The 1,900-plus attendees at this year’s NEMRA Annual Conference enjoyed a busy four days in Las Vegas that were loaded with hundreds of one-on-one sessions; an inspiring keynote presentation by NFL Hall of Fame Quarterback Kurt Warner; an Emerging Leaders meeting that drew more than 80 attendees; and the annual NEMMY Awards program.
The National Electrical Manufacturers Representatives Association (NEMRA) honored several rep agencies and manufacturers in its NEMMY Awards program and recognized Rick Angel, Lutron’s senior VP, with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Encore Wire won the 2022 Rep’s Choice Award, and the 2022 NEMMY Partnership of the Year Award went to Stuart Hall and his team at KMS Sales, Youngsville, NC, and Eaton. Synergy Sales, Fairless Hills, PA, won the 2022 Manufacturer’s Choice Award.
Attendance for the conference topped last year’s event in Dallas by approximately 300 people. NEMRA hadn’t used a casino hotel for its annual conference since the 1987 meeting in Reno, NV, and the venue seemed to handle this year’s conference quite well. While you always have folks who either love or hate a casino property for a meeting or traveling to Las Vegas, few attendees with whom Electrical Marketing spoke had any major complaints about the Virgin Hotels facility.
The booths for the one-on-one meetings were all close together, and the hotel was able to accommodate NEMRA’s requests for dozens of the innovative modular privacy suites on the show floor, which gave reps and manufacturers more privacy than the standard “pipe-and-drape” booths, and the ability to book a suites in several different sizes, from 10-ft by 10-ft up to 20-ft by 20-ft with a large conference table. Many NEMRA manufacturers and independent reps customized their booths with custom signage, and from all reports, attendees like the idea of not having to race to meetings in suites all over the hotel, which has been a challenge in years past.
NEMRA service providers and new manufacturers/vendors at the show seemed to be satisfied with booth traffic at the conference. Phoenix Lighting, a provider of LED lighting fixtures and solutions for mines, ports and other industrial applications, and Aida Corp., a manufacturer of wiring devices, had two of the busier booths at NEMRA, with plenty of reps checking out their products. Salespeople from both companies said they were happy with the traffic at the show, and that they had plenty of independent rep agencies to evaluate for open territories.
The 2024 NEMRA Annual Conference will be held Jan. 29-Feb. 1 at the Hilton Anatole Hotel in Dallas.