By Steven Feldman
Austin, Texas—The NAFCD is changing. Business and educational opportunities will be at the core of the group’s existence while it attempts to offer value to its distributor and manufacturer members at every step.

The NAFCD’s focus on business could not be any more evident in its new philosophy behind its annual meeting. Gone are the days of lavish resorts and a conference built around recreation. In contrast, beginning next year, the meetings will now be held in more convenient and less expensive locales, during the week, with a clear and distinct focus on breakout sessions, educational speakers and the Distributor Marketplace. “People are telling us they want to do business; they are not taking their wives,” said Al Maghes, incoming NAFCD president and vice president of sales and marketing for Erickson’s Flooring and Supply Co. in Ferndale, Mich. “There is a ton of demand on manufacturers’ and distributors’ time. Going to a more business approach is something our members prefer.”

With that said, the NAFCD is striving for its manufacturer members to hold their annual distributor meetings in conjunction with the NAFCD conference, whether it be a Mannington, Wilsonart or Bravo, Maghes said. “We could arrange time slots, maybe even fund a suite for their meetings. It would kill two birds with one stone for our distributor members. It’s simply a matter of economies of our time.”

The other thought behind the move away from the resort environment was to attract more personnel per distributorship to the annual meeting. “Changing to a more business-like atmosphere parallels the idea of wanting to drill down to our membership and allow them to bring more people to these events,” said current president Chris Freed, president of J.H. Freed and Sons in San Diego. “In order to do that, we needed to make it more affordable. Locating in the central part of the country allows for cheaper airfares.”

The business approach is not lip service. Already, the NAFCD has agreed to increase its budget for speakers. “We will bring in a higher caliber of speaker to draw attendance and take-home value,” Freed said. “Education is the key. If you come away from this show with a few good points it is successful. The bottom line is we want this to be a go-to venue for everyone associated with the distribution channel.”

Another change for the organization is in its name itself. NAFCD, once the acronym for the National Association of Floor Covering Distributors, earlier this year became the North American Association of Floor Covering Distributors. According to Freed, the change is reflective of the group needing to speak to the fact it already had membership from Canada. “More than anything, we wanted to extend the hand of welcome to our Canadian members,” he said. “They are very strong distributors and long-term members.”

The idea of inclusion goes beyond its Canadian members. The NAFCD has changed its dues structure to attract smaller companies into the group. Until now, there was a set fee for all distributors regardless of size. Now it is moving to a size-based structure determined by volume with a range from $595 to $2,000 a year. “It speaks to fairness because of the various sizes of our members,” Freed said. “It should also allow us to draw more members from the pool of smaller companies. When we looked at 10 other organizations, we found our fixed fee was uncommon and a fee relative to the size of a company was more common.”

There is also a new fee structure for manufacturers with one set price of $2,495. However, there will be additional opportunities for sponsorships.

One thing that will remain constant is the Distributor Marketplace (see related story). In fact, the NAFCD is making strides to expand that portion of the meeting. “This is a big growth opportunity for us,” Maghes said, adding that in its second year, the NAFCD saw 20% growth in the number of booths from 77 to 96. And given that next year’s venue in the Chicago suburb of Shaumburg, Ill., is attached to a convention center, “we will have the ability to expand the floor space to whatever size needed,” Freed said.

He noted the marketplace stems from the vision that there was a void for manufacturers and distributors to have a venue where there could be one-on-one meetings without distractions. Maghes added, “We think this type of venue is a rifle rather than a shotgun. There are billions of dollars represented from the distributor members. Manufacturers recognize this is where the money is.”

Other initiatives

According to Freed, the NAFCD is actively involved in aligning with other associations to achieve economies of scale. For instance, its board of directors meeting will be held in concert with that of the North American Building Materials Distributors Association. “They have an executive conference in Virginia where they bring in world-renowned speakers. This will reduce expenses for both organizations, and we can benefit from their speakers.”

Closer to home, the NAFCD has also reached out to FIANA with the idea of partaking in some of their educational programs. “We’ve even had discussions about scheduling conventions together,” Freed said. “There are opportunities that benefit both memberships.”

Another example of capitalizing on synergies is how the NAFCD is working with the Fasteners Distributors Association. An online career center has been created where membership can post jobs and job seekers can post their resumes. “It allows us to speak to the distribution channel vs. a [more generic] monster.com,” Freed said.

The NAFCD is also seeking to get more involved in B2B through its support of the FCB2B. “We feel strongly that as a distributor organization we can benefit from both sides,” Freed said. “A standardized EDI system can improve the industry by communicating with manufacturers and further schematic communication with retailers, albeit at a slower rate. There can be huge cost savings throughout the channel. We need to be at the forefront of this initiative.”

Other initiatives involve the continuation of the educational efforts launched last year geared toward middle management. For example, a series of webinars is offered through the Association Education Alliance, a group of 35 associations of which the NAFCD recently became a member. Topics include leadership and relationship building tools, how to document and demonstrate your value in the supply chain, sales management, phone etiquette, customer service, time management skills, etc.

A few months ago the NAFCD launched Element K, an online learning medium that offers numerous libraries for users. Each library contains several different courses on technology, business and compliance. “NAFCD is about more than top executives,” Freed said. “We want to offer easily accessible education opportunities online to middle-level managers throughout the year. It helps build future leadership for our members.”