Out Of The Park
You could tell it was already a success when everyone walked in. People introduced themselves. They were excited to mingle with peers. In fact, we really had to wrangle everyone together for the fireside chat.
Our special guest was a food and drink manufacturer customer who talked – directly from his heart – about his company’s predictive maintenance journey. He spoke about how he came to Augury after trying a competitor that did not apply true AI but was a threshold-based system – and hence came with too many false alerts. He also emphasized the importance of real-time support from human reliability experts.
Attendees nodded knowingly. After all, they were all in the same manufacturing ballgame.
Now imagine what kind of records Shohei could break if he knew what pitch was coming next. Will it be a fastball? Or will it be a curveball?
Driving It Home
Meanwhile, an exciting game played out: it was very back-and-forth before the Dodgers lost 9-8 in extra innings. In the process, Shohei Ohtani became the fastest player in major league history to hit 40 home runs and steal 40 bases.
The whole event got me thinking… Augury’s Machine Health Solution tells you what to expect regarding your machines – so you can happily avoid unplanned downtime while maximizing production. Now imagine what kind of records Shohei could break if he knew what pitch was coming next. Will it be a fastball? Or will it be a curveball?
However, that wouldn’t be very sporting, would it?
Luckily, business is a whole other game. No one wants to lose if they don’t have to.
If you are interested in attending such an event, let us know where you want us to go next 🙂 Reach out!
