Magic Happens When Members Gather
As the Association plans the Marketing & Distribution Convention in Minneapolis, it’s natural we want to share details. We are reminded though that the real power in the meeting comes from your being there. A little magic happens when members gather.
With this issue of Shortliner, we turn it over to members who are long-standing participants in meetings. Take their words for it: You need to be there.
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“For the cost of a plane ticket and hotel room, the fall convention offers us the opportunity to meet with all of our distribution partners in a three-day period. Meetings are spent reviewing the year and developing plans for the future. When possible, major product announcements are planned around the fall convention, because we can reach all of our distributors at the same time. This provides a great boost to sales going into spring. The returns from the fall meeting far exceed the small investment in time and money. We cannot afford to not be there.” — Mike Kloster, Worksaver |
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“I too was one of the people who didn’t get (to conventions) for the first couple of years. Being a smaller company, and a lot of new members companies are smaller, you have work to do at home. But, it’s certainly worth the time to get here. You see your counterparts, and you get to know your competitors. It’s nice to be friendly with your competitors.” — Don Landoll, Landoll Corp. |
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“We’re all busy. So, we’re always coming up with an excuse not to go somewhere. But, as soon as you get to a meeting, you realize that when you step away from your day-to-day work, important things come out. Your mind clears, you hear what others in the industry are doing, you hear what your suppliers are doing, and it just gives you a broad approach and a bigger picture. I always talk about getting to a higher elevation, and that’s what (the Association) does for you.” —Matt Westendorf, Westendorf Manufacturing |
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“All around, just being with other people who are part of the Association—as peers, or suppliers, or as part of your sales network, it’s a tremendous value. I can’t think of any better way of getting that done during the year.” —Marc McConnell, Art’s Way Manufacturing |