COLUMBUS, Ohio — The recent Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International (HARDI) conference, in Phoenix, Arizona, saw record-breaking attendance.
HARDI welcomed more than 1,940 people, including 519 wholesaler attendees from 180 companies, to the JW Marriott Phoenix Desert Ridge Resort for its 2023 conference, Ascend. The conference included a sold-out Booth Program featuring 250 vendors and a Solutions Center with 40 different service providers.
Ascend was the organization’s best-attended annual conference to date and a testament to the HVACR industry’s enthusiasm for networking and educational content, a press release from HARDI said.
“We are beyond excited to see the members come together to collaborate and connect,” said Allison Greene, HARDI’s marketing director. “The HARDI team’s hard work provided a superior collection of speaker content and networking opportunities to enable members the opportunity to elevate their strategic planning as well as their personal growth initiatives.”
The event featured six keynote speakers whose presentations covered topics from innovation to work force management to geopolitical developments that are impacting not only the industry but global affairs. Speakers included Meagan Johnson, a generational humorist, who kicked off the conference with her opening presentation, “Zap the Gap: Generational Differences Reexamined”; geopolitical strategist Peter Zeihan, who spoke about global demographics, economics, politics, and technology; and best-selling author (and former Olympic speed skier) Vince Poscente, who talked about activating one’s purpose and accelerating growth.
The conference also featured 26 breakout sessions that offered insights on business development and current industry and business trends.
HARDI also recognized 16 graduates from its Emerging Leaders program.
“Program participants from both distributor and supplier member companies worked very hard to become official graduates of HARDI’s Emerging Leaders program,” said Stella Keane, HARDI’s vice president of talent. “The three-year program curriculum developed and refined their individual executive skill sets, and the talent management team is honored to be able to recognize their achievements in front of such a large crowd of colleagues and friends.”
The next HARDI annual conference will be held Dec. 7-10, 2024, at the Marriott Marquis in Atlanta, Georgia.
At the Heating, Air-conditioning & Refrigeration Distributors International annual conference in December, we asked a couple of HVAC distribution professionals about what they see for the industry in the year ahead. Here’s what they had to say.
