The Industrial Supply Assn.'s annual spring ISCON meeting will be held in Toronto May 14–16. The year's event takes as its theme, "A World-Class Opportunity."

ISA president Tom Berger said attendees will be curious to get updates on a number of issues, including whether or not this might be the last spring meeting of the organization. A final decision is still being worked out, Berger said, but he hinted that, eventually, holding just one annual ISA convention may not be far down the road.

"We took a survey in the late summer [2004]," he explained, "and it was pretty obvious that the membership wanted only one convention."

Holding it on the weekend before Thanksgiving—when ISA's fall meeting has always been held—may well be re-evaluated. It's a weekend that has become somewhat inconvenient for attendees, Berger admitted, as the convention ends on the Monday of Thanksgiving week—a week that leads into a four-day weekend.

"Thanksgiving is the longest annual holiday that we have now," Berger said. "So for the future, it's going to be more and more of a challenge if we try to keep this thing on the weekend before Thanksgiving."

More information is being collected, Berger said, but he expects a final announcement on the issue in Toronto. He also has his eye on other scheduled events there. The ISA's Small, Specialty and Emerging Member Committee, for example, will be conducting a workshop on Saturday, May 14, on, "Leveraging the Manufacturer: Distributor Partnership Actions that Really Can Make a Difference." The event will be open to distributors with sales of less than $7.5 million, as well as to all attending manufacturers. It's become one of ISA's more popular and well-received sessions, Berger said.

"We started those a few years ago and they've grown in popularity with every convention," he explained. "They're a great opportunity, because as you look at the distributor membership of the ISA, the majority falls into that group. So to have something geared more specifically to their needs is not only critical, but makes a lot of sense."

Other Toronto highlights include the keynote presentation, to be delivered by Steve Forbes, president and CEO of Forbes, Inc. and editor-in-chief of Forbes magazine.

There are also two "Signature Series" educational sessions scheduled for Toronto. On Saturday, May 14, at a Pre-Convention Workshop, Jerry Haney, author of Making Culture Pay—Solving the Puzzle of Organizational Effectiveness, will discuss his best-selling book. (Haney's presentation will be repeated the following day.)

The next day, sales guru Dave Kahle will speak on "Training/Transforming Your Sales Force for the 21st Century." The author of How to Excel at Distributor Sales, Kahle will discuss his views of why there is more potential for growth and profitability within a company's sales force than in any other area of the business.

The Manufacturer-Distributor Booth Programs will again be among the highlights of the spring meeting. On May 15, from 8 a.m. to noon, manufacturing trading partners, master distributors, marketing and buying groups, and technology providers will have their booth day. Then on Monday, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., distributors take over. Booth spaces for both days will be allocated on a first-come first-served basis.

"ISCON is an opportunity to interact face-to-face and talk with the people who make the decisions that influence your business life," said Berger, who is also president of Fuchs Machinery in Omaha, Neb. "I can't tell you how valuable this has been for our business, for example."

For more information, log on to www.isapartners.org.