Successful baseball executive Billy Beane will provide the keynote address, “Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game,” at the 2017 VIPAR Heavy Duty Annual Business Conference, Oct. 15-20 at the JW Marriott Orlando, Grande Lakes. Beane, the executive vice president of baseball operations for the Oakland A’s, was the subject of “Moneyball,” the 2003 bestselling book by author Michael Lewis that was later made into a critically acclaimed movie starring Brad Pitt.
Beane has molded the A’s into a perennial postseason contender since assuming the general manager’s duties shortly following the 1997 season. He shattered antiquated major league baseball beliefs that big payrolls equated wins by implementing a statistical methodology that led the A’s, one of the worst teams in baseball with one of the lowest payrolls, to six American League West Division titles. Beane’s “Moneyball” philosophy has been adopted by organizations of all sizes, across all industries, to more effectively, efficiently and profitably manage their assets, talent and resources.
“Billy Beane has helped shape the way modern businesses view and utilize big data and employ analytics for long-term success,” said Jeff Paul, vice president of marketing, VIPAR Heavy Duty. “VIPAR Heavy Duty has gone through its own transformation in the last year. As a result, we’re working to incorporate new ways to approach what many would consider a traditional market, by utilizing technology and data-driven solutions to help our distributors and supplier partners continue to grow in the evolving heavy duty aftermarket.”
The VIPAR Heavy Duty Annual Business Conference brings together distributors, supplier partners and industry associates in a forum for information exchange, open dialogue, and an opportunity to share insights on navigating the challenges and opportunities in a rapidly evolving independent heavy duty aftermarket. It is an action-packed week that will feature updates on the organization, technology solutions, new products and program opportunities. The structure of the week includes the annual stockholder meeting, a general session, trade show, more than 1,500 one-to-one stockholder/supplier partner meetings, as well as networking events. Additionally, the conference will feature several value-added sessions including a GenNext reception featuring speed mentoring, a Young Leaders Forum and Lunch, and distributor educational sessions.
