ASA’s cornerstone is to focus onproviding tools that give members the ability to grow and prosper. 

Historically, the association has been very successful in providing opportunities for upper-level management, owners and upcoming leaders in the industry. ASA also realizes the strength of a company’s lies within its core. How do the individuals who are integral to day-to-day operations network and gain information to help companies succeed? Great question. ASA’s challenge is how to bring networking and educational opportunities to all departments within a member’s business. The answer: through ASA’s Networking Councils.

ASA’s Networking Councils were developed a few years ago with the idea that all areas within a company have challenges and issues that can be addressed by networking with industry peers. Networking Councils were formed according to the following responsibilities within a company:  CFOs, showroom managers, trainers, human resources professionals, and warehouse and operations professionals.

This year, ASA’s Networking Councils restructured, rebranded and retooled themselves to better fit the needs of the groups. To continue the momentum, ASA is working hard to collect key member contact information — to get the event information directly to the member in that area. We’re also working on rotating events around the U.S. An example is a recent successful showroom event that took place in Dallas, which is part of the recently revitalized Region 3. ASA will have an events brochure outlining all 2016 events in time for distribution at Network2015 in Chicago.

Current ASA Networking Councils include:  Finance Networking Council, Training and Human Resources Council, Showroom Managers Council, and Logistics and Operations Council.

The Finance Networking Council, formerly the CFO Council, has rebranded to allow for a larger audience. This council met earlier this year in Chicago to discuss succession planning and will meet in October at Network2015 to discuss taxes.

The Training and Human Resources Council, formerly the Trainers Council, has rebranded to allow for a larger scope in audience. This active group has met many times via webinar and has discussed items such as team building, leadership, hiring and onboarding, and recruitment and retention of employees.  The group is scheduling a leadership webinar to be held in October 2015.

The Showroom Managers Council has historically held an in-person event in conjunction with KBIS and this year added the Dallas showroom event to the schedule. Positive feedback from both events will have ASA looking to continue this tradition in 2016.

The Logistics and Operations Council, formerly the Warehouse and Operations Council, also has rebranded to allow for a larger audience. This group held a webinar earlier this year on inventory turns and customer service and has a technology-based webinar upcoming in September.

For more information on participating in ASA’s Networking Councils and to find out what face-to-face meetings and webinars are planned for each group for the remainder of 2015, please visit www.asa.net/Networking or contact Ruth Mitchell for more details at ruth@asa.net or 630/ 467-0000, ext. 210.