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AWMA Announces Updates on Upcoming Meetings and Expositions
FAIRFAX, VA (07/14/04) — The American Wholesale Marketers Association is busy preparing for its upcoming AWMA Distribution Summit and Business Exchange (ABX), which will be held Sept. 27-30, 2004, at the New Orleans Ritz-Carlton. In addition, the association is making plans for future Summits and REAL DEAL EXPOs.
New ABX Is Sold Out; Summit Reg Numbers Up
At this year’s AWMA Distribution Summit, we are introducing face-to-face scheduled meetings between manufacturers and distributors. Called AWMA Business Exchange (ABX), this portion of the Summit is completely sold out, with 20 manufacturers and 44 distributors participating.
The AWMA Distribution Summit & Business Exchange will be held Sept. 27-30, 2004, at the New Orleans Ritz-Carlton. Here is a schedule-at-a-glance for the event:
Monday, Sept. 27
10:45 a.m.–3:45 p.m.: AWMA Committee Meetings
4 p.m.–6 p.m.: AWMA Board Meeting
6:30 p.m.–7:30 p.m.: Welcome Reception
Tuesday, Sept. 28
7:30 a.m.–9 a.m.: Continental Breakfast and AWMA Peer Group Meetings
9:15 a.m.–11:30 a.m.: AWMA Summit Sessions
11:45 a.m.–1:15 p.m.: Lunch With Featured Speaker, Pollster Peter Hart
1:30 p.m.–5:15 p.m.: AWMA Summit Sessions
5:30 p.m.–6:30 p.m.: Summit Reception
Wednesday, Sept. 29
7 a.m.–6:20 p.m.: ABX Hospitality Room Open (serving breakfast, lunch and snacks)
8 a.m. –6:20 p.m.: ABX Meetings
9 a.m.–3 p.m.: Distributor-Only Roundtables
6:30 p.m.–7:30 p.m.: ABX Reception
Thursday, Sept. 30
7 a.m.–2:35 p.m. ABX Hospitality Room Open (serving breakfast, lunch and snacks)
8 a.m.–2:35 p.m. ABX Meetings
For a complete schedule of events, click here. If you would like to register yourself or a member of your editorial staff for the Summit, please contact Jill Kosko at 703-208-1644; registration is free for editorial members of the press. With the meeting still over two months away, about 210 people have already registered for the 2004 Summit--that's as many as registered for last year's meeting.
Dates for Upcoming AWMA EXPOs and Summits Announced
AWMA is pleased to announce that its annual REAL DEAL EXPO will be in Las Vegas for the next three years.
"Our members love Las Vegas," said Bob Pignato, vice president of membership, marketing and industry affairs. "The increase we’ve had in booth sales in Las Vegas attests to the attraction of the city. Booth sales for the 2005 REAL DEAL EXPO are up 21% versus this same time last year."
The 2005 REAL DEAL EXPO will be held Feb. 23–25 at the Las Vegas Convention Center. As at the 2004 EXPO, AWMA will be giving away $10,000 and other great gifts in prize-drawings to attendees. Business sessions will take place the mornings of Feb. 24 and Feb. 25. Football great Don Shula, former coach of the Miami Dolphins, will be speaking the morning of Feb. 25.
In addition, AWMA has just signed contracts with the Las Vegas Hilton for the 2006 and 2007 REAL DEAL EXPOS. In addition to being the host hotel for these events, the Las Vegas Hilton will also house the trade show in its 70,000-square-foot ballroom. The 2006 REAL DEAL EXPO will be held March 15–17, and the 2007 show will be Feb. 21–23.
Companies interested in exhibiting at the 2005 REAL DEAL EXPO should contact Dave Petrillo at J. Spargo & Associates at 703-631-6200 or Dave.Petrillo@jspargo.com. Attendee registration brochures will be available by the end of the summer. For updated information on the show, keep checking www.realdealexpo.com.
AWMA has also finalized arrangements for the 2005 AWMA Distribution Summit and Business Exchange: The event will return to the New Orleans Ritz-Carlton, Sept. 12–15, 2005. A special bonus for attendees: the room rate in 2005 will not increase from the 2004 level. A $179-a-night room rate for this outstanding luxurious hotel, right next to the French Quarter, is a great deal for AWMA's members.
Other Meetings: L.A. Bantle Institute and STEPS
AWMA’s popular STEPS (Systems to Enhance Professional Selling) program was completely filled for its 2004 spring session, held April 18–21 at Garrett Creek Ranch in Paradise, TX. STEPS, a course designed to train sales managers of convenience distributorships, is also held in the fall at the Belmont Conference Center in Elkridge, MD. This year’s fall STEPS program will be held Nov. 7–10; the class is full, but AWMA is still accepting names for the waiting list.
Next year’s spring STEPS class will be held again at Garrett Creek Ranch, April 17-20, 2005; dates for the 2005 fall class will be announced in a few months.
Last month, at the Minnowbrook Conference Center in Blue Mountain Lake, NY, 23 students, representing both distributor and supplier companies, graduated from AWMA’s prestigious L.A. Bantle Institute. This intense four-and-a-half-day course, held in conjunction with Syracuse University, trains tomorrow’s brightest leaders in presentation, coaching and team-building skills.
For a picture of all 23 students from the 2004 Bantle class, along with a listing of names, please contact Jill Kosko at 703-208-1644 or jillk@awmanet.org. Next year’s conference will again be held at Minnowbrook, June 11–16, 2005.
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