HARDI COO & EVP Talbot Gee echoes this sentiment, stating, “The last thing HARDI wants to do is interfere with any of the fantastic events many suppliers host during the AHR Expo. I’m excited about our new ‘Pre-Party’ concept for an earlier, less-expensive HARDI Icebreaker the evening before the show opens that will maximize the fantastic venue we’ve always provided for 500-plus HARDI members to meet and coordinate their plans before perhaps the busiest week in our industry gets underway.”

We realize your time at the AHR Expo is precious, so take some time before the rush to have food, drinks and conversation with fellow distributors and suppliers. We hope you are as excited as we are for the new and improved Icebreaker event. We can’t wait to jump start the AHR Expo and the new year with all of you! 

(The HARDI room block at the Hilton Chicago has sold out.)

Focus 15: Strategic Leadership

HARDI returns in 2015 with the Focus Conference series, which has proven to be a valuable source of information benefiting HARDI members.

The first of four Focus Conferences takes place March 22-24 at the Surf and Sand Resort (www.surfandsandresort.com) in Laguna Beach, Calif., and will address the topic of Strategic Leadership. In particular, the conference includes presentations on mergers and acquisitions as well as increasing margins, strategies for leading people and information on government and the economy.

Brent Grover, author of the first book written specifically about mergers and acquisitions in the wholesale distribution industry, “The Acquisitive Distributor, “will be one of the featured speakers. He will utilize information from his upcoming book, “The NAW Guide to Distributor Mergers & Acquisitions,” which includes data from a new research study of industry transactions and information written by attorneys, accountants and investment bankers with experience buying and selling distributors. Grover’s presentation on mergers and acquisitions will include a preview of information from the book, which is due to be published by mid-2015.

Don’t wait to register for the Strategic Leadership Conference. The hotel cut-off is Feb. 19.

Focus 15: Marketing & Sales

The Focus Conference series continues through 2015 with the Marketing & Sales event, which takes place April 12-14 at the Francis Marion Hotel (www.francismarionhotel.com) in Charleston, S.C.

Attendees can expect to learn about such marketing topics as utilizing social media, return-on-investment of their marketing programs, giveaways and promotions and mobile marketing; as well as sales topics such as sales management & personal efficiency tools, e-commerce, increasing sales by teaching dealers to use financing and becoming the primary supplier in their market.

Justin King, eCommerce Evangelist & Strategist at Oracle, with more than 15 years building and implementing e-commerce platforms, will be presenting on how to calculate a business case for finding the value and prioritizing initiatives when constructing an online customer experience.

There will also be a workshop on best implementing and managing social media in the HVACR industry.

 The hotel cut-off at the Francis Marion Hotel is March 12.