# Sourcing USA Summit Keynote Speaker Offers Glimpse of Future

Author: Jim.Robinson
Published: 2010-11-10
Canonical URL: https://www.cottongrower.com/cotton-production/sourcing-usa-summit-keynote-speaker-offers-glimpse-of-future/

---

![Jack Uldrich](https://www.cottongrower.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/1067.jpg)

Although one of the primary purposes of the Sourcing USA Summit is to allow cotton buyers and sellers to interact, network and conduct business face-to-face, the event’s keynote speaker on Nov. 10 encouraged attendees to focus on the future. Noted author and futurist Jack Uldrich, president of the NanoVeritas Group, touched on many topics, including the cotton customer of the future.

“One of the biggest changes coming to all industries, including cotton, is the way individuals process data,” he said. “Technology will allow customers to pick up a product and know almost everything about it: exactly where the cotton was grown, whom it was grown by, whether it was genetically modified, and if it was grown using good sustainability practices.”

Uldrich also warned attendees not to get complacent, even though demand for cotton remains strong and steady. “Everyone is going to have to become more comfortable with taking risks,” he said. “People think they’re playing it safe by doing things the way they’ve always done them, but that’s the biggest risk there is.

“It’s very rare and difficult to decide to make changes when you’re on top of your game because change usually involves a learning curve, which might negatively affect performance in the short term. But being able and willing to change is the key to reaching the next level of performance,” he said.

The Sourcing USA Summit is held every other year; this year’s is being held Nov. 9-12 in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA. Nearly 500 attendees, representing 24 countries, are in attendance at the Summit, which is sponsored by the Cotton Council Inc., Cotton Incorporated and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. According to an survey conducted during the opening remarks from Summit Moderator Dr. Michael T. Fralix (president and CEO of \[TC\]2), 61 percent of the audience identified themselves as cotton sellers, 26 percent as cotton buyers and 12 percent as “other.”

The need for the Sourcing USA Summit is clear, based on the ominous results from one of the attendee survey questions. When asked why they decided to attend the event, 46 percent replied “networking,” but no less than 20 percent replied, “to learn how to survive another year.”