The busy spring industrial events season continues across the industrial manufacturing sector; and for MDM, our next stop will be Miami Beach for the 2022 NAHAD Convention. To be held May 14-18 at the Fontainebleau Miami Beach, it will be my first time at the Association for Hose & Accessories Distribution (NAHAD) premier annual event since 2016 when it was held in Colorado Springs.

It follows our recent travels to the Industrial Supply Association’s ISA22 event in Houston April 11-13, B2B Online in Chicago April 11-12 and Fastenal Expo in Nashville April 19-20.

As one of the few industry groups that was able to hold an in-person event last year, NAHAD’s 2021 convention was originally set to be in San Diego but then moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, where it occurred last June.

The opportunity to dip my toes in the Atlantic Ocean is just one thing I’m looking forward to, as I look to keep myself as busy as possible during the industry’s premier event for showcasing new products and for networking in the industrial hose market.

It’ll be NAHAD’s 38th annual convention, and it looks to equally showcase the thought leadership needed to drive change management, the networking and meetings distributors and suppliers can utilize to make new business connections and build on current ones, and the chance to see the latest and greatest in industrial hosing and accessories. As of May 12, the association said the convention has over 850 registrants and 130 exhibitors.

Of course, I’m also looking forward to the scenery Miami Beach has to offer and the hospitality events that NAHAD and certain vendors there have planned. It’s those little events that I often find the most productive for me as far as keeping tabs on current industry trends, pain points distributors/suppliers are having and their general thoughts on the convention — all while sipping on cocktails.

I’m eager to attend the General Session Sunday morning to get a “State of the Association” update and any stats NAHAD will provide about its membership, along with its general outlook for the hosing market. That session will include an opening keynote from author Meridith Elliott Powell, whose message on using uncertainty as a catalyst to drive innovation and move businesses forward is sure to be interesting. While many have accepted that the past two years of constant market disruption to be “the new normal,” I’m sure there are plenty of other distribution leaders who are still waiting for the amount of uncertainty to subside. But what if it never does, or at least doesn’t come for another year or more? More and more distributors may be looking for ways to capitalize on this age of uncertainty. Powell will later lead a session on succession planning — always a hot topic over the past decade at industry events.

With market conditions still changing by the day, I’ll look to get an economic update from The Economist correspondent Vijay Vaitheeswaram, who will touch on the situation in China and its effects on the world economy and supply chain, and I’m sure he’ll also have input on the impact of the Russia-Ukraine situation, as well as The Fed’s half percentage point rate hike and what potential additional hikes may do to business conditions in the near future.

Other sessions on my docket include sales and marketing guru Gerry O’Brion, workforce development expert Alex Chausovsky and business author Alex Banayan.

Besides the educational lineup, I’m excited to see vendors’ hosing solutions first-hand. The expos I’ve attended since my last NAHAD show six years ago have centered on broad-based industrial/MRO and construction supplies, so I’m looking forward to a more specific product showcase.

And certainly, I can’t wait to take in the views of the Atlantic. I also appreciate that NAHAD has planned plenty of attendee free time into the event schedule.

If you’re going to NAHAD 2022 and want to have a chat or invite me to any hospitality events, feel free to give me a heads up at mike@mdm.com or message me in the convention’s Whova app. As I’ve only been here at MDM since late March, I’m looking forward to making many new introductions at the show, many with the help of MDM CEO Tom Gale, who will be there as well. I’ll be there Saturday night through Tuesday early afternoon. Expect plenty of editorial coverage from MDM.

Shameless plug: Speaking of industry events, we at MDM have rescheduled our June Sales Transformation Summit to integrate with our Digital & Analytics Summit Sept. 26-27. Save the date! Same powerful content and speakers, including Maria Boulden, Dirk Beveridge, Benj Cohen, co-host Mike Marks and many others! Plus we’re expanding the conference with full content tracks on digital and data analytics. As we discuss in this podcast and all our platforms, every distribution company is in some degree of a business model transformation, which requires a hybrid sales model powered by digital and informed by data analytics. That’s our agenda for the September conference. Consider bringing your team to gain a shared vision for your journey. Stay tuned for more soon.