2008 Speaker Highlights:

These sessions will give you the tools to help you manage just about everything: your life, your sales, your distribution strategies, and your technology.

Luncheon Programs | Educational Track Programs | Special Programs

Luncheon Educational Programs

Monday, June 2 - 1:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Timely education and valuable networking will come together during the lunch programs on Monday and Tuesday. Attendees will use this time to slow down and take a break, but the work will continue as they informally talk with colleagues and listen to customized programs addressing various industrial supply chain issues.

Small, Specialty and Emerging Member Luncheon Program Featuring

Small, Specialty and Emerging Member Event
Dr. Bill McCleave

Enhancing Our Most Important Resource Base The Continuing Quest for Human Talent

In last year’s ISA Study of more than 300 industry executives, we found that one of the three major issues facing Industrial Distributors was the quest for human talent. Nowhere is this more important than in the smaller companies that make up the foundation of industrial distribution and supply. Since most of them base their uniqueness on the value they add and on innovation, talented people are the key to their future success. Unfortunately, many firms find it increasingly difficult to find and attract the talent required to get the job done. Some have even defined the current recruiting environment as “a perfect storm.”

At this year’s Small, Specialty and Emerging Member event we will attack the problem on several fronts and examine what is causing the concern among our members and see what they are doing to solve the continuing people challenges. If you think your people are valuable and want to learn more about some solutions to the challenges you will face, don’t miss this event.

The Small, Specialty and Emerging Member Council meets annually to address issues of particular relevance to Smaller members of the Industrial Supply Association. Other members are invited to attend. The sessions are moderated by Dr. Bill McCleave, PE and are normally filled to capacity, so make your plans early!

IMR Luncheon

Bryan Shirley

Our special guest speaker at the Independent Manufacturer Representative Luncheon will be Bryan Shirley, president and CEO of MANA, the association of interdependent manufacturers and representatives dedicated to educating, protecting, and promoting the multi-line, outsourced sales function. Shirley spent 22 years in the rep business. As the CEO of Colrud-Lowery, a representative firm covering a six-state territory selling electro-mechanical and electronic components, he led a team of 20 reps to annual sales of more than $50 million. He is a graduate of the CPMR program and, as a visiting professor at Arizona State University, teaches Motivational Compensation for Outside Sales 201 for CPMR certification for the Manufacturers’ Representatives Educational Research Foundation (MRERF).

Canadian Luncheon

John Duffy

If you (or your company) hail from Canada, please join us in this special gathering devoted to our Canadian members. This is the place to network with manufacturers, distributors and independent manufacturer reps from up north. You’ll also hear a presentation
from ISA board member John Duffy of Triumph Tool Ltd. in Guelph, Ontario, who will explain the benefits that ISA membership provides.

Safety Lunch-and-Learn

Selling Safety Products

George Hayward, President of United Sales
Craig Lindsay, President of Pacesetter Sales and Associates

Join fellow ISA members in this thought-provoking luncheon presentation that will highlight the opportunities awaiting ISA distributors in selling personal protective equipment (PPE) and other safety products. Success at selling PPE is not as easy as some may think. Distributors entering the business need to be aware of the challenges and obstacles that lay ahead. At today’s lunch-and-learn session, George Hayward, president of United Sales Associates, and Craig Lindsay, president of Pacesetter Sales and Associates, will lead a group of safety distribution experts in a far-ranging discussion on the keys to success. United Sales Associates represents leading manufacturers of industrial safety products. Pacesetter Sales & Associates is an independent manufacturer representative firm based in Canada that represents manufacturers in the safety and industrial sectors.

Technology lunch and learn

I'll Buy the Beer
Paula Giovannetti, ISA E-commerce Consultant

Paula Giovannetti says she'll buy the beer if she can't find a way to make your business, no matter what it is, better with bar codes. Case studies show the value of using bar codes for labor management, work in process, receiving and scrap. Several new bar code symbologies allow us to capture much needed data for tracking and tracing in the open supply chain. New camera scanners will take the aggravation out of bar codes that don't scan. If they can solve Soduko puzzles, they can read your bar codes! Retail and grocery rely on them; healthcare requires them by law and the DoD won't take your product without them. But you've probably missed the most important reason of all - making your own business better.

Return to schedule

Educational Track Program

Tuesday, June 3 education

The unique track format divides the sessions into three key components: leadership, sales/marketing, and operations.

Every session from our renowned speakers will be totally unique. Ensure that your company maximizes the educational value by bringing additional delegates. Our Education Only registration makes it easy and cost effective to bring your managers and for those within driving distance to come for the day.

