I highly recommend you check out the AED Executive Forum in Chicago, Sept. 10-11. I've gone almost every year since the forums started about a decade ago and every year I learn something. It certainly will make you think and most of the people I talk to that attend the forum get some valuable ideas they can apply to their businesses or at least think about their businesses in a new way.
The forums always shed light on the economy with some valuable analysis. I won't say you automatically walk out of there with a definitive vision of when the economy is going to turn around, and I'm not sure anybody knows that anyway, but usually there is some insight to be gained from some of the speakers.
Even though the conference is put on by a distributors' trade organization, you don't have to be a distributor to get a lot out of it, nor is the content more applicable for distributors than for rental companies or manufacturers or service providers to this industry. If you're the owner of a pure rental company, you wouldn't be the only one in attendance.
The Forum is a great place for networking. I have made a number of valuable contacts over the years, some of whom have become good friends.
There aren't a lot of forums for thought and dialog about the issues that are important to us in the construction equipment industry and I heartily commend AED for trying every year. Some years have been better than others, but I guess it's the same with just about anything else you do.
I think now is the time for some serious analysis and thought about which way the economy is going, where the industry is going and how to plan for the future.
The theme of this year's conference is: “The nuts and bolts for steering your business past today's potholes toward future profitability.” That's a lot to promise, but you'll come away with something in your toolbox I suggest.
The president of a company called Chicago Tube and Iron, who is also a professor at Northwestern University, will talk about “How We Got Here and What Have We Learned?” and a lot of us have been trying to figure out the answers to those two questions. The agenda includes a “construction market report;” a panel called “The Lending Landscape: Credit Answers for You and Your Customers;” a panel on M&A and restructuring on whether you should “buy, sell or save;” and a contractor panel called “Pain Points: Customers Tell You What Hurts and What You and Your Manufacturers Can Do About It.”
These are all important issues and when people are talking about them and looking for dialog and insight, there's a lot to be learned. And if you can't find a good restaurant in Chicago, you're not trying.
For more information on the conference, visit http://www.aednet.org/execforum. You can also find information at http://rermag.com/trends_analysis/headlinenews/aed-executive-forum-071709/index.html.
