What is the Western Region Conference?
The Western Region conference provides a forum for:

• Hard-Hitting Education Sessions:
  Timely information about trends affecting your business.
• Peer Networking:
  Exchange ideas and best practices with industry colleagues.
• B2B Booth Sessions:
  Solidify relationships and make new contacts.

What did I Miss?
Click below to see a recap of the 2012 Western Region Conference.

Monday, January 16, 2012

Women in Industry Luncheon
Building Your Brand: Make it! Market it! Manage it!
Diane Thielfoldt, learning strategist and co-founder, The Learning Cafe
PowerPoint 

Education Workshop
Innovation in Marketing - Maximize Your Marketing Efforts: Best Practices for Electrical Distribution
Sue Smith, professor of marketing practice, Whitman School of Management, Syracuse University
PowerPoint 

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

The Future of Brands
Steve Deist, partner, Indian River Consulting Group
PowerPoint 

It's Not Your Father's Workplace
Panel Moderator: Diane Thielfoldt, learning strategist and co-founder, The Learning Cafe
Handout 
PowerPoint 

Sean Tuohy "Sean was an American success story: he had come from nothing and made himself rich,” wrote Michael Lewis in The Blind Side, the best-selling book that inspired the major motion picture starring Sandra Bullock and Tim McGraw. The Blind Side tells the story of Michael Oher, a homeless teenager turned first round draft pick NFL football player, with the support and love of an unlikely adoptive family: the Tuohys. Sean Tuohy, Michael’s adoptive father, was a record-breaking basketball player before becoming a successful entrepreneur and NBA broadcaster. He knew what it meant to be the poor kid in a private school - he had been one himself. With sports as his “meal ticket” through high school and college, Sean left New Orleans for the University of Mississippi on a basketball scholarship. When Sean walked off the court after his final game, he had shattered every major SEC assists-related record and become a legend in the SEC hall of fame for leading the Ole Miss Rebels to their first and only Championship. Drafted by the NBA’s New Jersey Nets in 1982, he opted to continue his career overseas before returning to the US to be with his father in his final days. He became a successful entrepreneur, building a company that now owns and operates 70 fast food restaurants, including Taco Bell and Long John Silver’s. Sean has been married to his college cheerleader sweetheart, the former Leigh Anne Roberts, for close to 30 years, and they are the proud parents of daughter Collins (25) and sons Michael Oher (25) and Sean, Jr. (18). Sean is also in his 11th season as an NBA broadcaster for the Memphis Grizzlies, after several years as an analyst for radio broadcasts at Ole Miss as well as national broadcasts for Westwood One and CBS radio.

Education Sessions

Steve Deist is a Partner with the Indian River Consulting Group, an experienced-based firm that focuses exclusively on distribution channels. He has over 20 years of experience working for hundreds of distributor, manufacturer and private equity clients in dozens of lines of trade. He is a highly rated speaker, a permanent University of Industrial Distribution faculty member and a distribution company board director. Steve has extensive knowledge of NAED’s membership and the electrical industry in general. This includes: over 30 consulting projects with NAED members in the past 10 years in areas including strategy, marketing, sales, compensation, operations and technology; numerous marketing channel projects for top tier electrical equipment manufacturers; and serving as lead researcher and writer roles for NAED’s 2007 study “Emerging Trends and Traps in Residential Construction.”

Dan Goldberg is a shareholder, the Head of the Litigation Department, and manages the Construction Practice Group at Ruberto, Israel & Weiner in Boston.  He teaches a number of courses on contract formation for Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, and has taught about liens and bond for almost twenty years.  He has represented national suppliers since 1990. 

Jim Pancero has has been directly involved in "business-to-business" selling for over 40 years. Six of those years were spent successfully selling the largest computer systems for the Data Processing Division of the IBM Corporation. During Jim's prestigious IBM career he earned several awards including the coveted "Golden Circle" designation annually awarded to the top 5% of their international sales force. In 1982, Jim founded his advanced sales training and consulting company. Since then, Jim has conducted over 3,000 presentations or consulting days for 600 companies providing a career average of five events per client.

Bethany Sullivan, has provided strategic direction and marketing leadership to a variety of organizations in financial services, manufacturing, and distribution. She has firsthand success creating and applying innovative solutions that deliver bottom line results. A catalyst of strategic change, she continually asks, "What is impossible to do today, but if it could be done, would fundamentally change our industry for the better?" She has moderated panels and town hall meetings at various national and regional NAED conferences and published over 90 articles on strategic marketing.

Sue Smith is currently a Professor of Marketing Practice at the Whitman School of Management, Syracuse University. Her focus is teaching Innovation, New Business Development and Marketing fundamentals to MBA and undergraduate students.  For many years as VP of Marketing, she led the marketing team at Pass & Seymour/legrand in Syracuse, NY.  While at Pass & Seymour, Sue had responsibility for Product Management, Channel Marketing, Sales and New Business Teams.  She also participated actively on past Adventure planning committees. Most recently Sue was Vice President of Marketing for IRWIN Industrial Tools division of Newell Rubbermaid in Huntersville, NC.  Sue earned her Bachelor’s degree at Cornell and her M.B.A. at Boston College.

Diane Thielfoldt partners with clients to create custom learning solutions that produce business results and support personal growth. She specializes in designing and developing training on the four-generation workforce, the changing workplace, leadership, and engagement. Prior to launching a thriving business Diane’s corporate career encompassed leadership roles with McGraw-Hill, TRW, Bausch & Lomb, and Xerox in sales, marketing, communications, and learning design, development, and delivery.