President's Blog

Earlier this month, we had our National Meeting in Boston. It was a great meeting with plenty of opportunity for our members to learn about new and emerging trends as well as making important connections though networking. In case you weren’t able to make it to the National, you can still take advantage of education and networking opportunities by attending one of our niche meetings.

Our niche meetings, targeted to specific groups within our membership, provide the opportunity for members to enhance their skills in specific areas in the industry while networking with others that have similar interests.

Women in Industry Forum 
June 23-26, 2013
Hilton Austin
Austin, Texas

Leadership Enhancement and Development Conference 
July 18-20, 2013
Hyatt Regency Chicago
Chicago, Ill.

Branch Management Bootcamp
Warehouse Management Session  
July 29-30, 2013
Rockwell Automation
Milwaukee, Wis.

AdVenture Marketing Conference  
August 5-7, 2013
Renaissance Chicago Downtown
Chicago, Ill.

Branch Management Bootcamp
Leading Your People Session 
August 19-20, 2013
NAED Training Center
St. Louis, Mo.

Congressional Fly-in  
September 10-11, 2013
Capitol Hill Hotel
Washington, D.C.

With such a variety of niche meetings, I’m sure that you or some of your team members would benefit from participation. They’re are a good way to connect with the people as well as learning more about important issues and trends that have a big impact on business. For more information about any of the NAED’s meetings, visit the events webpage or contact the NAED Conference Department at 888-791-2512.

Our thoughts are with those who are suffering today in Oklahoma.  It seems almost unfathomable to try and understand the pain and devastation caused by such a massive storm.

Unfortunately, according to the National Weather Service, about 53 million people are still at risk of severe weather today as that same storm system is threatening a large part of the U.S. including north-central Texas, southeastern Oklahoma, and northern Arkansas and Louisiana.

While you never know if a disaster is going to have a huge impact on your business, it is important to have a plan in place just in case a natural or man-made disaster you’re your area. Recently, the NAED joined the Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety (IBHS) to be able to offer members resources  for disaster planning. If you haven’t developed a disaster plan, I encourage you to consider doing so soon. One in four businesses that close due to a disaster don’t re-open.

And, don’t forget to register for the Master the Disaster Continuity webinar  at 1 p.m. CDT on June 18, 2013.

Sponsored each year by the Electrical Safety Foundation International  (ESFI), the Electrical Safety Month campaign focuses on raising the awareness of electrical hazards and the importance of electrical safety.

This year’s campaign, “Electrical Safety for All Ages,” helps at-risk populations indentify and correct home electrical hazards and to provide resources to help encourage electrically safe practices in the workplace.

I would encourage you to consider participating in this campaign. Not only does it help promote awareness of important safety issues, it can also help to educate the public about our industry and what we do as electrical distributors. 

According to ESFI, home electrical fires in the U.S. are responsible for almost 500 deaths, more than 1,400 injuries, and $1.4 billion in property damage.

It’s probably no surprise to you that many electrical hazards are the result of increased use of electrical power combined with aging electrical systems. Every year, electrical failures are a leading cause of home fires. And as homes age, electrical and lighting equipment fires have been shown to increase in frequency. The increased demand for energy to power these devices can overload the electrical systems in older homes causing fires or electrocutions.

The campaign also has resources to help encourage safe electrical practices on the job with materials developed for workplace electrical safety education. Safety in the workplace is important because on the job electrical accidents result in more than 3,500 injuries and 300 deaths each year.

If you are interested in promoting Electrical Safety Month in your business, visit the ESFI website  for more information and resources.

Greetings from the National Meeting. It’s been a busy week. I had a great chat with new NAED chair Sandy Rosecrans, plus it’s always good to have a talk with Clarence Martin. I was fortunate to attend the Supplier Networking Group event on Saturday, as well as the  General Session on Sunday morning.

In between those events, I was able to spend some time at the registration desk, where everyone who attends will see that we have launched a brand new tED magazine app.  This is really exciting for us, and it’s available to you on either the Apple or Android platform.  And not to bury the lead, but it’s free.

Now you can take tED magazine with you wherever you go. You can keep connected to what’s going on in the industry even when you’re out of the office.

The app is incredibly user-friendly and innovative.  I decided it was worthwhile to go with one of the best magazine app makers in the country, and they did not disappoint. I think one of the best features is that the app doesn’t ignore the internet.  If you see a web page in a story or on an ad, you can simply touch it, and it will take you right there.  Then with another touch, you are returned to your original location.  Very user friendly!

If you want daily news about the industry, you need to check out tedmag.com.  Every day, we are posting new stories, so every time you come to the website, you will learn new information. And as part of our commitment to you, I have subscribed to the Associated Press. This allows tedmag.com to follow all of the industry news, from the price of copper to the reason why the lights went out at the Super Bowl. We are committed to building and maintaining the best overall news operation in the industry, through the magazine, website, and new app, and we plan to honor that commitment for years to come.

So far, it’s working. Many more of you are checking out our online content.  Just this year alone, we are hitting record-setting numbers of visitors to tedmag.com. If you haven’t checked it out, know that many others have, and they keep coming back for more.

And if that is not enough, we have more improvements planned for the remainder of the year. Two new web pages to help you every day. They are still in development, but like they say, “watch this space” for some announcements very soon. 

But first things first, don’t forget to download the app.  And then let me know what you think of it.

Today, Monday, April 22, we celebrate the 43^rd anniversary of Earth Day.

It all started back in 1969 when Sen. Gaylord Nelson, a Wisconsin Democrat, visited the site of an oil spill near Santa Monica, Calif. After seeing the damage, Sen. Nelson set out to start a grassroots movement to raise the profile of environmental issues.

Over the years, environmental groups have tried to make Earth Day into a day of action, which changes both human behavior and public policy. In fact, Earth Day demonstrations helped to create public support to establish the Environmental Protection Agency as well as the passage of the Clean Water, Clean Air and Endangered Species Acts.

This year, it’s estimated that more than one billion people in more than 192 countries will participate in Earth Day activities.

How can we, as an industry, be more environmentally active?

Since companies are realizing the need to be more aware of their carbon footprint, topics such as energy efficiency, alternative energy sources, and recycling are top of mind. It is in the arena of these topics that electrical distributors are uniquely positioned to meet the increasing need for energy efficiency and sustainability technologies.

With so much information available, the NAED Education & Research Foundation has invested in research on ‘Going Green ’ topics to help you identify key opportunities and how to capitalize on them. The ‘Going Green’ topics include ESCO Partnerships, Smart Grid Opportunity, Corporate Sustainability, and Selling Energy Management Solutions.

Additionally, tED  magazine recognizes an NAED distributor member company that has implemented energy-efficiency solutions in their own operations with their annual Greenest of the Green Award. This year, Graybar will be recognized for their efforts at our National Meeting.