The Floor Installation Association of North America (FIANA) held its 9th Annual Convention & Trade Show Sept. 11-13 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel at Reunion Tower in Dallas, Texas. The convention drew almost 500 attendees, with over 70 companies exhibiting at the trade show. New for this year was a special promotion that FIANA offered to its members. The promotion allowed each distributor member who registered for the full convention to register one of their counter salespeople, outside salespeople, or an architectural representative for a free distributor weekend, as well as a free room night at the Hyatt Regency Dallas and reimbursement for airfare for salespeople brought to the convention under this promotion. Over 40 members took advantage of this program. "To our knowledge, this was the first promotion of this type in our industry," said Jim Lee, president of FIANA.
Attendees also had an opportunity to increase their business knowledge with a variety of educational seminars. Seminars included "Choose to Lose" presented by Joe Malarkey, "Take This Job and Love It" presented by Dr. Alan Zimmerman, "How to Become a Techno-Savage" presented by Bill Metcalf, "Managing Inventory for Improved Profits" presented by Bob Langdon, "Creativity and Communication, Yes They Go Together" presented by Joel Zeff, and "To Be a Better You!" presented by Dave Pettijean.
During the business session, the organization elected four new members to its board of directors. The new board members elected to a three-year term are: Vincent (Vin) Giardini, Carpet Products, Mansfield, Mass.; Grant Medhurst, Shamrock Flooring Supplies, Calgary, Alberta; Ted Egan, Parachem, Simpsonville, S.C.; and Greg Gundlach, Beno J. Gundlach Co., Belleville, Ill.
In addition to the new board members, FIANA added several new distributor and manufacturer members for 2003. New distributor members include William M. Bird Co., Salesmaster Associates Inc., Installers Supply, Golden Flooring Accessories Ltd., and Wholesale Installation Supplies. New manufacturer members include Base King LLC, Chamblain Textiles, Innovative Energy, Floor Line Design, Foam Products Corp., Greiner-Perfoam GmbH, Modern Carpet Tools Ltd., Sealflex Industries Inc., Marizzaldi Mfg. & Development, Workhorse Tradesmen Products Inc., D.S. Sifers Corp., DeVault Enterprises, Carter Industries, and Primatech.
On Saturday evening, the closing session dinner featured a presentation by Don Finkell, president of Anderson Hardwood Floors. Finkel explored the history of Anderson Hardwood Floors and discussed important trends he sees in the flooring marketplace. Finkel was introduced by NFT/FCI senior editor Howard Olansky.
Next year's 10-year Anniversary Convention is scheduled to be held October 14-16 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in New Orleans.
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