Sessions & Events
Your PEI registration gives you an all-access pass to PEI events and educational sessions, NACS workshops, and the trade show. With so many options and only a few days, you'll want to plan ahead. The following is an overview of the PEI industry sessions, receptions and networking events. As we know more details, we'll post them here so please check back often. We'll see you in Atlanta!
GENERAL SESSIONS
PEI Kick-Off Breakfast
No One Can Stop You, But You
Sunday, October 13, 7:30 a.m.
GWCC
Featuring: Walter Bond
Optional event. Ticket required ($30)
Like many young men growing up in Chicago, Walter Bond dreamed of becoming an NBA athlete. After graduating from the University of Minnesota with a BA in Communications, Bond overcame a devastating injury and other challenges to become the first rookie Free Agent to start for the Dallas Mavericks. Bond went on to have an eight-year professional basketball career. He played alongside such NBA greats as Karl Malone and John Stockton as a guard for the Utah Jazz and the Detroit Pistons. This astonishing journey provides the foundation for the powerful principles Walter teaches today.
His stories are rich in humor, emotion and authenticity, and focus on giving listeners a road map they can follow to reinvent themselves and recover the confidences they need to focus, align and deliver results. Drawing on lessons learned in sales and as an entrepreneur, Bond opens his audience's eyes to new ways of looking at both business and their surrounding world.
Bond has impacted hundreds of thousands of people in his rapid rise to the top of the speaking industry. Through keynotes, workshops, books and CDs, he teaches that personal accountability, confidence and success are possible for all who desire it. Recognized as one of the world's preeminent experts on sales, motivation and leadership, Bond has been helping people turn self-limiting beliefs into self-empowering strategies for more than a decade.
PEI Membership Breakfast & Meeting
Monday, October 14, 8:30 a.m.
GWCC
PEI Executive Vice President Bob Renkes will give his annual state-of-the-industry report. PEI President Terry Cooper will preside over the election of PEI officers and the installation of new directors. All PEI members are invited to attend the annual membership breakfast and meeting. No additional charge.
PEI 10 Groups Breakfast & General Session
Who's Making Money Today and How?
Saturday, October 12, 8:00 a.m.
Westin Peachtree Plaza
Featuring: Michael Workman, Ph.D.
Organizations that are rapidly losing profits often are experiencing three factors simultaneously: increasing sales, decreasing margins and rising personnel costs. As we come out of recession, distribution costs increase because customers buy less but buy more often. The increase in the transactions required to achieve a given level of sales is overwhelming.
In this session, Workman will introduce effective profit-enhancing models in use by other distribution and service industries; identify services in our industry that can be unbundled effectively; and offer options for phasing in such processes.
Attendees will be exposed to:
· How to value services from the customer’s perspective;
· Reasons to bundle or not bundle services;
· Pricing models that fit your specific market and customers;
· Techniques to improve profit through pricing optimization and customer segmentation, as well as service and functional metrics for our industry.
This session is set up as part of the PEI 10-Groups General Session. If you are not in a 10-Group and would like to attend the session, there is no extra charge. Please contact Bob Young, byoung@pei.org or 918-236-3966 to let us know about your interest so we can include you in the head count for the breakfast.
PEI EDUCATIONAL SESSIONS
Sunday, October 13, 9:15 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
Monday, October 14, 10:15 a.m. - 11:15 a.m.
GWCC
Getting Serious About Profit... Finally
Sunday, October 13, 9:15 a.m. - 11:30 a.m.
GWCC
Featuring: Al Bates, Ph.D.
Only about 10 percent of all companies make as much profit as they should. This is true across almost every industry. The profit challenge has been a nagging pain for many years. NOW is the time to overcome it.
Bates will begin this special extended session by examining the profit trends for PEI members. Then he will help you lay out a plan to increase your profitability dramatically.
“Getting Serious About Profit” will help you stop wasting your time and energy in areas that do not dramatically improve results. It will focus on what really drives profit, and develop goals for making the incremental changes that result in a stronger bottom line.
In too many cases, profit is simply viewed as what is left over after everything else has been covered. As a result, profits are never adequate. Bates will demonstrate the importance of developing your business plan through the perspective of putting profitability first.
At the end of the session, you will have an idea of where you need to improve and by how much. You also will have a roadmap on how you can get there.
Economic Update
Sunday, October 13, 9:15 a.m.-10:15 a.m.
