NEW ORLEANS — Hopefully, a hot sun will be an antidote to a long, cold winter for manufacturers and distributors traveling from colder climes to the Industrial Supply Manufacturers Assn./ Industrial Distribution Assn. Spring Convention next month in New Orleans.

"We must all add value for our customers and find new ways to do that," said Chuck Stockinger, executive director of ISMA. "That's not going to be easy in the face of many challenges we have as an industry, but the purpose of these meetings is to address those exact problems."

No manufacturer or distributor should come away from the meeting without finding ways to bond the customer to themselves, which is the challenge of the new century, Stockinger said.

The convention runs May 17-19 at the Hilton New Orleans Riverside Hotel.

"Our Value-Added Partners program was begun to address this very issue, and the topic is now the hottest in the industry," Stockinger said. "Adding value to the relationship with customers is evidently the only way to grow from here on."

New this year is an invitation to distributors with or without association membership to come and see what the convention and the Industrial Distribution Assn. is all about.

Also, the Triple Industrial Conference Booth Program format has changed, with every distributor paying the same registration fee.