Business and Education Bring Value to AWMA EXPO Participants

AWMA REAL DEAL EXPO attendees said Friday that they benefited from the educational programming provided during the three-day event in Las Vegas, as well as from the opportunity to do business on the trade show floor.

"This is always a good event for us," said Jeff Blalock, Vice-President, Director of Convenience Store Sales, Flowers Specialty Snack Sales. "It’s a great opportunity for us to be in the same room as all of our customers."

"We wrote a lot of orders," Shane Sarchey, at Jack Links commented Friday afternoon. "Yesterday, we were slammed." His colleague, Scott Macdonald agreed. "This show is beneficial for us. When our customer comes here, they know Jack Links is going to be here and that they will get special pricing. It’s a win-win all the way around."

Ray Seeling, a Herr Foods account manager, reported Friday that he generated some "good wholesaler leads" during the show. "They were people I didn’t know, and they were substantial too. So I think that’s going to work out."

Scott Tarlow, Success Systems, Inc., noted that his company has just released a new product designed to "bridge the gap between the retail book and wholesaler invoices" and that they were able during the show to discuss it with a number of distribution executives.

"It’s a chance to get some face time with the decision-makers of these companies," Tarlow said.

Former AWMA Chairman Ricky Jones, Andalusia Distributing Co., Inc., Andalusia, AL, reported finding "a good variety of new products" on the show floor and met some new suppliers that will be solid additions to the products carried by his company.

And Bill Wilkerson, J.L. Gaddy Enterprises, Hickory Grove, SC, added Friday afternoon that he took advantage of show deals offered by vendors. Beyond that, however, Wilkerson said, "There was good information on the educational sessions. This morning’s session on profitability was especially good. Profitability is a concern for everybody in this industry."

"It was a great networking opportunity for us," reported Jon Burklund, Burklund Distributors, Inc., East Peoria, IL. "And the morning sessions were very valuable. The changing nature of the industry provides a challenge, and the fact that AWMA is addressing those changing dynamics is extremely important."