The show, which will adopt an every-other-year rotation beginning this year, is expected to draw thousands of visitors from around the country as well as internationally. We encourage you to be sure to allow yourself enough time to visit with all of the vendors, and learn about all that's new under the sun.

PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

Explore the tremendous advantages of open-book management for your organization. Participants will learn how other companies have harnessed the enormous potential of their people by educating them in all aspects of their business and giving them a stake in the outcomes. This session will help you to involve your people and have them start thinking like owners of your business.

John Carroll is president of Unlimited Performance, a firm specializing in organizational and individual performance improvement. With more than 24 years of marketing and business experience, John applies a wealth of knowledge and ideas to client challenges.

“Beyond E-Commerce (the Electronics) - Going to R-Commerce (the Relationships)”, Terry Brock

Enough already! We've had it with all this “E-this” and “E-that!” What role do relationships play today and how can we leverage technology to enhance the human side of the business? How does supply chain compression and distortion change the way we do business today, and what will it look like in the future?

Terry Brock is an internationally recognized speaker and trainer in the areas of technology, the Internet and in marketing. He has taught people from organizations such as the Marriott Corporation, Avon Products, Caterpillar, the Federal Reserve Bank and many others. Terry is a regular columnist for business journals across the country in which his column, “Succeeding Today” is regularly carried.

In this entertaining program, you'll learn the proper role for technology, and how it can be used to enhance and foster relationships, rather than to replace them, throughout your business operations.

Keynote Presentation featuring Michael Beschloss, Keynote Speaker

This year's Keynote Speaker is the nationally-recognized expert on the history of the U.S. Presidency, Michael Beschloss. He is an award-winning author of seven books, including his most recent work, the New York Times bestseller, “The Conquerors: Roosevelt, Truman and the Destruction of Hitler's Germany, 1941-45.” Newsweek has called Beschloss “the nation's leading Presidential historian.” He is a regular commentator on PBS's TheNewsHour with Jim Lehrer and a contributor to ABC News.

With Election Day just three short weeks away, Beschloss's remarks will be particularly interesting, as our future President prepares to face some of the toughest challenges in our nation's history.

Michael is the son of the PVF industry icon, Morris Beschloss, who is a regular contributor to the Wholesaler magazine. Michael is an alumnus of Eaglebrook School, Andover, Williams College and Harvard University. He has been an historian on the staff of the Smithsonian Institution, a Senior Association Member at Oxford University, and a Senior Fellow of the Annenberg Foundation in Washington, D.C. He holds two honorary doctorates and has distinguished himself with a number of prominent national foundations and historical societies.

In addition to the Keynote Presentation, you will hear remarks from the President and President-Elect of ASA, who will discuss the association's important agenda.

The General Session will also feature a tribute to the most recent recipient of the Fred V. Keenan Lifetime Achievement Award. “Amazing Face Reading,” Mac Fulfer, J.D.

All wholesalers, manufacturers and manufacturers reps members and spouses of ASA who are registered for the full convention are invited to attend the Member Luncheon. In addition to serving as the association's Annual Membership Meeting, we have invited an intriguing guest speaker, Mac Fulfer.

Face reading is a means to a deeper communication with every person you meet. Mac Fulfer takes this art/science out of the realm of the mysterious and into a hands-on method of learning. Whether selling, hiring, negotiating, speaking or interacting, the ability to discern another's attitude and mindset is a skill we could all benefit from.

Mac is a practicing lawyer, who first became interested in face reading in 1985. After years of practice and study, he wrote “Amazing Face Reading,” an encyclopedic guide to reading faces. His skills have been employed in successful jury selection, and in training programs across the gamut of Fortune 500 companies as well as doctors, dentists, teachers, social workers, and many others.

Mac Fulfer will also present a full, 90-minute workshop later in the afternoon. “Under the Microscope - A Channel in Transition” - Part I & II, Michael Workman, Ph.D.

If you haven't heard of Mike Workman by now, you haven't been around the wholesale distribution industry very long. Dr. Mike Workman is an acknowledged expert in the field, who was among the pioneers shaping Texas A&M's prestigious Industrial Distribution programs. He has spent the past 30 years or so studying the wholesale channel, and has devoted his career to teaching and consulting on the topic. Mike is well-versed on our particular industry, having conducted many related research projects and consulting programs over the years. He knows our members, and is consistently among the top-ranked ASA speakers, if not THE top-ranked.

