While enjoying several interesting educational sessions, a keynote address by Steve Forbes, and a world-class location, attendees at this years Industrial Supply Assn.'s ISCON meeting also were perturbed by the distance between hotel and convention center (20-minute walk, and no shuttle buses), and the general growing pains still evident as ISA reached its first anniversary. (For more reaction to this year's ISCON meeting, read Keough's Korner, a blog written by INDUSTRIAL DISTRIBUTION Editor Jack Keough, at www.inddist.com/ISCONBlog.)

As with past ISCON meetings, longtime business friends got together, but also were frenzied at times, as the distance between the hotel (the Sheraton Centre, where educational sessions were held) and the convention center (where booth shows and the Opening Session took place) made getting to and from ISCON attractions more problematic and time consuming than veteran ISCON attendees had expected.

As a result, while member enthusiasm is still high for ISA and its overall goals, several people, among the approximately 1,100 who attended the Toronto meeting, were lukewarm in their reviews of this year's meeting.

Many were questioning the ongoing need for two meetings a year—ISCON in the spring and the Fall Business Expo set for later this year in Chicago. Perhaps anticipating this, ISA president Tom Berger addressed these concerns early in his welcoming remarks at the Opening Session, pointing out that ISA surveys showed that more than 80 percent of respondents preferred one annual meeting.

The future of ISA's conventions was "possibly the hottest topic" for members, said Berger. He announced that while the annual fall meeting will be held again this year in Chicago, it will be the last of those meetings. Next year's ISA meeting, the only one scheduled for 2006, will be May 20–22, in San Antonio.

After that, there will be only one annual meeting, Berger explained, and additional surveys and feedback from members will go far towards determining the time of year, as well as location and general format of future meetings.

"Our industry has seen incredible change in recent years," Berger said, but emphasized that some things still have not changed. "Our businesses, whether you're a manufacturer or a distributor, share one common purpose—to serve our end user customers."

Other Opening Session news saw the late Roger Taylor honored. Taylor, former president of North American Tool Corp., and a past member of the ISA board, passed away last year.

"Roger was a true industry giant and a world class gentleman. He was a builder. There would be no ISA today without his vision and perseverance," said Columbus McKinnon president/CEO Tim Tevens, who will become president of the ISA when he succeeds Berger in July.

Taylor's wife, Gail, and their daughters were present as a $25,000 donation was made in Taylor's memory to the Gary Buffington Memorial Scholarship Fund, a memorial to former Industrial Distribution Assn. executive vice president Gary Buffington who died in 2003.

Lindsay Tack, a senior in Purdue University's Department of Industrial Technology, was this year's recipient of the Buffington scholarship. She is preparing for a career in industrial distribution after graduating in 2006.

Steve Forbes, CEO and president of Forbes magazine, delivered the keynote speech at the Opening Session. Forbes hit on a variety of topics including health care, the flat tax and trial lawyers.

Forbes, who has been a presidential candidate in the past, said he would not be a candidate in 2008, "but I'll be an agitator," as he plans to contribute opinions and commentary during the campaign.

In his talk, Forbes emphasized his optimistic outlook on business in general.

"When people look back on this period, they will conclude that, for all of the problems and challenges, we are entering an era that will be noted as one of the most innovative and inventive eras of human history," he said. "Every industry can get hit but every industry can also find ways ... to revive themselves."

A number of ISCON's scheduled educational sessions were well received.

"Motivating and Retaining Talent," was led by Dr. Jan Ferri-Reed of the Key Group, a consulting firm. To retain good employees, give them challenging work, said Dr. Reed. She told ISCON attendees that studies show challenging work is the number one reason employees stay at companies.

Dr. Reed also identified a number of other key areas for retention including: flexible work hours; a good, cooperative work environment with their other employees/teammates; training opportunities; and fair pay and benefits.

"Making Culture Pay: Solving the Puzzle of Organizational Effectiveness," emphasized that when a company establishes a good corporate culture within its organization, big benefits will follow.

Jerry Haney of Visionomics, a consulting firm, referred to Southwest Airlines as a perfect example of a company that has an outstanding culture leading to increased profits, outstanding customer service and excellent employee satisfaction. Companies with strong cultures have a great ability to attract and retain top talent and successfully adapt much quicker than their competitors to changing market conditions, Haney added.

At the ISCON membership luncheon, ISA's executive vice president John Buckley told members that the ISA's E-Business Committee was making headway towards eventual establishment of EDI standards for its member companies—something Buckley emphasized "will be driving the supply chain" in the years ahead.

In addition, Berger told the luncheon that they had signed a number of new members since its July 1 inauguration, including 39 new manufacturers and 19 new distributors. Berger added, though, that potentially many more could be signed up as that number "represents 13–17 percent of the potential units of membership."

The ISA presented its American Eagle Value-Added Partner Award to manufacturer Carbide Tool Services of Anoka, Minn., and distributor Sterling Supply Company of Huntington, W. Va. Mean-while, Quality Mill Supply of Franklin, Ind., was named recipient of the 2005 American Eagle Value-Added Distributor Award. Weiler Corporation of Cresco, Pa., received the 2005 American Eagle Value-Added Manufacturer Award. The American Eagle Corporate Citizenship Award was given to distributor Empire Machinery & Supply Corporation in Norfolk, Va., and manufacturer Precision Brand Products of Downers Grove, Ill.