About FMA Summits
A small private room for the people who run facilities.
Since 2007, FMA has run invitation-only summits where facility, energy and sustainability leaders hear how their peers fixed a problem, and meet only the vendors they choose.
- 2007founded, in Montreal
- 35summits since then
- 189campus and school facility leaders have come
- 19past summits had universities, colleges or schools in the room
It started in Montreal.
The first FMA Summit was at the Hyatt Regency in Montreal, August 5–7, 2007. In the room: the U.S. Department of Energy, the EPA, Natural Resources Canada, GM, Caterpillar, IBM, Boeing, Alcoa, Subaru and Michelin.
34 summits followed, on energy, sustainability, future facilities and microgrids, across the United States and Canada. Universities, colleges and schools sent facility leaders to 19 of them.
In 2027 the University & School Facility Leaders Summit brings that room to Columbus and Detroit, for the people who run campuses and schools.
How it works for you.
The format has not changed since 2007, because it works.
- Every delegate is invited.
- Facility, energy and sustainability leaders with a problem to solve this year: people like you, from campuses and districts like yours.
- One room, no competing tracks.
- 20-minute talks by the people who ran the project. Everyone hears every talk.
- You choose who you meet.
- At most 20 vendors at each summit, each solving a different problem, and you pick the ones you want. Every meeting is booked before you arrive.
- No vendor walks the room.
- Vendors attend only as sponsors. One that hasn’t sponsored cannot register or attend, so nobody chases you in the hallway.
- Assigned tables at meals.
- Breakfast, lunch and dinner are seated, so you meet people working on the same problems.
- Thursday and Friday.
- Two days. Friday ends with lunch, and you’re on the road by mid-afternoon.
“It's the best conference I've ever been to, and I go to a lot of conferences.”
Brendan SullivanExecutive Director of Facilities, The Estée Lauder Companies“That gives me a lot of great ideas to bring back to my campus.”
Mathew EmdenEnergy Champion, Principia College“It's a small private group which gives you a lot more one-to-one time.”
Stan NolanDirector of Utilities & Energy Management, University of Connecticut“We've been able to meet vendors who have been able to help us meet those goals.”
Chauncey JenkinsFacility Operations Manager, University of Maryland, College Park“I met others in the state that I haven't met before.”
David MuzzyEnergy Manager, Texas Christian UniversityIn writing, from past delegates
“The setting for the Summit proved to be very valuable as it provided an intimate and less aggressive environment for vendors to create meaningful partnerships with customers. I was able to get answers to my pressing facilities’ needs and forge partnerships with various vendors that can provide the solutions I need without all the wasted time on cold calls.”
Mary-Ann IbeziakoDirector of Engineering and Energy, University of Maryland
“The quick pace of the presentations was a nice change from long, drawn out versions. Plenty of time for interactions with the vendors. Food was excellent!”
“…the communication from presenters and fellow attendees was outstanding. I arrived with 3 concerns for Del Valle and through the presentations and discussions I have left the conference with 3 plans for the concerns. This has been a very productive conference.”
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“Your conference was well-organized and I have a mountain of contacts to work through for what hopes to be some very beneficial collaboration. …”
“I enjoyed hearing about new developments in lighting and other equipment and systems. I learned ideas other organizations had and how they were implemented. I benefited from networking with other organizations’ representatives.”
“I always learn so much when I attend your conferences and I meet such interesting people.”
“The FMA Summit is an ideal vendor/user experience offered in a comfortable environment with outstanding food & refreshments. The structure of the Summit maximizes face-time among vendors and users…”
Run by the person who started it.
Joe Piazza founded FMA in Montreal in 2007 and runs every summit himself, from the invitation list to the seating plan: 35 summits and 17,000+ meetings so far.
Your proposal or your invitation request goes to him.
Headquarters: Montreal, Quebec. Summits are held across North America.
Who has spoken.
Facility, energy and sustainability leaders from these universities and colleges have presented their own projects at FMA summits.
- Texas Wesleyan University
- University of Iowa
Your campus fixed something. Tell the room how.
Propose a 20-minute talk, or register your team. Write to Joe Piazza at info@fmasummits.com.