Global TapRooT® Summit History: 1994-2027
Summit History (Plus the Future: 2027)
We started planning the first Global TapRooT® Summit (back then, it was just called the TapRooT® Conference) in 1993. That was over 30 years ago! Ever since the success of the first Summit in 1994, we have been improving each year throughout the Summit’s history. Our goal is to make the Summit the best place to:
- Meet and network with your peers in various industries and other performance improvement experts.
- Benchmark best practices from around the world.
- Learn the latest techniques for performance improvement, incident investigation, and root cause analysis.
- Improve your safety, human performance, quality, operational excellence, CAPA, root cause analysis, and maintenance/reliability programs.
- Have fun and be inspired while learning.
We have developed an outstanding event that gets better every year. We know you will go back to work with valuable best practices to share at your company. How valuable will these best practices be? So valuable that we provide this guarantee:
GUARANTEE
Attend the Global TapRooT® Summit. Go back to work
and implement your roadmap to success.
If you don’t save 10 times the cost of your
attendance at the Summit, let us know and return your
Summit materials, and we will refund 100%
of the Summit registration fee.
This guarantee shows how certain we are that you will learn valuable best practices to take your facility’s performance to the next level.
Below is a history of the Summit from 1994 to 2025 and a preview of the 2027 Summit being held at the Margaritaville Resort near Houston, Texas, on April 5-7, 2027.
Reading about past Summits is like taking a walk down memory lane. Do you recognize anyone from past summits in the pictures below? The review of what we’ve done in the past will help you understand why the Summit is so valuable for your company’s (and your) future.
1st Summit – 1994 – GATLINBURG
At the 1994 Summit, our first Keynote Speaker was Dr. Charles O. Hopkins from the University of Illinois, a human factors expert and my mentor. He spoke to the 33 participants about applying human factors to improve human performance. Yes, we talked about improving human performance about a decade before it was “cool.”
We had a three-mile run before breakfast on Thursday and ended the Summit on Friday with a steak cookout at Cades Cove in the Smoky Mountains. How did we pull it off? Seriously, I look back and don’t know. But we knew we would do it again.
2nd Summit – 1995 – ORLANDO
Disney was a great place to hold the second Summit. The Orlando Summit was the first Summit to include pre-Summit TapRooT® Courses. With 77 people attending the Orlando TapRooT® Summit, we invented the Name Game as a way to maximize networking.
3rd Summit – 1996 – NASHVILLE
Our third Summit institutionalized sponsoring a social activity/reception. In Nashville, the choice was clear – the Grand Ole Opry.
Again, the number of people attending grew. Plus, as usual, we were ahead of our time. The 1996 Summit had a session dedicated to learning from medical errors at hospitals (three years before the publication of Lucian Leape’s call to action: To Err Is Human – Building a Safer Health System).
If you want to stay ahead of the state-of-the-art in performance improvement, attend the Summit to learn what’s coming in the future.
4th Summit – 1997 – SAN ANTONIO
1997 was the first Summit in Texas, with over 100 participants. It was bigger and better in every way. More networking, learning, keynote speakers, tracks, and pre-Summit Courses. And everyone enjoyed the Alamo reception (yes, we ate inside the Alamo).
5th Summit – 1998 – DALLAS
The Southfork Ranch hosted the 1998 Summit. We had the reception in the TV JR house pictured above. Everybody had a blast.
The 1998 Summit was also the start of presenting TapRooT® Users with Success Story Awards – a great way to share best practices.
We decided to hold the Summit every 14-16 months, thus the next Summit in March of 2000.
6th Summit – 2000 – GATLINBURG
Remember the Y2K scare? Well, we overcame it and had the 2000 Summit.
Below is Mark Paradies, one of the Keynote Speakers, providing advice on improving performance.
It was one of the many presentations that shared best practices that people took home and implemented.
Plus our Friday keynote speaker, Shuttle Astronaut Mike Mullane, explained the first Shuttle disaster and how Summit attendees could avoid major accidents and achieve operational excellence.
7th Summit – 2001 – GALVESTON
The 2001 Summit almost didn’t happen. Two days before the Summit, a tropical storm dropped two FEET of rain on Houston and Galveston! But the show went on…
At the Summit, we had great Keynote Speakers. That’s Mark and Ed with one of the keynote speakers. Also, Dr. John Grout talked about how mistake-proofing (Poka-Yoke) fits into an improvement program.
8th Summit – 2002 – GATLINBURG
Back to Gatlinburg for the 8th TapRooT® Summit. That’s Linda Unger, below, introducing one of the Best Practice Session Speakers, Dave Prewitt, VP from Alaska Airlines. Our Keynote Speakers included presenters from the NTSB and Tennessee OSHA.
