One-on-One Sessions Please NFDA Members

John Wolz

\It was the first time the National Fastener Distributors Association held the one-on-one associate/distributor sessions since New Orleans in 1997. That version was roundly criticized, because all the sessions were at tables in one banquet room. Tables were just a few feet apart and in view and sometimes within earshot of competitors.
This year NFDA associate members had 25-minute one-on-one sessions in hotel room suites at the Adams Mark in downtown Denver, and the response was positive.
Barry Porteous of Porteous Fastener Co., who as the 1999-2000 NFDA associate chair was the strongest advocate of the one-on-one program, declared the new version a success.
�We had 10 meetings with great content,� Porteous said. �We had very meaningful business sessions.�
Porteous also described the one-on-ones as �intense. Everybody I talked to said they were tired after 10 sessions.�
Numerous associates FIN talked to echoed Porteous� comments. �We got business done,� one summarized the sessions.
Associates pronounced themselves happy despite the lower attendance, generally attributed to the sagging economy and the events of September 11, 2001.
NFDA executive vice president Dave Merrifield mentioned that several associates were surprised that �even people they thought couldn�t be customers turned out to be positive business sessions.�
There were suggestions rather than complaints.
The most frequent suggestion was asking for longer sessions. Several asked for 40 minutes with 10-minute breaks instead of 25 minutes with 5-minute breaks.
The meetings were scattered among suites on 11 floors, making the five-minute breaks a rush.
Porteous said he would prefer the mini-conference rooms of Chicago�s O�Hare Hilton. Those suites are set up with white boards and flip charts and prepared for PowerPoint presentations.
Merrifield said the positive response showed in the official evaluations too.
�2001 FastenerNews.com