As I mentioned last month, we are currently in the midst of ‘conference season’. I was fortunate enough to attend Hort Connections in Melbourne a few weeks ago and had the opportunity to participate in the first ‘Fresh Hackathon’ to be held by PMA ANZ.
This was the first “hacka”-anything for me so it’s fair to say that my lack of experience was made up for by my enthusiasm and passion to contribute to the topic of:
‘What would be the most responsible industry-wide initiative that would move us towards more sustainable packaging?’
This is a subject dear to my heart so there was no holding me back.
The event was facilitated by Rachel Audige (from SIT, Systematic, Inventive Thinking) who is not only a charismatic personality but an expert in facilitating these types of events. What proceeded was an exciting, intense, quick-paced journey. We were split into groups and given a mentor to support us through idea creation to final pitch to judges using a systematic approach to inventive thinking.
Our pitch focussed on customer buy-in via a ratings and reward system, educating customers on the packaging choices available and the relevant processes from production to end-of-life stages. Through consistent messaging and symbolic marketing, we hoped we could make a positive change from the bottom up. It was a step up on a regular “brainstorming” session and it progressed towards an actionable solution and a sense of achievement. There were some great presentations too.
For those who have not done a ‘hackathon’ l would highly recommend you give some thought to participating at Hort Connections 2020. It was challenging, fun and a great way to “speed date” industry colleagues!
Next on the calendar is Hort NZ Conference at Mystery Creek where we will be launching Packnatur® biodegradable netting and show casing our heat sealable range of r-PET and Fibre trays. Below is a sneak preview to what can be achieved with sustainable packaging.
I hope to see you at Mystery Creek.