Join Mike for this two part, in-depth look at the trends that are shaping wholesale distribution in the 21st Century. Just some of the topics that he'll be exploring include:

-- What effect will off-shore manufacturing have on our industry in 3-5 years?

-- The growth of national builders and how they're viewing their sourcing needs and strategies --- somebody still has to get the product delivered in a timely manner!

-- Who is the customer? The “channel” is really much wider than most think, and the fishing is usually better in the shallow parts.

-- Are there any real examples of performance-driven (vs. product-driven) profit models, or is the whole concept a myth?

-- Can we find a way to use the time we spend quibbling over “extra 5s” to build market share together, or are we doomed to “rearranging our deck chairs?”

“Living in Wild Times: Shortages, Inflation, Globalization….What's Next?” Sponsored by IPD

This timely panel discussion, moderated by Jim Olsztynski, editor of Supply House Times, will address the subjects that have been on everyone's minds and coursing through our industry like a river gone wild. Our industry is one of the most sensitive, immediate victims of shortages in raw materials, which can lead to a highly-charged environment, challenging even the best of business relationships.

Likewise, the trend toward global sourcing doesn't seem to be slowing down, and as our economy becomes even more heavily weighted on service rather than on product, what are the implications to our businesses and our daily lives?

Join Jim and panelists from the wholesale and manufacturing sectors to explore these topics in a professional, but highly spirited and thought-provoking way. Visit www.asa.net for updates on panelists as they are confirmed.

“Meet the Pros” Roundtable Sessions

After last year's “Meet the Pros,” we were besieged with requests to offer this program again. Participants will enjoy the opportunity to share, in an informal way, the best of the ideas, suggestions and commentary by some of our industry's most noted experts in their fields. In this session, our “Pros” have volunteered to make themselves available for casual, roundtable conversation to share what they know. Watch our website for information about our “Pros” for 2004 (www.asa.net).

"Taking Charge: Motivating Yourself to Achieve More Than Ever,”Alan Zimmerman, Ph.D.

There is a growing energy crisis in our private lives and in our professional lives. With more work, fewer people, faster changes, greater demands and higher expectations, people are getting drained. Some of us will lose our passion for our work; others will lose their health and their happiness.

Dr. Alan Zimmerman will teach us to recognize that we can use our inherent "take charge" skills, even in the face of all of these challenges, to achieve our goals and to maintain our enthusiasm throughout the process. His program will outline techniques used by the take-charge champions of the world, and describe how we can learn to extinguish our limiting attitudes, release our greatest potential and instill our own habits of success. Join us to hear how Alan Zimmerman can help you take the initiative, exercise your power and perform at your peak each and every day, and to achieve more than you ever thought possible." IPD Program: “The Global Challenge: Surviving and Thriving the Changing Industrial Landscape,” Patricia Panchak

Patricia Panchak is the Editor-in-Chief of IndustryWeek magazine and a widely recognized authority on business management and leadership issues. At the helm of the most influential publication in manufacturing, Ms. Panchak debunks the negative myths that pervade the sector. Through extensive research, she provides a window into the best practices of world-class organizations and provides the knowledge companies need to put the challenge of low-cost competition in perspective. An accomplished speaker, Patricia inspires optimism in her audiences by filling her presentations with lots of valuable data and successful case studies.

Her recent work confronts the biggest challenge to U.S. global manufacturing dominance in nearly 25 years - the emergence of China and other low-cost countries into the world marketplace. Patricia's talks on global production strategy describe how successful U.S. companies are surviving - even thriving - in the face of these pressures.

Patricia is also an acknowledged expert in value chain management, effective leadership practices, developing world-class communities, and using benchmarking tools to achieve performance excellence.

The fabulous new Boston Convention & Exhibition Center will host this year's premier trade show of plumbing, heating, cooling, and industrial PVF products. More than 450 vendors are expected to be on hand displaying the newest and best of their products.

The show, which will adopt an every-other-year rotation beginning this year, is expected to draw thousands of visitors from around the country as well as internationally.

Be sure to allow yourself enough time to visit with all of the vendors, and learn about all that's new under the sun.