SMU Steel Summit Conference Update: Less Than a Week to Showtime

Forget App – Think Platform

As a registered attendee you have full access to the SMU Steel Summit Conference platform, which is where you will access the attendee list, conference agenda, speaker bios and presentations, live-streaming and on-demand services, resources (videos and presentations), and Q&A/Polling. I highly recommend you log into the platform and familiarize yourself with its features prior to the conference. To reach the platform, use the following web address: www.smusteelsummit2021.com You then enter your email address and the password you should have received in an email from the events team. If you need help, there is a green button in the bottom right. I believe there will be support people available from 8 a.m. to noon ET this week, and during the conference hours next week.

Note: On-demand content will be available anywhere from 3-12 hours after the live presentation.

Q&A and Live Polling – Slido

We will be using the Slido app for Q&A and polling during the conference. A Slido link will be available in the platform within each presentation, and we will provide instructions during the conference on how to access Slido directly from your cell phone/iPad/laptop if you prefer not to use the platform. All registered attendees will receive an email about Slido later this week, and there will be a couple of questions you can answer prior to the conference in the polling section.

Unless there is an internet failure, we do not envision using hand-held microphones during the Q&A sessions.

Safety Protocols

Our desire is to run as safe and productive a conference as possible. It is important that we discuss the protocols that will be in place at the conference.

There is a mask mandate at the Georgia International Convention Center (GICC). We have no choice but to enforce the mandate. We encourage everyone attending the event in person to take the mask mandate seriously and to wear masks properly (covering both mouth and nose). We will have masks available for those who may have inadvertently left them in their hotel rooms.

When you check in at the registration desk to pick up your credentials, you will have a couple of options for visual reminders so others understand how comfortable you may be with direct contact with conference attendees. You will have an option to place a red sticker on your name tag that indicates you wish to remain socially distanced from other attendees. You will also have an option to place a plastic red, yellow or green colored band on your wrist as another way of identifying how comfortable you are with being in close contact with other people. Please note: a red dot or wristband may exist because someone has small children at home or may have an underlying medical condition. Please be sensitive to the wishes of those around you.

We have doubled the size of the exhibition area, we have placed monitors in the exhibition area where you can watch the live program, and we will have sitting areas in the exhibition area as well as in the lobby outside of the exhibition area.

We are limiting the number of in-person attendees so we can space the seating further apart and provide more social distancing.

Please use common sense when interacting with others at this year’s conference.

Dress Code

A reminder we encourage attendees to wear company logo golf shirts as part of our business casual dress code. Since we will be wearing masks (unless drinking or eating), the logo shirt is another way of catching the eye of a potential customer or supplier. Feel free to get creative with your masks as another way to guide people to you. It is not necessary to wear a jacket (although the room may be cool as we intend to change out the air often), and absolutely no reason to wear a tie.

The projected forecast for Atlanta during the conference is high temperatures around 90 degrees and lows around 70 degrees. The forecast is not calling for any rain as of today.

GICC

The entire conference will be in the Georgia International Convention Center. Registration will open at 7 a.m. ET on every day of the conference. On Monday, the first program will begin at 9 a.m. The “official” opening of the conference will be at 1 p.m. on Monday followed by the opening keynote presentation by Michael Smerconish of CNN/Sirius XM Radio. Cleveland-Cliffs CEO Lourenco Goncalves will go one-on-one with SMU’s John Packard around 3:30 p.m. on Monday. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the conference begins at 8:30 a.m. ET. We will have networking/cocktail parties after the last speaker on Monday and Tuesday. The conference will conclude by 3 p.m. ET on Wednesday.

Airport Transportation

Transportation to and from the Atlanta International Airport (ATL) is via the free SkyTrain, which leaves from its station located outside the building from baggage claim. Follow the signs for the Gateway Hotels and Rental Cars. The first stop will be for the GICC and the four Gateway Hotels (Marriott Gateway, Renaissance, SpringHill Suites and AC Hotel). The Westin and the other Airport Marriott Hotel are located a couple of miles away and cannot be accessed via the SkyTrain. The travel time once on the train is less than five minutes.

We do NOT have a shuttle between the Westin and Airport Marriott Hotels on Best Road. You will need to either rent a car or hire Uber/Lyft/Taxi.

Questions

If you have any questions, please send them to: conferences@crugroup.com