Get ready for STAFDA, Nov. 13-15

Staff -- Industrial Distribution, 10/1/2006

Members of the Specialty Tools & Fasteners Distributors Assn. will head to Las Vegas next month for their 30th Annual Meeting & Convention.

The show will be held Monday through Wednesday, Nov. 13-15, at the Las Vegas Hilton and the Las Vegas Convention Center, and features a trade show, technology and consultant's fair, workshops, industry updates, and social events. The keynote speaker is Jim Collins, author of the book From Good to Great.

As of early September, the convention was 95 percent sold out, according to STAFDA organizers. Distributor registration was up 20 percent compared to the same time last year, and overall attendance was up 18 percent, with 3,327 people registered as of September 7th. Also, there were 831 booths reserved for the trade show as of early September, surpassing the record number of 815 booths at last year's trade show.

Speakers at this year's event include well-known industry consultants Dr. Bart Basi, president of the Center for Financial, Legal & Tax planning, and Tom Reilly, president of Tom Reilly Training and author of Industrial Distribution's monthly column, Strictly for Sales.

Also on the agenda are human resources consultant Nancy Combs; Deborah Thomas-Nininger, who specializes in business etiquette, communication and self-presentation; marketing and communications expert Scott Deming; and syndicated newspaper columnist Greg Smith, whose seminar is titled, “Creating the High-Performance Organization: How the Best Companies Achieve Success.”

STAFDA president Doug Hahn, of Indianapolis-based Hahn Systems, will give the Distributor State-of-the-Industry address during the General Session on Tuesday, Nov. 14. He'll be followed by Jeff Campbell, vice president-sales for Irwin & Lenox Industrial Tools, who will give the Associate State-of-the-Industry report.

For more information, go to www.stafda.org.