In the case of D & D Electrical Sales in
2011, we had a very different agenda.
For the first time in 35 years, we have a new owner and 3 new staff
members. This was our opportunity to
meet most of the folks we have been working with and vice versa. All of our factories have been very aware of
the changes occurring but we have not had an opportunity to meet in most cases.
This was also an excellent opportunity
to showcase our people. Not only did we
get a chance to meet our factory people but we got to meet customers, other
reps and even some old acquaintances from previous factories. In the past 8 shows that I have attended,
this one held the most significance for me.
The issue was simple: we were here to announce to our industry that we
were a very different company from the one my father founded back in 1975.
We spent Tuesday walking around the show to
visit with all of our factories. This
was no small task, since 9 of our factories were attending. The size of the venue offered its own issues
so Christina mapped out the locations of all of our factory booths and we had
no issues. We also had a list of most of
our customers in attendance so we could keep an eye out for them. Again this was no small task, but you keep
your head on a swivel but in a sea of 15K people, my head was spinning.
Wednesday, we spent mostly outside in the
new Sherman & Reilly booth. Since
the new owners took over they have introduced more new products than we have
seen in the last 15 years, and people took notice. The display area was rearranged and fenced
off so all visitors had to come in through one of two entrances and could not
just wander into the area. This was
great because there was control over who came in and everyone got scanned. The new products had the attendance at record
levels and the feedback was great.
Our last day was spent trying to catch up
with the few elusive customers we hadn’t hooked up with. We also used this time to get Christina a
ride in one of the Altec’s bucket trucks.
We did not find any new lines, but then we were not really looking. This was one of the best shows I can remember
as the weather was perfect and attendance was good. For D & D, I felt this was a good
opportunity for our folks to see the scope of our industry and how diverse the
products can be.
Check out some pictures from our visit just click on the Gallery tab!
