THE National Association of Trailer Manufacturers is heading back to Orlando for its 17th Annual Convention and Trade Show.
Scheduled for February 1-5 at Disney's Coronado Springs Resort, it will mark the third time that the NATM has taken its convention to Orlando. It is set to alternate between Orlando and Las Vegas through 2008.
This year's convention features two additional workshops for a total of six, with two of them repeating to benefit those who couldn't make it the first time.
“The members got so much out of the workshops last year,” executive director Pam O'Toole said. “We found that the workshop format — where there are 40 or 50 participants — is more effective because it gives people an opportunity to interact with the speaker and ask questions. We thought that's better than just bringing everybody together in a big group and listening to five or six speakers.”
The workshops will be offered Friday afternoon, February 4, and Saturday morning, February 5. Saturday afternoon will feature the traditional “Nuts & Bolts” session, with workshop presenters on hand to answer questions.
O'Toole said the trade show is sold out — 139 exhibitors occupying 152 spaces — with eight on the waiting list.
She said membership has reached a record of 711, with the number growing by four or five a week during the final two months of 2004. She said NATM sold over 313,000 compliance decals in 2004, and more members are requesting an inspection from compliance director Greg Soden.
“This should be our first million-dollar year in revenue,” she said. “All the extra revenue is being put back into more programs for the members. We're continuing to grow and prosper and trying to reach all trailer manufacturers.
“The wheel-separation issue is important and we're going to try to reach out to nonmembers and emphasize that if they're going to be aware of things that are happening in the industry, they need to join NATM to get the information.”
Workshops
Product Liability: presenters, Mike Meehan and Tom Kuzmick, Rawle & Henderson LLP, Philadelphia.
Worker Comp: “Management's Role in Worker Compensation Loss Control,” presenter Brad Toomey, Franchise & Association Resource Group, Overland Park, Kansas.
The workshop will focus on the importance of senior managers' involvement in the loss-prevention process. Without their commitment, most efforts are futile. Achieving a safer work place will result in cost savings and a better work force.
Quality Management: “The Essence of Quality Management,” presenter Ted Miller, president, Miller Company.
This workshop will examine why a quality management system should be implemented, regardless of the size of the business. Topics that will be covered include: components of a good quality management system; and practical application and benefits.
Miller specializes in the development and implementation of management systems; ISO 9000, ISO 14000, AS9100, ISO 17025, and Quantum Management. He has over 15 years' experience as a quality professional working both domestically and internationally. He has successfully implemented quality systems in commercial and DOD environments, satisfying customers such as IBM, Martin Marietta, and Hughes Aircraft, as well as many small and medium sized businesses. He has assisted over 50 organizations gain ISO 9000 certification, has participated in and/or conducted over 100 quality audits, and has successfully completed Lead Assessor Training for ISO 9000, certified by the Assessor Registration Board of the United Kingdom.
He is a member of the US TAG to the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), Geneva, Switzerland, TC 207 Environmental Management.
Boat Trailer Compliance Issues: presenters Tom Harhevko, director of engineering standards, NMMA, Chicago; Rick Russell, Peterson Mfg, Grandview, Missouri; and Soden.
Proper Wheel Attachment: presenters Ted Schorn, Enkei America, Columbus, Indiana; Bill Dunlap, Dexter Axle, Elkhart, Indiana; and Ron Williams, Al-Ko Kober, Elkhart, Indiana.
Benchmarking: “Performance Benchmarks for the Trailer Manufacturing Industry,” presenter Jim Morton, RSM McGladrey, Elkhart, Indiana.
The workshop is designed to be an introduction to the RSM McGladrey performance benchmarks for the trailer manufacturing industry. The benchmarks include over 50 industry financial performance measurements and industry productivity measures such as material costs, direct labor and various manufacturing overhead as a percentage of sales and sales per manufacturing square foot, sales per employee, inventory turns, and many others. Participants will also be given instructions on how they can participate in the 2005 benchmarks.
Keynote speakers
Mark Sanborn, “The Fred Factor: How passion in your work and life can turn the ordinary into the extraordinary,” Thursday, 10:20-11:35 am.
