The 2013 AHR Icebreaker was yet another well attended and successful HARDI networking event and a great way for the organization to start the year off. We hosted nearly 500 guests this year and many of them were still talking about it at the AHR Expo. The HARDI booth was once again a popular and effective meeting place for hundreds of our members and a great resource for many prospective members and industry friends. It established a great educational presence for many of HARDI’s exciting 2013 initiatives; the HARDI Education and Training University, or HEAT.U, the launch of the new HARDI Unitary Market Share Program, a recently developed guide to member services, and the new 2013 Focus Conferences.
Regarding the HARDI Unitary Market Share Program, please make sure your company is reporting unitary sales to Toby Swope at D&R International if you sell unitary equipment. We’re getting incredible feedback about this initiative and we’re off to a strong start leading up to the inaugural Q1 report this April. If you’re not currently reporting, I’d greatly appreciate it if you would reach out to Swope to get set up. Subscriptions are now available for those of you who do not sell unitary equipment. These reports will give subscribers better information about the products they sell, and help them better assess their unit sales against the overall market. To sign up for your subscription today, please contact Stephanie Lingofelter at slingofelter@hardinet.org
The 2013 Focus Conferences have come upon us quickly and if you do not have the meetings on your calendar, I strongly encourage you to register. The next one coming up is the HR & Organizational Management Conference hosted by the Southeastern Region, April 14-16 in Tampa, Fla. These events will feature extremely valuable programs led by some of the finest speakers whom I’m confident will provide true professional development to those who attend. Whether or not you’re able to attend, I encourage you to send your departmental executives to these meetings so they can benefit from the content related to their field of work. Another event coming up is the Congressional Fly In, which is May 21-22 in Washington, D.C. This event provides the opportunity for HARDI members to work together and advocate for our industry to our leaders in Washington. Decisions made in Washington have an affect on all of our companies and this event provides us as HARDI members with a forum to make our voices heard. If you haven’t been to a HARDI Fly In, I urge you to take part in this event. To register online before the deadlines, visit the networking and events page at www.hardinet.org.
I look forward to seeing you there.
Best Regards,
Brian Cobble
HARDI President
