President's Blog

We live in a fast-paced world where it can be difficult to keep up to date on everything that is happening around us. Social media has the capability to make the process easier on all of us. If you haven’t ventured into the realms of social media yet, now may be the time to start, because it doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon – if ever.

NAED wants to provide you with all of the latest industry information in a variety of ways. We joined Facebook and Twitter for that reason - because they are great communication tools that we can use to reach our members.

Through both of these outlets, NAED is able to tell you about things in a quick and concise method. Here we will let you know when the early bird deadline is for conferences and remind you of when registration will end. It’s really an easy way to keep up with the latest news and happenings around NAED. And if you didn’t already know, we also have a YouTube channel. Right now we have featured testimonials from your peers about the value of attending NAED conferences.

You can also find NAED’s government affairs on Twitter. It’s a good place to find details about what’s going on with the legislation that matters most to you. Along with calls to action and letting you know whether a bill passes or fails, you’ll find interesting news articles about issues impacting the industry.

Our three region conferences, Eastern, Western and South Central, are the most effective way to reach out to your professional network and audience. The “old-fashioned” way of shaking hands and sharing business plans is not lost in the electrical distribution industry. We also know that in this economic climate, everyone is still trimming travel budgets and being cautious about spending. NAED has condensed this year’s region conferences to lessen your travel expenses and to keep you out of the office for less time.

Among this year’s networking opportunities are: All-Industry Networking Group, the Women in Industry Luncheon, receptions, and the expanded B2B Booth Sessions. Topics covered during the educational sessions will include: theft and fraud in the industry, working with ESCO representatives, online training strategies, and technology. Our keynote speaker, Charlie Cook, will give us an insider’s view of the outcome of the 2010 mid-term elections and the rising heat of today’s political climate. If you aren’t familiar with Cook, he is the editor and publisher of The Cook Political Report and a political analyst for NBC News.

Think of it this way – while you may not be handling the day-to-day business operations of the office while you are at a region conference; you are definitely still handling business. These are networking and educational opportunities that you will never be able to take advantage of by sitting in the office. Rest assured you will receive quite a return on your investment.

Registration is now open for the Eastern Region Conference. The conference will take place November 8-10 at the Omni Orlando Resort at ChampionsGate in Orlando, Florida. If you live in one of our other regions, be sure to mark your calendars and plan to attend the Western or South Central Region Conference. The region conferences are designed to fit the needs of NAED members, so make sure you don’t miss out on all of the great benefits these conferences have to offer.

From high schools to all levels of college, online courses are becoming widely available. Besides the availability of college courses one can take online, there are also a growing number of universities that are solely based in the online world. As people grow more and more accustom to the e-lifestyle, NAED wants to make sure we are keeping up with this type of learning.

That’s exactly why the NAED Education & Research Foundation decided to take the Electrical Products Education Course (EPEC) to the next level by offering it online. Many of our members were reaching out and asking for an online edition, and the Foundation answered those requests by making EPEC Bronze, Silver, and Gold available online earlier this year.

To many, the option of taking courses online equals convenience. For those who prefer an interactive method of learning instead of using the workbook version, EPEC online also equals a more engaging educational experience.

This great course provides information about individual products and their applications, while taking a top-notch approach to showing how they are interrelated with other products in electrical systems. And EPEC includes the most up to date information regarding the products used and sold in the electrical industry. All three courses were completely updated just last year.

If you haven’t used EPEC as a teaching method at your company in the past, there’s no better time to begin. I encourage you to learn more about EPEC or order it today.