The 2025 Alden Conference opened with a spirited welcome from CEO John Sciarabba that did more than just kick off the event. It set the tone for what promised to be an exciting and collaborative gathering.
Sciarabba explored how the Alden ONE community is scaling not only in size but also in impact on joint use operations, emphasizing the importance of thinking “Big Vulcan” big. Vulcan is Birmingham, Alabama’s, iconic 56-foot cast-iron statue standing atop a 124-foot pedestal and weighing more than 101,000 pounds. In other words, Vulcan is BIG.
As the largest cast-iron statue in the world and the largest metal statue ever made in the U.S., Vulcan is an apt symbol for what Alden aims to help our clients achieve: meaningful, scalable, and powerful change in utility joint use and asset management operations.
“Big Vulcan” was the prevailing metaphor of the morning.
Sciarabba referenced a mock campaign to generate support for creating an even larger statue than the current Vulcan behemoth. The new statue, according to the campaign, was to be 10 times the size of the original.
While the campaign wasn’t real, the idea behind it was: Think beyond constraints. The example served as a prompt to think boldly, unbounded by current limitations or the way things have always been done.
Sciarabba encouraged attendees to imagine what’s possible when we aim for transformational—rather than incremental—growth, the kind of growth that positively impacts all stakeholders in joint use and real estate asset management. We believe that we work better when we work together.
At Alden, we’ve adopted the “Big Vulcan” mindset, which has enabled us to achieve considerable growth.
A lot has changed since the 2024 Alden Conference:
The bottom line: Alden’s mission is to build a smarter, faster, and more secure platform to meet our clients’ rapidly evolving needs.
In addition to the importance of the “Big Vulcan” approach, conference attendees also learned more about how Alden Systems is helping usher in the future of joint use and asset management.
In an era in which cybersecurity is top of mind for most organizations—and for good reason—Alden has officially achieved SOC 2 Type 2 certification. This third-party audit verifies that our operational and security practices meet the highest standards—a critical necessity for enterprise clients navigating new compliance and risk management requirements.
“We’re keeping it safe and secure,” Sciarabba said. In a world of escalating cyber threats, that commitment matters more than ever.
This year’s conference focused on the Alden ONE community at large. Client-led sessions showcased how our clients are using the system to improve their work processes, save time, and increase efficiency.
Throughout the conference, Alden ONE clients presented case studies and shared how they’re driving real-world impact at their companies.
As the joint use and utility infrastructure world becomes even more interconnected, Sciarabba reminded attendees of a shared mission: “We all have one common goal—positive impact on our communities.” After all, Alden’s motto is “Better Communities through Better Infrastructure.”
Alden’s mission is to help you scale your impact, whether you own or manage poles, attach to assets to provide services, or support utility operations as an engineering or construction partner.
The challenge is on! This isn’t just an invitation to dream. It’s a nudge to act. Think boldly, collaborate widely, and take steps toward meaningful industry transformation—one pole, one process, one partnership at a time.
In our upcoming articles, we’ll highlight several of the customer use cases and stories presented at the conference. Stay tuned!
Let’s Chat
We’d love to collaborate with you to help you turn your next big idea into reality! Connect with us to get started.