September 08, 2019

The Alltech Ideas Conference (ONE19)

by Vaughn Entwistle, Managing Editor, Milling and Grain

In May, I attended my first Alltech Idea Ideas Conference (ONE19) in Lexington, Kentucky USA. First off, I have to say I was very impressed by three days of no-expense spared entertainment and seminars showcasing the very latest research in feeds.

I was one of the 3,000 attendees from 70 countries who were bussed to various special events, beginning with a tour of Alltech’s stunning corporate headquarters and nutrigenomics research facility. (Alltech’s production facility is also located in Nicholasville, KY, but for food safety reasons could not be included in the tour.)
 

I have worked in many different industries, but I have to say that Alltech’s HQ building was easily amongst the most impressive I’ve every visited. The love of science is a theme carried through campus statuary and even the building’s architecture and interior design, which includes double helix staircases.

Alltech’s status as a major international company is reflected in the design of individual rooms, such as the South Africa room, which boasts objet d’art and paintings by South African artists. And as a reflection of the founder Dr Pearse Lyons’ Irish roots, the HQ even enjoys an authentic Irish pub (complete with a bar equipped with Guinness taps!) to host relaxing, after-hours meetings.

Even more impressive is the fact that the company has grown from an 8,000 square foot facility back in the 1970s to this stunning, 200,000 square foot showpiece.

The plenary session

The first morning’s plenary session started with a bang, opening with a dazzling performance by iLuminate, a troupe of hip-hop dancers who lit up the darkened stage wearing LED equipped helmets and full body suits that strobed and flashed in rhythm to the music.

With the audiences’ blood pumping, Alltech President, Dr Mark P Lyons PhD, took the stage to open the conference. If the conference had an overarching theme, it was how positivity in the face of adversity can overcome and accomplish amazing things.

This theme was later echoed by the conference’s three keynote speakers, who included Bear Grylls (the internationally-known adventurer/survivalist and television presenter), Chris Zook (Best-selling author of ‘The Founder's Mentality’; Advisory Partner at Bain & Company) and Ramez Naam, co-chair, Energy ad Environment, Singularity University.


Read more HERE.
 

The Global Miller
This blog is maintained by The Global Miller staff and is supported by the magazine Milling and Grain
which is published by Perendale Publishers Limited.


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