Scott Robertson has been a fixture with the North Central Wholesalers Association since 1984. He would come to the association’s annual event with his grandfather, John Robertson, and quickly hit the floors, building relationships so when he was ready to take over Ohio-based Robertson Heating Supply ( Supply House Times’ 2009 Wholesaler of the Year) he would be properly prepared.

How suppliers can help contractors reduce their warehouses.

Jeff Valles and Tom Cohn have delivered strong content at Forte Buying Group meetings for a long time. Valles – Forte’s director of membership services – believed the group’s summer meeting was going to follow a typical schedule; seminars, workshops and receptions. But in the end Valles felt the July meeting in Rosemont, Ill., was the perfect time to shake things up.

What impresses many Western visitors to China is the massive scale of public events, product quantities and population. Other impressions include the hazy air quality and limits on potable water at the taps in public restrooms.

Severe weather made another appearance at a major wholesale industry event. Back in April, tornadoes whipped through the Dallas-Ft. Worth area while WIT’s 2012 Distributor/Vendor Conference was going on just two miles away.

Faced with tough questions from a TV reporter, four actions you should avoid are: 1) Making a stupid facial expression; 2) Trying to end the interview; 3) Staring into the camera like a deer in the headlights; and 4) Declaring, “No comment!”

Plastered throughout McCormick Place in Chicago was the slogan for the KBIS 2012 event: “Touch the Future.” With the pace companies are advancing technology in their kitchen and bathroom products the slogan for KBIS 2013 might be “A Touchless Future.”