STAFDA 2011 Session Preview: Interactive Rap Session
The best (and worst) of distribution, with Michael Marks.
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One of the most unusual educational sessions at the upcoming convention isn’t a presentation at all. Several years ago STAFDA arranged to have Michael Marks do a general rap session with our members. In the session, Mike grabbed a flip chart and asked the group for questions. He said everything was fair game and the group put out some real tough questions and issues. Long story short, it turned out to be one of the highest rated sessions that STAFDA had ever provided. They did it again in Baltimore, and they are doing it again for this event.
Mike is well known to most of our members and his straight-from-the-shoulder style created some very energetic conversations about things that were important and often rarely spoken about. The San Antonio convention is restaging the event on November 13th and it will be
offered from 1:00 to 4:30 p.m. with a break in the middle.
For those who don’t know Mike, he is the managing partner at Indian River Consulting Group. The firm specializes in working with distributors and their suppliers and they have been working in this industry for 25 years. Mike and several other Indian River partners are part of the regular faculty at Purdue University’s University of Industrial Distribution.
Mike sits on the boards of several public and privately held distributors; he is a research fellow with the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors; he is an arbitrator in manufacturer-distributor contract disputes; and he has published multiple books and research projects about distribution over the years.
When STAFDA members were asked why they enjoyed the last session so much they said that the ability to get a very specific answer to a specific question helped them move forward in building their businesses. In several cases, on incentive design for field sales reps in particular, Mike was able to help management teams get agreement when they had been stuck with conflicting ideas.
If you decide to take advantage of this rap session, you will get the most out of it by thinking about what you really find as challenges in growing and managing your business. Fire the question to Mike and see what comes back. If you have managers that have conflicting ideas make sure that they all attend and get Mike to focus on your core issue.
At the beginning of the session, Mike will ask the audience if they have any anonymous questions that he should address. Mike told us that some members didn’t want their competitors to know about their internal issues.
There will be no projector or PowerPoint presentations, just a conversation between experienced industry insiders. If you have a subject where you want straight
information, especially to solve a challenge, you won’t want to miss this rap session.
Michael Marks is president of Indian River Consulting Group and a highly popular veteran presenter from many past STAFDA events. He can be reached at www.ircg.com.
CONTRACTOR SUPPLY MAGAZINE
The October/November 2024 of Contractor Supply magazine is here!
Our cover story, A Rewarding Passion - Dale Hahs II, third-generation of Denver's AIS Industrial & Construction Supply, is STAFDA's incoming 2025 president.
A Special STAFDA section featuring a welcome address, an agenda, session previewss by presenters and much more. Also in this issue are our Industry Updates on: Lifting, Moving and Material Handling; Lasers, Levels and Measurement; Hand Tools; Cordless Power Tools; Drill Bits and Cutting Tools; and Toolboxes, Bags and Belts.
This digital edition, sponsored by BECK AMERICA Inc., is fully searchable and contains live links to every advertiser and new product listing. Click away!
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