Much of the lobby chatter at this week’s NAED South Central meeting in Tampa focused on the weather-delayed start for many U.S. construction projects and the new round of rumors about the sale of Anixter Inc., Glenview, Ill.
Held at the Tampa Marriott Waterside in downtown Tampa, a new location for the regional meetings of the National Association of Electrical Distributors (NAED), St. Louis, the conference enjoyed some nice attendance gains over last year’s meeting at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. According to a rough count from the NAED registration list, approximately 204 distributor attendees from 71 distributor companies were at the conference, compared to 187 members from 62 companies at last year’s South Central meeting in Las Vegas. On the manufacturers’ side, 380 manufacturer personnel were registered, compared to roughly 327 at last year’s Las Vegas conference.
While attendance was up, the lobby and bar area seemed unusually quiet at the Tampa Marriott Waterside, a beautiful conference facility on Tampa’s Riverwalk along the banks of the Garrison Channel that feeds into picturesque Hillsborough Bay. Some lobby veterans said distributors were spending more time than usual up in the suites with vendor meetings booked months in advance. NAED got good marks from attendees for getting Blinds.com Founder and CEO Jay Steinfeld as keynote speaker. In his presentation “Don’t Change. Evolve!” Steinfeld shared ideas on establishing a corporate culture that taps into the talents of Millennials.
-Jim Lucy in Tampa, Fla.