Day 1. Sunday 14 June 2009

Greeting from the Paris Air Show! Throughout this week, I’ll share with you the sights and sounds of the world’s largest aviation exposition. Our preparation for the show began three months ago; the hard work of all involved is on display at the US Pavilion and the ITT Chalet. The opening day for the show is scheduled on Monday, but already I’ve hit the ground running with a fully loaded schedule today. After a short flight across the Atlantic, my day kicked off with a 2:00 pm meeting with the ITT Communications team. In addition to me, Mary Clemons Dudley from Night Vision, and other communication leaders from Communications Systems, Electronic Systems and ITT Interconnect Solutions met to review our interview schedule, round table technology presentations, and strategy for engaging additional journalists and sharing our ITT innovation stories. Hosting the event were Angela Buonocore, Senior Vice President and Chief Communications Officer for ITT Corporation, and David Albritton, Vice President of Communication for ITT Defense Electronics and Systems.

Shortly after the Communications Team meeting, it was off to the ITT all hands pre show briefing with the entire ITT Paris team. David Albritton hosted the event for over 40 Business Development directors and managers, Program Managers, Communications Professionals and ITT leadership team members. Albritton walked the team through the company’s efforts leading up to the event, highlighting the ‘One Company’ initiative for the show and expectations for the entire team. ITT Chairman, President and CEO, Steve Loranger shared his experience with the show and characterized Paris as the epicentre of strategy, customers and the competition, and that we needed to take advantage of our time here. Dave Melcher, President of ITT Defense Electronics and Systems, spoke next about the level of effort to get ITT to this day, and raised the bar for our customer outreach, and recognized the opportunity for ITT to take on a more visible role as one of the world’s Top 10 contractors.

At the end of the all hands meeting, I headed upstairs to my hotel room for a quick power nap prior to my next event. Having flown in this morning, sleep was becoming a commodity and I needed to jam in a few minutes when I could – despite a jammed packed schedule. After my 20 minutes rest, I threw on a suit and headed downstairs to the Aerospace Journalist of the Year (AJOY) banquet and award ceremony. Each year the aerospace industry recognizes the ‘best of the best’ journalist from the defense industry with a banquet and award ceremony held on the eve of the either the Paris or Farnborough (London) Air Show. Seated at one of two ITT tables with Angela Buonocore and my communications counterpart at Electronic Systems, John Dench, I was able to enjoy lengthy conversations with two of our industry’s better known journalists. Sitting on my left was Bill Cleary, the Editor at Avionics magazine and on my right was Michael Gething, the Editor of Jane’s Electro-Optics (and a huge fan of ITT Night Vision). While I wish I could be more aggressive with both journalists, the dinner was a fantastic opportunity to engage them and renew relationships that will bear fruit in the near and further down the road.

While there were no award winners from our tables, David Albritton was again front and center for the company as he handed out the ITT sponsored award for Best Space Submission won by Spaceflightnow.com writer, Craig Covault. The night’s event ended right at 10:00pm and this intrepid Night Vision communicator declined nightcap opportunities and headed off to bed in anticipation of a long and busy day one.

With Sunday in the books, I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s opening day and a schedule full of interviews and meetings. Mike Alvis, Mike LoDebole, Mary Clemons Dudley and I will tackle the show head on and continue our efforts to engage existing media and be at the forefront of ITT’s goal to position the company as a top 10 defense contractor.

Until next time,
Steve Brecken

Advertisement