Inside the Pigler Automation Summit

Building the Blueprint: How a Summit Comes Together

Months before anyone checks into the hotel, we’re already deep in the details, venue, meals, swag, agendas, and evening events. Each piece is owned by someone on our leadership team:

• • • Venue & accommodations
    • Meals & evening events
    • Swag & themed takeaways
    • The agenda (driven by team input)
    • And yes, picking the theme (a fan favorite)

But beyond logistics, what we’re really building is connection.

We treat these events with the same precision we apply to client projects because they matter just as much.

Great planning is just the beginning. The real value happens when our team is face-to-face.

Why We Bring People Together (Hint: It’s Not Just for the Presentations)

We don’t fly people from six time zones just to sit through presentations. We do it to bring a remote team into the same room, face-to-face, where real trust is built.

These summits are designed for connection. It’s easy to stay in your lane when you work across states, time zones, and countries. But something shifts when you’re solving problems, sharing a meal, or trading stories during a game of shuffleboard. You stop seeing each other as project collaborators and start seeing each other as teammates.

In fact, during one of our past summits, the shuffleboard games were such a hit that we brought that same spirit back with us. We now have a shuffleboard table in our new office! It’s become more than a game; it’s a gathering spot. A little symbol of how we carry that connection beyond the summit and into the everyday moments that keep our team strong.

This is why we prioritize interactive formats, unstructured downtime, and shared experiences. Relationships aren’t built solely in breakout rooms but also in the moments between.

Investing in Growth (and Each Other)

Every summit is also a platform for growth. Whether it’s rolling out new technology partnerships, like Beckhoff, or letting engineers lead roundtable discussions for the first time, we create space for team members to step into leadership, share expertise, and build confidence.

Several engineers will lead their sessions at our upcoming summit, directly responding to feedback asking for more peer-to-peer learning. When a controls engineer steps up to lead a session after years of listening from the back row, that’s not just professional development, it’s culture in action.

The summit is also our launchpad for major initiatives, such as our career path updates and go-to-market strategies. These aren’t just announcements, they’re collaborative conversations about where we’re headed and how every team member fits into the journey.

We build each summit around what matters most: business goals, industry shifts, and honest feedback from our team. If something doesn’t resonate, we adapt. That continuous improvement loop makes each summit sharper and more impactful than the last.

Culture Comes Through in the Details

Each summit has its own theme, style, and takeaway. From branded swag to inside jokes that last for months, it’s about making the experience feel authentic, memorable, and uniquely ours.

Last fall, we went full “Mission: Possible,” complete with movie-inspired graphics and custom shirts, making the message stick in a way only Pigler can.

What Success Looks Like

We know the summit was successful if attendees felt more connected, aligned, and energized. That’s our bar.

As Chris Balster, our president, puts it:

“If the only thing people take away is deeper relationships with their teammates, that’s a win. Because strong teams build better solutions. And better solutions are what we’re here to deliver.”

At the end of the day, it’s not about the summit; it’s about the people. When we invest in our team, stronger solutions follow.