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Monday, January 21, 2013
NAED 2013 Western
While we were unable to attend the NAED Western due to client commitments, we did receive some input from some of our friends:
If you attended, what was your experience? What did you learn?
- Attendance was strong, albeit no one seemed to know why (other than people wanting to go to Palm Springs?) The last registration list we saw listed 672 potential attendees, with a significant percentage being manufacturers.
- Word was that many distributors were projecting a strong year ... high single digits / low double digit increases. Manufacturers were wondering why as they don't see it happening. In digging further, this could be location specific. Many locales in the West have been down significantly over the past few years and the rebound in residential (decrease in foreclosures) could be helping. In some markets the petrochem market is the driver. For some it could be a significant project.
- A recent article in WSJ highlighted that the West had the biggest gain (43.3%) for single-family housing and that multi-family construction is accelerating. Could it be that some are projecting housing starts will lead to more commercial construction in their marketplaces?
- We understand there was some industry "buzz" / conversation about the Gexpro / Sylvania enhanced relationship.
- Interestingly, there were no comments regarding the educational sessions or general session speaker, although I'll surmise that the individuals we spoke with did not attend any of the educational sessions.
If you attended, what was your experience? What did you learn?
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I attended the general session and thought the speaker was good. Spoke a little fast but his message was right on. If you want to grow your business you need to think about what is on today's fringes as those will become tomorrow's growth opportunities. From the horse in London in the 1900's that turned out to be the car to ATT now earning more from cellular than landlines, the concept makes me think beyond our current business.
ReplyDeleteI didn't get to go to some of the educational sessions but my staff did. Feedback on Kelly McDonald's session was excellent and great input regarding hiring and recruiting.
I've found that NAED's sessions have gotten much better. I at least pop my head into some session and schedule some of my younger staff to attend some of the sessions. The days of going to play golf should be over. I can afford to do at home or can play with manufacturers on Sunday or Wednesday. If I'm spending $700-800 to attend, need to get more out of it than seeing my manufacturer friends again.