The session is based on his book, The Fred Factor: Every Person's Guide for Making the Ordinary Extraordinary, an international best seller with 200,000 copies sold in China.
Sanborn will share the lessons he has learned from Fred, an extraordinary postal carrier (and others like him), to show how to harness the power of passion and commitment to personal excellence to transform the mundane into the magnificent in one's personal and professional life.
“Anyone can be a Fred,” Sanborn said. “That includes you! The result will not just be extraordinary effort and success in your work. You'll find yourself living an extraordinary life as well.”
Sanborn is president of Sanborn & Associates Inc, an idea studio dedicated to developing leaders in business and in life. He is an international bestselling author and noted authority on leadership, team building, customer service, and change.
He graduated cum laude from Ohio State University. In 1978-79, he served as the national president of the FFA, a youth organization of 500,000 members. In addition to his work as a business educator and author, he is president of the National Speakers Association, the association of experts who speak professionally.
Sanborn has shared his expertise with audiences in every state and 10 countries. He recently was the moderator of Living Leadership, a 62-city simulcast featuring some of the top leadership experts of the day, including Ken Blanchard, Stephen Covey, and John Maxwell.
He holds the Certified Speaking Professional designation from the National Speakers Association and is a member of the Speaker Hall of Fame. He also is a member of the exclusive Speakers Roundtable, made up of 20 of the top speakers in America.
Sanborn is the author of seven books, including Teamwork: Making Teamwork Work, Sanborn on Success and Upgrade: Proven Strategies for Dramatically Increasing Personal and Professional Success.
He has created and appeared in 20 videos and numerous audio training programs. His video series, Teambuilding: How to Motivate and Manage People, made it to the No 2 spot for bestselling educational video series in America.
Steven Little, “Real-World Growth Strategies: The Future of Opportunity for the Trailer Manufacturing Industry,” Thursday, 8:30-10 am.
Little said that businesses have one prime objective: they want to grow. Yet, surprisingly, most businesses don't have the formalized systems in place to help them achieve this goal. He said few even take the time to regularly consider the important macro-changes happening in our world today — changes that will most affect the future of success for their companies and industries.
Little, currently a senior consultant with Inc. magazine and formerly president of three fast-growth companies, will explain what it takes to grow a business effectively and profitably with his list of proven growth strategies.
The presentation includes: the “Seven Irrefutable Rules of Business Growth”; how to assess an organization's readiness for growth; finding and keeping the best and the brightest; the all-important role of technology in growth companies; the 21st century's social, economic, environmental, and political macro-changes most likely to affect the trailer industry.
Little is one of the country's leading speakers, writers, and consultants for privately held businesses interested in growth. Throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Little was president of three fast-growth companies. Both FAME Inc and Erb Industries Inc achieved profitable growth rates of over 500% during Little's tenure. As president of Queensboro Shirt Company, he helped to build one of the country's earliest and most successful e-commerce sites.
His speaking style has been described as “real-world,” “highly credible”, and “uniquely engaging.”
He is a graduate of Miami University and has studied at the Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland, and the University of Houston's Future Studies Program.
Golf
The tournament is set for Wednesday at 8 am with a shotgun start on DisneyWorld's Palm course. Combining strategically placed palms, 94 bunkers, and plenty of water, the natural Florida woodlands setting provides a dramatic backdrop. Designed by Joe Lee, the Palm features sparkling lakes and tropical sand, all in a gorgeous golf landscape.
The Palm course is played each year as part of the PGA Tour's National Car Rental Golf Classic and is considered by many pros on the PGA Tour to be the most difficult of the tournament's courses — particularly because of the demanding 18th hole.
Awards will be presented for first, second, and third place, longest drive, longest putt, and closest to the pin.
Titleist/Cobra Clubs are available to rent for $45 per set or $17 for a partial set. Golf club rentals require a photo ID and a major credit card refundable deposit of $500 per set. The dress code for all golfers is collared shirts, Bermuda length shorts or slacks and soft spikes. Transportation will be provided and will leave the Coronado at 6:30 am.