Denver — When the Industrial Supply Manufacturers Assn. and the Industrial Distribution Assn. next meet, cowboy hats and boots will be in fashion and the smell of barbecue will fill the air. Against the backdrop of Colorado's Rocky Mountains, members and guests of both associations will meet to beat back the blues of the last six months.

The Spring Convention, held May 4-6 at the Adams Mark Hotel, provides the perfect opportunity to put the past behind for a while and meet with old and new friends. Highlights of the convention include a keynote address by Tom Peters, a well-known author and "master of management."

The convention will also provide an opportunity to see the latest high-tech products, complete with live demonstrations, at the I.D.A. Business and Technology Solutions Showcase.

By the time members get to Denver, according to industrial and consumer data, the economic outlook will be brighter for the rest of 2002.

I.D.A. president Scott Parrish says an imminent recovery of the economy is an ideal backdrop for attendees to meet and put into action the plans they made last fall.

"The industry has been in recession longer than the rest of the country, and hopefully manufacturing will come out sooner," Parrish said. [The Spring Convention] is the perfect opportunity to put plans into action. Distributors who have hibernated this winter making plans can now move ahead."

Hardy Hamann, incoming ISMA president, agrees.

"This year, the news is certainly more positive for distributors ... durable goods are up two percent [in early March]. That means the supply chain is extremely empty at this point, and the orders are starting to come in."

It's time to get to Denver and participate because catching up will only get more difficult as time goes on. And, Hamann adds, there is one good thing a recession brings out in people — open-mindedness.

"That's what recessions do — create open-mindedness," he said. "People want to hear ideas and share their own. I think the convention is the best place to do that. "

Distributors and manufacturers can share ideas at the Manufacturer's Conference Booth Program on Monday, May 6, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. The Construction Products Showcase, in its 7th year, will be held in conjunction with that event.

Kennedy Manufacturing's David Thompson, ISMA president, takes the same tack about the economy as Hamann and Parrish, and is hearing the same kind of news.

"People, and myself, are guardedly optimistic about the economy," Thompson says, "and we hear plants are starting to hire. Some orders are coming in. Conventions are important at any time, I think, but especially when the economy is changing — up or down."

Joining others at the convention will help manufacturers jell the uncertainties of the next six months.

"Are we confident enough to build inventory? If things start to pick up, we'd better be in Denver to talk about it," Thompson said. "You want to be positioned to move and have conversations with your customers, in my case, distributors."