We're at the CoDev conference in La Jolla, California. CoDev is co-organized by the PDMA and brings together an exciting array of companies committed to developing their products and services through active partnerships with outside organizations (Co-Development!, Open Innovation, JV's, etc.,).
The best comment of the conference came during casual conversation during the networking (wine) hour today. A seasoned tech scout recounted his recent move from toy manufacturing to a major soap company. (You probably have their products in your home or workspace, so I'll keep their name silent to protect the innocent.) He noted, "When I heard about the job, I thought 'Soap, how hard can that be?' Boy, did I learn something."
Soap is complex. Chemical formulations are tested for safety, suds, and skin sensitivity every day. The CoDev conference brings together so many industries: health care, pharmaceuticals, logistics, soft drinks, and cleansers. We all observe that the world has fundamentally changed: products today involve far more complex development processes, tests, and expertise to manufacture than anyone outside the respective industry realizes.
That's all the dirt on the CoDev conference.