Planning Underway for 2015 Spring Conference

Coming off one of the most successful Spring Conferences in our Association’s recent history, we are excited to announce that we have selected the Westin Hotel located in Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina, as the venue for our 2015 Spring Conference. The official meeting dates are Wednesday though Saturday morning, March 18-21, 2015, with additional activities planned for those who can arrive early or extend their stay through the weekend.

Both in our surveys and in conversations, members have made it clear that, while you would enjoy visiting any of several cities we might choose for our Spring Conference, a location with easy air travel and attractions within walking distance of the hotel is important to our meetings. We believe both Charlotte and the Westin address these important issues perfectly.

Charlotte Douglas International Airport hosts an average of 655 flights daily by 11 major airlines and 14 regional carriers. These flights provide non-stop service to 179 cities.

The Westin not only is located less than seven miles from the airport, it also is only steps away from the expansive Epicentre, several museums, the city’s finest restaurants, and other top things to do in Charlotte. Our attendees will explore the Queen City with ease on the LYNX Light Rail, which makes a stop at the Westin, whisking them away in just minutes to all Charlotte has to offer. Since all of life is a learning experience, we hope to take advantage of being in the home of NASCAR by visiting some high-tech operations where speed is the focus of the engineering and building process.

Even with all of the great communication tools available to members today, meeting face-to-face with fellow manufacturers, your suppliers and marketing representatives still can’t be matched. As our industry and members’ needs change, it becomes increasingly important that each of our annual meetings also evolves to better serve our membership.

We need your help and input as we begin planning for our 2015 Spring Conference in Charlotte. We are looking for members who either are based in, or have good connections in, the Charlotte area to assist with finding local speakers for our general and breakout sessions. Equally important, we want to find several manufacturing plants in the area that would be willing to host tours for attendees.

Our 2015 Spring Conference Committee will limit its meetings to a few conference calls over the summer and one in-person meeting during our Fall Convention this November in Las Vegas. If you are interested in helping, please contact Elaina Jackson at Elaina@FarmEquip.org or call her at 314.878.2304.

Another conponent of our planning process is continuing and improving our new special track for purchasing managers during the Spring Conference. We would appreciate hearing your suggestions for speakers well-versed in this area who can address the special needs of smaller manufacturers.

Please save the dates March 18-21, 2015 on your calendar now and become involved in the planning, either as part of our committee or with your suggestions, as we look forward to our 2015 Spring Conference in Charlotte, North Carolina.