To maximize the value of this multifaceted program, bring key management staff from all levels of your company.

Educational Track Program I

Pick and choose the sessions that best meet your organization’s needs.
Track Sessions runs 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.

IMR Session -(Repeat)

David Kahle speakers

All conference attendees are invited to attend this informative session sponsored by the independent manufacturer representative (IMR) members of ISA. In the incredibly busy world of an IMR, there are a few sales tactics and strategies needed to survive and be successful.

Dave Kahle, a world renowned sales trainer, visionary and coach, will share his secrets of rep success. His message has broad implications for anyone whose responsibilities include managing a sales territory or running a sales organization.

Attendees will leave the session with a focus and a set of tools that will guarantee success for all that use them. This is a session you will not want to miss.

Dave Kahle is a consultant and speaker who specializes in helping distributors/suppliers grow their sales and develop their people. As a distributor salesperson, he took a new territory to $5 million in 5 years. He was the No. 1 salesperson in the country for companies in two industries. As general manager, he grew monthly sales from $10,000 to $200,000 in 38 months.

Since 1988, Kahle has trained thousands of sales professionals, authored seven books,
32 multi-media programs, and has published more than 500 articles. He is a world-class speaker who has presented in seven countries and 46 states.

Numbers That Count: Determine Your Real Market Position (Repeat)

John Jacobsen, MBA, CSE | Ed Gerber | Bill Hodgdon
Session Description: This program will introduce the most extensive product market share report ever made available for North America. It is the result of more than 18 months of work by ISA’s Profit Improvement and Revenue Enhancement Committees. The report covers 14 product categories in more than 500 markets in the U. S. and Canada, at county and province levels.The first part of the session — led by Profit Improvement committee chairman John Jacobsen and Revenue Enhancement committee chairman Ed Gerber — will provide tutorials on why the information is so important and how you can use it for planning purposes. The second part of the session — led by Bill Hodgdon — will explain how to put the data to use to benefit your company. Hodgdon has been an operations manager and engineering manager at a Fortune 100 electronics company, president and owner of a manufacturing firm serving the Department of Defense and Tier I suppliers to various OEM industries, and founder of Hodgdon Consulting Services. The printed report for the top 100 markets will be distributed to all attendees at the track program.

1% Difference - Murray Lyons

muray Murray is a partner in Lyons and Associates, a firm which specializes in providing consulting, due diligence, and business acumen training to the distribution industry. More specifically Murray invested almost one year developing an experiential distribution business simulation to help employees in the industry discover how their daily decisions affect profitability and how small changes to key decisions can have a huge multiplier effect on profitability. Murray has worked with all sizes of companies including many fortune 500 companies over the past 20 years to assist individuals, teams, and organizations to improve performance.

Session Description: As a manger or owner you can literally see your profit slipping between the cracks countless ways everyday. It could be the sales rep who cuts price, the customer who pays late, the purchasing manager who doesn't get you the best deal, unnecessary expenses, etc. Most employees feel the decisions they make on a daily basis are rather insignificant, but the reality is small 1% changes to key variables can often improve profitability by 10-75%. After having worked with over 10,000 employees we’ve found simple tools that can help you communicate the importance of these decisions and get employees engaged in finding 1% improvements and we’re happy to share those with you.

A Great Game of Business Overview - Bill Fotsch

speakers Bill Fotsch is the Head Coach for The Great Game of Business, Inc. In 1994, Bill started the coaching business to help companies improve their financial results and the lives of the employees who drive those results. Since then, he has worked with over 100 different companies, in a wide variety of industries.

The companies have ranged from small, privately held companies, to mid-sized companies, to Fortune 500 firms. Although primarily focused on North America, his work has included international work including Scottish Hydro Electric, British Petroleum and the Zambian Consolidated Copper Mines (ZCCM) in Zambia, Africa.

Session Description: Would you want to compete with a company that has employees who are fully engaged in the business; where all employees understand how the business works, and what is critical for success? And since they have a common goal and incentives tied to that goal, departments easily collaborate and employees focus their energies on serving customers substantially better than the competition. Learn how one privately held manufacturing company, Springfield ReManufacturing Corp.® (SRC), has applied these principles, turning an initial $100,000 investment in 1983 into $171 million in equity value.

Return to schedule

Educational Track Program II

Pick and choose the sessions that best meet your organization’s needs.
Track Sessions runs 10:15 a.m. to 11:45 a.m.

The first two sessions from the 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. will be repeated here.

