On Friday, April 21st, NAPCO’s Dani Nichols and Steve Zamborsky visited downtown Chicago for the Innovation Whitespace Conference 2017 presentation “Developing into the Unknown.” The conference aimed to provide a space for entrepreneurs looking to identify new innovation opportunities within their businesses.

NAPCO - PDMA Chicago Innovation Conference - Dani“We have been looking forward to the Whitespace Conference for a while now,” said Dani Nichols, Vice President of NAPCO. “Though we attend many conferences throughout the year, most of them are specific to the refinishing industry and are focused on new technologies within this space. These are great things to learn about, but it is important to us that we also expand our knowledge on a broader scale.”

The conference consisted of a variety of speakers from many different types of businesses who shared their thoughts on how to best expand and exploit gaps within the existing market, or how to radically change the market landscape to best suit the unique needs of different companies. There was also a presentation of the “Whitespace Challenge,” during which six university product teams explained the ideas, technologies, and methodologies in creating their projects. The afternoon segment of the conference was dedicated to a hands-on workshop that explored how to identify design whitespace by using existing patent data.

NAPCO - PDMA Chicago Innovation Conference - Steve“This was a great learning experience for Dani and me,” reflected Steve Zamborsky, one of the creative directors at NAPCO. “I am so excited to take the techniques we were taught at the presentations and workshop and implement these into the NAPCO business strategy.”

NAPCO is constantly striving to be a leading innovator in the bath and kitchen refinishing industry, and this includes taking a well-rounded approach to conference attendance and learning opportunities. We make this effort because we are dedicated to providing the best possible products and advice for our refinishers! Check out the rest of our blog section for descriptions of conferences we have attended in the past.