Participants said it couldn’t get any better. But they were wrong. We continued to improve in 2003!
9th Summit – 2003 – DALLAS
We liked the Southfork Ranch so much that we returned in 2003. Of course, there were great Keynote Speakers. We also had the first TapRooT® Advisory Board Dinner. Below is Linda Unger with some of the TapRooT® Advisory Board members.
10th Summit – 2005 – SAN ANTONIO
Wow! Interesting keynote speakers, great networking, and tons of best practice sharing. We had the reception at Bighorn Saloon and a Riverwalk Cruise for the Advisory Board Dinner.
The Summit that couldn’t get better (according to the previous year’s participants’ feedback) hit a new high (according to 2005 Summit attendees).
11th Summit – 2006 – GATLINBURG
What a view!
The Smoky Mountains are a great place to hold a Summit. And it is just outside Knoxville. It actually snowed one night, but the snow was gone by the next morning.
12th Summit – 2007 – SAN ANTONIO
Back to San Antonio for the 2007 TapRooT® Summit – the first Summit with more than 200 participants!
We had Heinz Block present about the development of Equifactor® Equipment Troubleshooting, an important improvement for those using TapRooT® RCA to improve equipment reliability and understand how equipment failures led to safety incidents.
Plus, we had Josh Davis, an Olympic three-time gold medalist, talk about achieving success and how to inspire your kids.
Once again we used our experience to make the Summit better and highlight the latest improvement technologies.
13th Summit – 2008 – LAS VEGAS
2008 marked the 20th Anniversary of System Improvements. And the 2008 Summit was bigger and better than ever!
Elvis stopped by the reception to sing. Plus, we had great Keynote Speakers, including one of the operators on duty at Three Mile Island during the accident and an Apache helicopter pilot from the Gulf War who had been wrongly prosecuted for a human error. These presentations helped attendees learn from others’ famous accidents.
14th Summit – 2009 – NASHVILLE
Yes, the Great Recession struck. But we still had over 200 people attend the Nashville TapRooT® Summit.
Despite tropical storms, the Great Recession, and COVID, we have NEVER canceled a Global TapRooT® Summit. Our loyal clients know the Summit’s value and strive to attend regardless of weather or economic conditions.
The Keynote Speakers included Mike Kelly and E.D. Hill (above) from Fox News. As usual, we had a great reception with a Disco theme. We even got Ken Reed to dance! (That will never happen again.)
15th Summit – 2010 – SAN ANTONIO
The Keynote Speakers at the 2010 Summit included the co-pilot of the “Miracle on the Hudson” flight – Jeff Skiles. His first-hand story was riveting.
Plus, as usual, there was great best practice sharing, networking, and benchmarking.
Plus, the reception was a Halloween costume party. Above is Ken dressed as a NASCAR pit crew member. What fun!
16th Summit – 2012 – LAS VEGAS
Back to Vegas! This was the first Summit with over 300 participants.
We had Astronaut Ken Mattingly, an Apollo and Shuttle Astronaut, as our closing Keynote Speaker.
Plus a great reception at Margaritaville!
17th Summit – 2013 – GATLINBURG
Another great Summit was held in Gatlinburg, TN. Bill Rancic, the first winner of the TV show The Apprentice, shared insights on the competition and motivated us all to give our best effort to make improvements. Inspiring people to improve has become a part of every Summit.
18th Summit – 2014 – AUSTIN
This was our first Summit at the Horseshoe Bay Resort. Below is a picture from the “Name Game” that we invented in 1995. Meeting people is how we start every Summit.
19th Summit- 2015 – LAS VEGAS
It was another great Summit in Las Vegas! Captain Richard Phillips was our closing speaker. It’s no wonder they made a movie out of his heroic experience! Truely inspiring.
And below is Linda Unger giving out Success Story Awards…
20th Summit – 2016 – SAN ANTONIO
Great Keynote Speakers, including Mike Durrant (Blackhawk Down), made the 2016 TapRooT® Summit in San Antonio another success. What famous people will you meet at the Summit? You will have to attend to see!
21st Summit – 2018 – KNOXVILLE
2018 was the first Summit in our hometown, Knoxville, Tennessee. People loved it! Downtown has many activities and dining within walking distance of the Knoxville Convention Center.
Mark Paradies interviewed Mike Williams about surviving the Deepwater Horizon accident. He was one of the folks left behind by the life rafts and had to jump from the deck of the Deepwater Horizon. What an impactful discussion. Here are some highlights from the 2018 Summit in a video…
Also, Vincent Phipps (who was in the video above) was a Keynote Speaker at the 2018 Summit and will teach a pre-Summit Course and speak in a best practice session at the 2027 Summit.
