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WELCOME!
It is important to maintain a position of strength, determination and resilience in today's uncertain world. Your customers need to know that you are going to provide essential material handling solutions, not simply products. Your employees need to know that you are committed to the prosperity of the company. Your suppliers need to know that you are taking steps to continue to best represent their products.
MHEDA's 54th Annual Convention brought just over 400 MHEDA members to the JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort & Spa in Palm Desert, CA, on May 2-6. The theme for this year's Convention was "Powerful Positioning," and attendees were taught how to position themselves to be prosperous in the recovering economy.
MHEDA's 2009
President
Duncan Murphy
and wife, Rozanne
2009 Convention Chairman
Greg Morrison
and wife, Barbara
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The Convention kicked off with a welcome meeting hosted by President Duncan Murphy and Convention Chairman Greg Morrison. Murphy emphasized the importance of ensuring that companies position themselves as the economic climate begins to shift. In a later presentation, Murphy also credited Jack Phelan, MHEDA's 2008 president, for implementing extra financial safeguards last year to ensure that MHEDA's finances were protected and the association was prepared for difficult times. After the welcome meeting, the group was shuttled to the Palm Springs Air Museum for dinner, entertainment and a lesson in aviation history at the Convention's Opening Party.
Monday's general session opened with a presentation on MHEDA's newest benefit—wikiMHEDA, a Web site featuring an industry-specific encyclopedia, daily news, a buyers directory and more. Keynote speaker Ross Shafer stressed that companies should stay up to date not only with business trends, but with social trends and pop culture trends. He suggested conducting regular company performance reports, rather than just quarterly and yearly reports.
Expert economist Alan Beaulieu spoke about economic trends in the industry. He painted a grim picture of the challenges currently facing the economy, but assured listeners that it would soon recover, likely by October of this year. He forecasted that sales will begin to rise over the course of the next few years and will return to relatively normal levels by 2013.
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Sandwiched between the 2 speakers was the Exhibitors' Showcase, where nearly 90 supplier and associate members set up to display products and services to fellow Convention attendees. The Showcase opened with "Speed Networking," where distributors spent 3-minute time slots at a booth and then moved on to the next, much like speed dating. Attendees had 2 additional chances to browse the showroom floor—once following Speed Networking and another at happy hour later in the afternoon.
Tuesday was dedicated to education. Twelve seminars were offered throughout the day covering a variety of important issues facing the industry, including negotiations, credit and collections, social networking for businesses, financial strategies and Web site optimization. The day closed with an entertaining speech by Steve Ford, son of the late President Gerald Ford. Ford talked about life in the White House and shared some intimate stories about the former first family. For more about the Convention speakers, including presentation take-away materials, visit this page. Tuesday night's closing festivities, including live music and an assortment of casino games, capped off a very successful Convention for 2009.
MHEDA's 55th Annual Convention is set to take place at the Marriott Marco Island Resort & Spa in Marco Island, FL, from May 1-5, 2010. Details will be posted on MHEDA's Web site as they become available.
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