IMR Session - David Kahle
Numbers That Count:Determine Your Real Market Position

Preparing for the Changing Faces of Customer Service - Robert Wendover

bobw There's no mistaking it...Those inhabiting both sides of the customer
counter have changed dramatically. Each generation has its own customer
service expectations and tends to provide the type of service they
expect from others. Trouble is, those expectations don't always match.
Preparing for the Changing Faces of Customer Service will teach you how
to do a better job of relating to customers of all generations and boost
satisfaction in the process. Filled with illustrations and practical
strategies, this program is sure to help your organization obtain
measurable results when different generations meet across the counter.

The values possessed by each generation and their expectations and
priorities with regard to service.
How to deliver a clear message to each generation of employees
concerning corporate service expectations.
How to teach your associates to anticipate the service needs of those in
different generations.
How to provide the instantaneous service demanded by younger
generations.
How to take advantage of the technology service demands of younger
generations.
How to detect generational service expectations when selecting new
employees.

On-line Marketing - Learn How to Build an Online Marketing Machine - Bob DeStefano

bob Bob DeStefano is president of SVM E-Business Solutions, a leading online marketing agency focused on delivering bottom-line results for manufacturers and distributors. Since the birth of the commercial Web in the early 1990's, Bob has been helping business leaders define and implement successful online marketing strategies.

After founding SVM in 1995, Bob and the SVM team have worked with a wide variety of industrial companies, from Fortune 500 companies to small family-owned businesses, to help them leverage online marketing to achieve bottom-line results.

Session Description: Sure you have a website, but are you turning enough visitors into leads for your sales funnel? Your answer can be the difference between a Website that is a money-maker and one that is nothing more than a glorified brochure.This informative workshop will provide you with a practical roadmap for transforming your website into an On-line Marketing Machine. You will learn how to harness the power of search engine marketing, a customer-focused Website, email marketing, and Web analytics into an integrated marketing system that will continually generate new business, strengthen relationships with customers, and maximize the results from your marketing investments.

Click here for more information on SVM E-Business Solutions

Return to schedule

Special Programs

Sunday, June 1 - Porch Talk with Philip Gulley
7:00 am - 8:15 am

phil Start your day at 7:00 a.m. on Sunday with Philip Gulley, an Emmy Award winning writer, humorist, and inspirational speaker. Gulley is also Pastor of Fairfield Friends Meeting near Indianapolis, who also happens to be a funny storyteller. He has authored 14 books and his latest book, “Porch Talk”, is a collection of heartwarming stories from real-life situations that offers musings on leisure, marriage, faith, family, and enjoying the little things. Listening to Phil’s uplifting message will be a great way to kickoff your conference experience.

Gulley was discovered by Paul Harvey Jr., the son of the famous radio commentator, who visited his Quaker meeting one Sunday and began receiving the congregation’s newsletter. When Harvey read one of Gulley’s essays on the air, a publisher overheard the broadcast and signed Gulley to a multi-book contract. In addition to his first three books of essays, he continues to write the Harmony series, which describe the exploits of Sam Gardner, pastor of Harmony Friends Meeting, and his antagonist, Dale Hinshaw, who knows just enough Scripture to be annoying, but not enough to be transformed. Gulley will be available to sign copies of his latest best-selling book which will be available to purchase at the event. This is a program you won't want to miss.

Monday, June 2 - The Capitol Steps at the General Session
3:15 pm - 5:15 pm

The Capitol Steps were born in December, 1981 when some staffers for
Senator Charles Percy were planning entertainment for a Christmas party.
Ronald Reagan was President when the Steps began, the co-founders
figured that if entertainers could become politicians, then politicians
could become entertainers! The Capitol Steps travel the country
satirizing the very people and places that once employed them. The Steps
perform over 500 shows a year all over the country.

Click here to find out more information about the Capitol Steps.

Tuesday, June 3 - Awards Program Speaker
12:00 pm - 2:15 pm

Speaker: Alan Beaulieu

Alan Beaulieu, a senior analyst, economist, and a principal has been with the Institute for Trend Research (ITR) since 1990.

He has been consulting and advising companies throughout the US, Europe, and Japan on how to plan for and prosper through the business cycle.

Pronouncements from the Institute for Trend Research and/or Mr. Beaulieu have appeared in/on: the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Barrons, USA Today, Knight Ridder News Services, Reuters, CBS Radio, The Washington Times, and numerous other outlets.

Mr. Beaulieu has been providing workshops and economic analysis seminars across the U.S. to literally thousands of business owners and executives for the last 15 years.

Click for more information on
Alan Beaulieu and the Institute for Trend Research

Return to schedule