22nd Summit – 2019 – HOUSTON
2019 was the first Summit held in Houston, and it was great! We had Astronaut Jim Wetherbee speak about high-reliability lessons learned from space.
At the reception (western theme), we got Michelle, Mark, and Ken to back up Carl Dixon signing the Eagles tune, Take It Easy.
23rd Summit – 2020 – AUSTIN (Horseshoe Bay Resort)
Another great Summit. This Summit ended at the start of the COVID pandemic. We were lucky to complete the Summit just before the restrictions started. Nobody caught the dreaded virus – perhaps because we used up gallons of hand sanitizer. We bought the last of the supplies in Knoxville and brought them to the Summit so every attendee could have all they needed. (The hand sanitizer was almost as valuable as toilet paper!)
24th Summit – 2021 – KNOXVILLE
The 2021 Global TapRooT® Summit was a HYBRID Summit (held virtually and in person). Once again, we had some great Keynote Speakers, including Olympian Shannon Miller.
This was our first Summit after COVID. We didn’t know what to expect. But the combination of virtual and live (although challenging) was a great success.
25th Summit – 2022 – KNOXVILLE
Yes, the 2022 Global TapRooT® Summit was held for the second straight year in Knoxville, Tennessee, because of the difficulty in planning Summits in the post-COVID world.
Once again, we had great Keynote Speakers, including Vice Admiral Joseph Aucoin, who spoke about ship collisions in the Pacific.
And great best practice tracks with over 40 breakout sessions.
We decided this would be the last hybrid Summit to promote enhanced networking in the future.
26th Summit – 2023 – HOUSTON
The 2023 Global TapRooT® Summit was held at the Margaritaville Lake Resort, Lake Conroe (just north of Houston, Texas). This will be the site of the 2027 Summit.
Everyone had a great time and took home valuable lessons learned.
27th Summit – 2024 – AUSTIN
The 27th Global TapRooT® Summit was held at the Horseshoe Bay Resort near Austin, Texas.
We had inspiring, educational, and motivational Keynote Speakers (that has become the standard at the Global TapRooT® Summit).
And attendees agree that it was an amazing success.
Everyone met new friends, learned new best practices, and had fun.
Plus, Any Souders organized the first Women in TapRooT® Reception, which has also become a Summit standard.
28th Summit – 2025 – KNOXVILLE
Another impactful Summit with great keynote speakers and breakout sessions. A-10 pilot Kim “KC” Campbell (on the right below) told her heroic story of overcoming fear with preparation and leadership. Truly inspiring!
What did attendees have to say? Here are a few of them sharing their experiences…
We resumed scheduling the Summit every 18 months, so the next Summit is being held on April 5-9, 2027 at the Margaritaville Resort near Houston.
29th Summit – 2027 – Margaritaville (near Houston)
So, now you know that we:
- Hold the Summit in interesting vacation locations,
- Find Keynote Speakers that educate, motivate, share lessons learned, and inspire,
- Organize best practice tracks that share industry leader best practices and the latest technical innovations,
- Promote networking and benchmarking between participants and our expert presenters, and
- Make all of the above FUN!
What will we do to make the 29th Global TapRooT® Summit (being held at the Margaritaville Resort at Lake Conroe, Texas) even better than the previous 28 Summits?
First, the Keynote Speakers…
They will share their:
- Lessons learned from accidents,
- How to come back from failures to achieve outstanding success,
- Lessons from industry experience, and
- The latest on applying AI to root cause analysis.
Then there are six Best Practice Tracks…
See the complete schedule for all the breakout sessions HERE.
We will once again hold the Women in TapRooT® Reception and the opening reception on Wednesday night, which are part of the networking that we build into the Summit.
Finally, we have the pre-Summit Courses – seven schedule for 2027 – held on April 5-6. Two of the courses are new for 2027. See the courses offered HERE.
And watch this video by Alex Paradies (co-President of SI) about the pre-Summit courses…
If you attend both a pre-Summit Course and the Summit, you will receive a $300 discount OFF the course registration fee.
Register Now
See below for the Summit fees and potential discounts…
You could receive $900 off per attendee when you bring a team to the Summit. Some even make the Summit a part of a corporation-wide learning event by bringing a team.
Attend the Summit and gain new insights into improving performance while experiencing a “family reunion” type environment. You won’t be disappointed.
To register, CLICK HERE.
We are looking forward to seeing you there…
Alex Paradies & Amy Souders, Co-Presidents of System Improvements.