Sunday, October 13, 10:30 a.m.- 11:30 a.m. (repeated session)
GWCC
Featuring: Brian Beaulieu
Brian Beaulieu, CEO of the ITR Economics and chief economist for Vistage International, a global organization comprised of more than 14,000 CEOs, will cover a wide variety of topics, including short- and long-term global economic forecasts, regional economic updates, an outlook on inflation, and the relationship of political events and economic growth. He will detail what economic indicators executives should follow and provides proven strategies for leveraging economic forecasts at the company level.
U
nderstanding the True Cost of a Service Tech
Monday, October 14, 10:15 a.m.-11:15 a.m.
GWCC
Featuring: Joey Cheek
PEI member and past president Joey Cheek will lead you through the process of how to identify and analyze information required to establish a true hourly cost for service labor. The focus will center on identification of all cost components and adjustments for productivity rate assumptions.
"What Do I Need To Do About This Safety Stuff?"
Sunday, October 13, 10:30 a.m.-11:30 a.m.
Featuring: Art Sodermark
What do I need to do about that safety stuff? This is the first question Art Sodermark, president of Platinum Engineering & Safety, Inc., often hears when a PEI member calls. In reality, no single source can define precisely what it takes to be “OSHA compliant.” There’s no handy checklist, chart or step-by-step guide. Nonetheless, building a culture of safety is one of your most important responsibilities. If you wonder what you need to do to reduce the risk of accident or injury, avoid an OSHA notice of violation or—a scenario becoming increasingly frequent—prove to a customer that you are indeed doing all you can do, this session will hit home. Sodermark brings years of experience to his interpretation of OSHA requirements and his insights on how to build a sound framework for a solid safety program.
Healthcare Reform: The Top Issues Right Now That Will Impact Your Company and Your Employees
Monday, October 14, 10:15 a.m.-11:15 a.m.
GWCC
Featuring: Gene Marks
Gene Marks, President, Marks Group PC, author and columnist. His most recent book is In God We Trust, Everyone Else Pays Cash -- Simple Lessons From Smart Business People. The Affordable Healthcare Act (ACA) is now fully underway towards reality. You may support it. You may oppose it. But as a business owner, manager and leader your job is to put politics aside and deal with the facts. ACA is law. And it will affect your business and your people for many years to come.
How will ACA affect your employees? What do you need to know now to prepare? What changes will be coming over the next few years?
This presentation is a straightforward review of the ACA as it affects small and medium sized companies. Attendees will leave knowing how they will be affected, what questions to ask and what steps to take in the next few months to ensure they can navigate their way through this very complex legislation.
Mergers & Acquisitions: Friend or Foe to the Industry?
Monday, October 13, 10:15 a.m.-11:15 a.m.
GWCC
Featuring: J. Michael Marks
The industry has experienced an increase in deal making, and some of those deals involve industry outsiders rather than one PEI member buying another. PEI has received many questions about this activity and also requests from members to help them grasp the hows and the whys of today’s deals. In this session, Michael Marks, managing partner of the Indian River Consulting Group in Melbourne, Florida, will help senior PEI executives better understand today’s mergers and acquisitions (M&A) landscape.
Marks will describe the basic framework for determining what a PEI distributor is worth. He will walk through the math of doing a deal, including financing and value creation plans. And he will explain the opportunities and pitfalls that lie ahead for the industry, as well as individual acquirers and acquirees. Whatever your position and strategy, come to this intense, fast-paced program to see how can make money -- not just on an Excel spreadsheet but in the real world.
PEI 1-on-1
Sunday, October 13, Noon-4:00 p.m.
Monday, October 14, Noon-4:00 p.m.
GWCC
PEI EVENTS & NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES
PEI Industry Reception
Monday, October 14, 5:30 p.m.-7:00 p.m.
GWCC
The PEI Industry Reception is the number one networking event of the week! This event provides the best opportunity to socialize with PEI friends while enjoying complimentary food, live music and beverages. Your PEI badge is your ticket. No extra charge to attend.
PEI Young Executives Discussion Groups & Reception
Saturday, October 12, 3:30 p.m.-6:00 p.m.
Westin Peachtree Plaza
Current Young Executives or anyone interested in Young Executives may attend the discussion groups and reception. There is no extra charge to attend the event; however registration for the convention is required. Please RSVP to Chris Bouldin at cbouldin@pei.org.
Check back. The Young Executives Discussion Groups topics will be listed here as soon as they are available.
PEI After-Hours Lounge
Saturday, October 12, 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
Sunday, October 13, 5:30 p.m.-7:30 p.m.
Westin Peachtree Plaza
PEI's After-Hours Lounge is the perfect place to come and unwind after a day at the show. Catch up with old acquaintances or make new ones before venturing off to dinner or nightlife in Atlanta.