NEWTON, MASS. —If there's one thing NAHAD president Chuck Connors wants people to know, it's that small, specialty distributors are nowhere near extinction.

Connors will take that message to the 17th Annual Meeting & Convention of the National Assn. of Hose and Accessories Distributors next month. The meeting will be held at the Westin Rio Mar Resort in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico, April 22-26.

"I want to see people come down there and understand that …they're specialists and that they bring a lot to the game," said Connors, who is president of Omni Services, a hose and accessories distributor based in Worcester, Mass.

"We will have been successful if [members] come away feeling that their relationships and their history in this business still mean something, because they do," Connors added.

Playing off the convention's theme, "Creating Distinctive Distribution," Connors seeks to dispel the myth that technology, the Internet and big companies sound the death knell for small specialty firms, which make up the majority of NAHAD's membership. A well-rounded schedule — with some of the industry's best-known consultants and educators — along with a beautiful setting are top agenda items.

Motivational speaker Billy Riggs will join nationally known marketing expert Max Carey and familiar industry names like Bart Basi and Robert Segal for the speaker line-up. Basi is a financial and tax expert and Segal is a partner with Chicago-based distribution consultant Frank Lynn & Associates. Other speakers include Robert Nadeau, managing principal of Industrial Performance Group; author and public speaker Christopher J. Hegarty; and industry academic Dr. Don Rice, formerly of Texas A&M University.

The convention will also serve as a forum for updating members on NAHAD's programs and services. Members can learn about the association's Hose Assembly Guidelines and find out more about the NAHAD Institute, an industry education program launched three years ago.

Among other activities, the International Committee will host a special luncheon on Monday afternoon and the annual contact table program will be held Tuesday afternoon.