EquityEDN Meeting – A Success

This past week we attended the EquityEDN meeting in Atlanta and thought we share some observations.

• Almost 350 member attendees, representing 197 companies, attended the meeting. While we didn’t count the number of manufacturers, all on the EquityEDN list attended and many had multiple booths. EquityEDN has a unique way of conducting their one-on-one sessions – manufacturers are welcome to have displays/products in their booth areas, which enables them to exhibit products while they discuss opportunities.
• The theme for the meeting was “Go Green”. Manufacturers and members were encouraged to discuss joint opportunities to capitalize upon this market.
• The group did its part by having a green seminar conducted by Bill Attardi. EquityEDN members eagerly are exploring the issue as over 125 members attended the session.
• The two receptions were very well attended, affording all plenty of time for networking (plus it seemed like many had so much to eat that dinner would have been superfluous!)
• Matt Roos, president, announced that the group grew by 31 members in 2007 and now has 937 members representing almost 1100 locations.
• Feedback from manufacturers was very positive, with most having very full schedules.

And some observations:

• Manufacturer and member reported that the resi market remains in the doldrums and many don’t expect to see much improvement until mid-late 2009 or 2010. The commercial market appears stagnant. Depending upon the geographic area, it is either slightly down or even with last year. Access to credit markets is starting to hurt some commercial projects, which are starting to be delayed. The industrial market appears to continue to be a good area (not robust, but still a growth market).
• A number of manufacturers commented that the meeting was a very effective usage of their time, given the ability to meet with so many distributors that they typically don’t get to. Manufacturers had multiple attendees (2-6) from their sales organizations (i.e. regional and national sales managers), although there were few senior (VP/President) level. If a manufacturer belongs to all 3 marketing groups, they have the potential to interact with 520 distributors (EquityEDN – 200, IMARK – 180, A-D – 140). A pretty good return on their time.
• In the same vein, a couple of manufacturers we spoke with questioned attendance for the NAED National (they’ve received many redundant emails lately and some have received phone calls); stated that they are cutting back on the number of attendees from their company to the National (and for future regionals); and expressed a desire for less NAED meetings (perhaps only the regionals?) but don’t have the answer for replacing NAED meeting revenue.

Kudos to EquityEDN for a very effective meeting.