4 Summits, 1 Timeless Lesson: In-person connection matters
Key points:
- • Intentional growth emerged as a common theme across four leadership summits.
- • In-person connections are becoming increasingly valuable in a digital-first world.
- • Trust, authenticity, and regional collaboration help turn growth into lasting impact.
October 2026 — The summer lull is over, the kids are back in school, the calendar fills up fast, and every CEO, executive, and civic leader I know shifts into a different gear — heads down, eyes laser focused on Q3 and Q4 on execution before the year closes out. For me, September has never been a month for slow starts. It’s for getting things done and delivering results…but you have to keep up!
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This September, caa’s team put that mindset to the test. In just 24 days, we executed four leadership summits in four cities — Greater Orlando on Sept. 2, Miami on Sept. 10, Tampa Bay on Sept. 16, and Charlotte on Sept. 24.
Running four summits in under a month is exhausting, but watching hundreds of a region’s most influential decision-makers across four packed rooms lean into conversation demonstrates an undeniable truth: In an era of AI, remote work, and digital fatigue, physical connection is becoming the ultimate competitive advantage. Yes, being in-person matters.
Here is what I learned about leadership from those four dynamic summits.
Greater Orlando: Growth requires intent
Our four-city sprint began on Sept. 2 in Orlando, with caa’s 4th Edition Invest: Greater Orlando Leadership Summit. Throughout the day, the dominant theme from speakers and in networking conversations was intentionality – and the importance of ensuring the community also benefits from growth.
Listening to Orange County Mayor Jerry L. Demings, I could sense the economic shift happening in the region. Tourism and hospitality remain powerhouse engines, but the real story is the region’s diversification into life sciences, advanced manufacturing, and aerospace.
Yet, as panelist Ryan Burrow of City National Bank put it: “The only way we’re going to grow is if the communities that we work and live in grow along with us.”
That sentence stayed with me. It could have been said in any of our four markets this month. It captures exactly why these summits matter. Orlando made it clear that hyper-growth without regional alignment, infrastructure investment, and healthcare capacity is just a bubble waiting to burst. True leadership in an expanding market requires growing with intention.
Miami: The ‘capital of people, not just money’
When we landed in Miami on Sept. 10 for our first ever full-day event, the energy reflected the city itself: ambitious, global, and impossible to categorize. There is clear momentum in Miami but as Enrique Martin, of Winston Taylor, said, “momentum alone is not enough.” That is the real conversation. Rather than resting on laurels, true leadership involves the difficult conversation about long-term sustainability. To that end,
Zachary Darrow, of DarrowEverett, highlighted a point about the city that also applies to businesses, especially those that hope to scale: “Miami is becoming a mature market. Credibility and durability will determine its future.” And so to for companies, I thought. As Jorge Gonzalez, of City National Bank, said: “Companies and places sometimes lose sight of who they are as they grow bigger.” Every company and metro should pin that quote to the wall.
But it was Madeline Pumariega, president of Miami Dade College, who offered the line that stayed with me longest: Miami must build “the capital of people, not just the capital of money.” Again, growth must be intentional in all aspects. A growing economy doesn’t just belong to companies, it must also belong to the people who live it.
Tampa Bay: Recalibrating for the long term
Six days later, it was Tampa Bay’s turn, with another full-day event – again, a first for caa in the region. Four hundred public- and private-sector leaders showed up — and stayed all day.
I opened by framing this year’s Invest: Tampa Bay report around one word: recalibration. “Recalibration is not just about slowing down,” I said. “It is about growing with intent.”
That theme ran through every panel. Toby Johnson, of Verdex Construction, said his firm would “rather be a little slower and intentional” to protect the integrity of the client experience. That theme extended to the region itself, according to Kevin Johnson of Shacres Design + Development, who made the case that cities lose their soul when generic development replaces regional identity “There’s no point in going to a city if everything’s going to be a Starbucks, a Chick-fil-A … that destroys the purpose of traveling to a beautiful city like Tampa,” he said.
That applies to businesses too. Why should a customer come to us rather than our competitor? Because we are different, not because we are generic.
It is that kind of thought leadership that attracts top executives to our summits.
Charlotte: Authenticity and trust
We closed out the month on Sept 24, with our 6th Edition Invest: Charlotte Leadership Summit. Beyond the panel insights, one moment stood out as a testament to what happens when you build deep, authentic roots in a community.
The mayor of Charlotte, Rob Harrington, took the time to write a personal note expressing what our platform, report, and summit mean to the city’s future. It wasn’t a boilerplate endorsement or a marketing template; it was a genuine gesture of partnership.
That is what happens when you show up consistently and execute with integrity. You stop being an event company and become part of the civic and economic fabric of the market itself.
Powering the connection economy
Here is what I observe every single time I walk into one of our event rooms: people who are extraordinarily busy make time to be there. Not because they have to, but because they understand that this is where business actually gets done.
Just because someone holds a C-suite title, doesn’t mean they know everyone, even in their own region. At our summits, CEOs exchange cards with other CEOs; healthcare executives sit next to real estate developers; university presidents talk to bankers; and mayors hold conversations with investors. We are not just delivering content; we are creating connection infrastructure that deliberately – and with intentionality – leads to cross-sector impact.
The most interesting and valuable deals, ideas, and partnerships aren’t born on a Zoom call or in a LinkedIn message. They happen when leaders share the same physical space or have a conversation over coffee. The outcomes are mutually beneficial and they happen in person.
This is caa’s core pillar. We power the connection economy.
For major summits in 24 days was exhausting, but it proved our concept: The digital world provides efficiency, but physical presence builds trust – and results.
See you in the room.
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