The Northeast Window & Door Association (NWDA) held its two-day Summer Meeting last week.
The conference featured supplier sponsor displays, the association’s board meeting, social events including golf and a networking reception, and of course a great line-up of informative speakers from the fenestration industry and the business world.
Speakers covered a wide range of topics, with a common thread among several presentations being the topic of Millennials and the impact their generation is having on the business world.
Ken Hitchner of Creative Marketing Alliance kicked off the presentations with a summary of social media’s importance and the announcement of his firm’s special social media program for NWDA members. Termed the “NWDA Affinity Program,” the three packages provide social media strategy development, content creation, postings on several major platforms, and data analysis and reporting for member companies at a discount, along with a rebate to the association. Hitchner’s presentation noted the importance of social media to the Millennial generation in terms of branding, product research and purchase decision-making.
Mike Collins of Building Industry Advisors gave informative updates on the American economy as well as the current state of the door and window industry. Overall, he sees economic indicators as generally positive.
Sajeev Sharma of ITAC and Stan Stone of Greystone Business Solutions provided an in-depth joint presentation on the benefits, methodologies, and implementation planning for both Lean and Six Sigma process improvements for manufacturing and other business operations. Sharma noted that many of the New York-area startup industrial firms he works with have largely Millennial workforces.
Rochelle Carrington with Sandler Training by Second Wind Advisory Group gave a lively, interactive and informative presentation on the “Change Process.” Using real-world business and personal examples from the audience, Carrington walked attendees through the process of communicating and realizing true positive change for companies, employees and yourself.
Dave Roth of Henkel discussed ways to improve window and door installation flashing with modern techniques and materials.
Many conference attendees participated in the outing at the nearby Norwich Golf Club. In the evening, the golfers joined speakers and the rest of the attendees as they donned their best Hawaiian shirts for a networking reception at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville private lounge.
“I’d like to recognize the support of many sponsors that made the conference activities possible and so successful,” said Steve Chen, NWDA president and Crystal Windows COO. “Extruders, equipment makers, glass manufacturers, and component suppliers are the lifeblood of this industry, and we appreciate their partnership with our window and door manufacturer members.”
The NWDA Winter Meeting will be held in Baltimore in January 2017.