Doing it big with the biggest

Just take a second to think: do you know of any institution that is 100 years old? We didn’t until a while ago, but we had the privilege to get to know one. 

The Asociación de Fabricantes de Cemento Portland (AFCP), as part of the celebration of its first 100 years 😜, called us to design an experience that would allow them to carry out a joint action with the four cement companies of the country (Loma Negra, Holcim, Cementos Avellaneda, PCR), open their doors to the community and raise awareness of the industry.

Every great challenge is also a great opportunity. With this in mind, CementON, the innovation powerhouse for the Argentine cement industry, began to take shape. Specifically, we co-designed a Hackathon to work on the challenges that the industry faces around sustainability. We have no words to describe what was experienced… students and professionals from all over the country worked for 3 days to think about the future of the industry. 

What happened

11 teams, 11 challenges, 11 ideas, more than a 100 heads thinking of solutions to challenges that have an impact on society as a whole. Solutions that seek a sustainable world, to protect and preserve the planet, to change our way of doing and living. 

But that was not all… Four teams had the opportunity to move on to a next stage:  prototyping, testing and pitching their ideas. All of this with the support and mentoring of the companies. 🤯

Although at the end of the whole process there was a winning team (“NN”, congrats!), we are certain that everybody who participated were winners: they went through an innovation process, worked side by side with companies in the industry, learned about agile methodologies, and exchanged ideas with professionals and students from other universities, careers, and provinces. It is not every day that you experience something like this.

“For PCR it is truly valuable to be part of the entrepreneurial ecosystem because we consider that accessing innumerable ideas is a key exercise for organizations to remain active, agile and innovative and to be able to unfold sustainable growth. Participating in CementON contributed to broadening our view on the challenges of our industry and to consider many new solutions or avenues of work that undoubtedly enriched us” – Estanislao Cavallo – Chief Of Staff, PCR.

What CementON left us 

All the instances of the Hackathon were epic, but what mainly interests us is to tell you what all of them left us:

• It implied the possibility of bringing together different worlds: one of the most influential industries of the country with students, teachers, professionals, entrepreneurs, businesspeople, specialists in the field, and other organizations.
• It allowed the capitalization of collective knowledge: the ideas that emerged were just the starting point for future projects that contribute to sustainability.
• It was a great opportunity to stimulate entrepreneurship among young people from all over the country.
• Each person, on an individual level, was able to discover skills and capabilities previously unknown to him or her.
• Most importantly, it demonstrated and strengthened the conviction that teamwork is always the way forward.

“At Holcim, we think that it opened up an excellent opportunity to “do” with others and together with “others” that print dynamics, experiences and diverse knowledge in pursuit of the cement industry. CementON allowed the 4 cement companies in the country to unite and to make this celebration of AFCP’s 100 years something bigger and with a more interesting social, cultural and educational purpose in terms of the approach and content proposed by the 11 projects.  We hope that it will not take another 100 years to repeat this experience.  Thank you!” 

Maria Marta Raviolo – Sustainable Development, Holcim.

When we embarked on this project, we did not imagine the enormous impact it could have. 

Thank you AFCP for making us part of this ride and carrying out this Hackathon. Thanks to each of the people who joined in the co-facilitation. Thanks to those who committed with their participation and added their view and effort.

“When we started thinking about CementOn, we were immediately recommended to do it with the advice and support of Say Hi!. And the truth is that it was a success. Everything was thought out from the first day, well organized and planned. And best of all, in a relaxed and fun way, even at times when some answer or definition on our part was delayed. It was a sheer pleasure to work with Say Hi!, and the results are there for all to see. Thanks for that and congratulations to the team” – 

Damian Altgelt – Executive Director, AFCP.