Bob Portale

At a time when many people and companies were simply trying to find methods to return to the old way of doing things, Bob Portale decided that simply was not good enough. Leaning into the core strengths of his company, Portale focused on communication this year—specifically RELO Direct’s Global Mobility Roundtable, which traditionally has facilitated connections between hundreds of people in the relocation industry. As he sought out feedback from stakeholders, Portale found that he had an opportunity to create much more relevant, personal and actionable relationships through a new structure of small, topical “idea exchanges” that build networks and solve specific challenges. This new approach has been extremely successful and has helped forge a path that works not just to address pandemic issues but makes the whole industry better. 

“With oppositional thinking commonplace in so many aspects of society today, I feel we’ve created an environment where new and different ideas can flourish,” he says.