36 DECEMBER 2018/JANUARY 2019 www.vanguardcanada.com
Best Defence
conFerence keeps GrowinG
Industry EVEnTS
O
ver 400 attendees from
industry and government
gathered on November 5-6
in London, Ontario for the
annual Best Defence Con-
ference. This event, which was organized
by Heather Pilot from PILOTHILL, is
"one of Canada's must-attend defence
and advanced manufacturing events."
Created with the aim of bringing to-
gether Canadian and international com-
panies to learn of Canadian defence pro-
curement and supply chain opportunities,
Best Defence 2018 hosted representatives
from over 170 companies and organiza-
tions in an intimate forum setting. Net-
working between primes and small and
medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), B2B/
B2G meetings and presentation sessions
and panels all played an integral part of
the conference.
The agenda, sprinkled with sessions
throughout the two days, reflected the
opportunities available for SMEs to part-
ner with the bigger companies. This was
amply underscored in the Land Project
Meet and Greet session, which had a fo-
cus on trucks. It provided an opportunity
for suppliers to present their capabili-
ties to Mack Defense, Oshkosh Defense,
Navistar Defense and Mercedes-Benz for
upcoming military truck projects in an in-
formal speed-networking format.
"Having an agenda geared toward land
projects, like trucks and engineering pro-
grams, presented real value to SMEs to
meet and network with primes bidding on
those projects," said Pilot. "This added to
our goal of providing a platform for stra-
By MArcello sukhdeo
Emcee Peter Studer, Associate at CFN
Consultants speaking during the event.
Jana Lee Murray, President of WiDS speaking during
the WiDS Speed Mentoring session.
Heather Pilot, President, Pilot Hill Ltd during
her remarks.
Frank Schweitzer from General Dynamics European Land Systems-Germany
GmbH speaking with two attendees at their booth.
The FedDev Ontario Pavilion in full swing
