"54 Years of Wall Street History: Baird's Industrial Conference Legacy"

Seeing LinkedIn posts about the 54th Robert W. Baird Industrial Conference closing brings back memories from my time as a junior analyst in the industrial space. The conference, now simply part of "Baird" rather than "Robert W. Baird," represents one of the industry's longest-standing traditions in the sector.

The mid-to-late November timing at Chicago's Four Seasons had been a fixture in the industrial calendar for decades. This scheduling wasn't arbitrary - it represented careful positioning in the annual cycle of Wall Street events. When Goldman Sachs decided to launch their competing industrial conference with overlapping dates, it created more than just a scheduling conflict. It challenged Baird's conference legacy.

The resolution of this conflict offers an exciting glimpse into how Wall Street relationships worked in that era. Baird's senior management team - including the Director of Research, head of sales and trading, equity capital markets, and reportedly the CEO - reached out to their Goldman counterparts. Their message was polite but clear: "Hey, we've had this conference for decades now, and for you to launch an industrial conference in New York City, overlapping ours... in the spirit of fair play, just don't do that."

What followed exemplifies the informal relationship-building that often underpinned Wall Street operations. According to internal lore, Baird expressed their appreciation for Goldman's eventual date change with a uniquely Milwaukee gesture - gifting Harley Davidson motorcycles to Goldman's negotiating team members. While the exact number of motorcycles remains unclear (and the story itself might be fiction, only the players know, but the story is superb), it perfectly captured Baird's connection to its Milwaukee roots at a time when regional firms still maintained distinct identities.

The conference logistics themselves reflected a different era of Wall Street operations. The entire analyst team, bankers, and senior management would travel from Milwaukee to Chicago together on Amtrak. This practice, which might seem quaint by today's standards, fostered a collegial atmosphere.

One personal experience particularly stands out. After one exhausting conference (and they all are), as analysts dispersed from the train station, CEO Fred Kasten noticed me preparing to call a cab. "Hey Andrew, what are you doing?" he asked. When I explained I was calling a cab, he wouldn't hear of it. "No, hop in my car. Where do you live?" His offer of a ride home in his white Audi A8 - dropping a junior analyst at a modest Oakland Avenue apartment before heading to his residence in Milwaukee's northern suburbs - exemplified an increasingly rare leadership style.

Today, the Goldman conference follows Baird's, and Baird maintains what I believe is both the only industrial conference in November and the longest-running industrial conference in the sector. This scheduling dance, now settled history, demonstrates how the financial industry's conference calendar evolved through tradition, negotiation, and mutual accommodation.

Fred Kasten has since passed away, but his simple act of kindness that evening represents something larger about the man and that era. And I will never forget it.

Enjoy your Thanksgiving.  All my best.

Drew