Thank you to GAWDA Members who continue to make the GAWDA Seven Springs Regional such an incredible event year after year.
GAWDA continued its Regional Meeting season with the East/Midwest Regional Meeting, which took place at Seven Springs Resort, in Pennsylvania from June 25-26. The Seven Springs regional is traditionally the highest attended regional of the year. With a star-studded speaker lineup and top-notch networking opportunities this year was a grand slam.
Sales Workshop
The event kicked off with a half-day sales workshop from Jay Spielvogel from Venator Sales Group. It was an interactive workshop talking about how to gain market share in your territory.
Bowling
Following the morning sales training, attendees headed over to the lanes for a fun networking opportunity. No official bowling champion was named as it was more of just a casual event which went better for some than others…
Clay Pigeon Shooting
Once bowling concluded, the real competition began over at the clay pigeon shooting event. The clay shooting event has become a staple at this regional and is always an interesting draw for members who don’t typically get out to shoot guns.
Opening Reception
Following the clay shooting, members met for the first time as an entire group at the infamous Foggy Goggle, which is an indoor/outdoor bar/restaurant on-site at the Seven Springs Ski Resort for the opening reception. The BBQ and desserts were a real treat for the attendees who gathered for another networking opportunity with the entire group.
During the opening reception, members participated in axe throwing games and a competition organized by Devon Goodman of Ratermann Manufacturing on behalf of the GAWDA Young Professionals Committee. The winner of the axe throwing competition was Dave Morgan from Abicor Binzel. There was lots of catching up and relationship–building during the opening party, and with first night vibes, GAWDA attendees closed down the Foggy Goggle, even migrating to the hotel bar for a night cap to conclude night number one.
Networking Breakfast and Leadership Spotlight
Sleeping in for day two would have been a huge mistake. Somehow, Abydee was able to line up a clean sweep of CEOs and Presidents from some of the largest gas companies in the Northeast and U.S., providing relevant insights into the industry and huge value for attendees. The day began with Messer CEO Elena Skortskova. Elena spoke about her experience, not only in this industry, but her past experiences. She went on to discuss the culture of Messer, as well as some of the transitions happening within their organization.
Reverse Contact Booth Program
Sandwiched between CEOs was the extremely popular Reverse Contact Booth Program. Since its inception, the Reverse Contact Booth Program has become a favorite for many of the attendees of the Seven Springs regional. It flips the script and gives suppliers the opportunity to visit the tables of distributors they are interested in chatting with. Overall, there were 25 distributor tables for supplier attendees to visit with.
Industry Keynote Speaker
Next up, following the Reverse Contact Booth Program was Airgas CEO Marcelo Fioranelli. The topic he discussed was driver safety, with different safety procedures and policies that Airgas has implemented to mitigate accidents and liability. Airgas employs around 6,000 drivers collectively, which is around 1/3 of their workforce, making it a huge area of focus for them. He acknowledged the dangers that sometimes can lead to injuries and even fatalities making it critical for them to focus on.
Following Marcelo’s presentation, Maura Garvey, President of Intelligas, took a deep dive into the data of gas sales in the East/Central Region showing the percentage of sales each type of gas represents in this market. The data helped clarify growth opportunities for distributors operating in the North Atlantic/Eastern Midwest regions.
Haun Welding Supply – Leading through Change
Concluding the content-packed morning was the interesting story of Haun Welding Supply from the perspective of the fourth-generation of Haun’s and Co-President’s Josh and Erich Haun. They started off talking about their path into the business and the process of transitioning into the leaders of the company. They also talked about techniques to establish what is our culture and how that drives decision making and employee behavior. Humble, Honest, Helpful and Heart Driven has become the Haun version of the Rotary Four Way Test.
GAWDA Update
GAWDA’s Second Vice President Allison Earlbeck provided attendees with a GAWDA update, which included encouraging attendance at GAWDA Annual Convention in Phoenix, AZ October 11-14th. Registration is now open for that event. A video featuring the GAWDA Gives Back recipient HopeKids was shown to encourage members to consider donating to GAWDA Gives Back in an effort to leave GAWDA’s mark on the Phoenix community. For more information on how to contribute to the GAWDA Gives Back Program and support HopeKids, please visit www.gawda.org.
Golf
Wednesday afternoon it was time to have some fun on the golf course. The rain held off for the most part making it a great scenic round. More than 30 groups golfed a round of 18 holes. Although a team of Erich Haun – Haun Welding Supply, Devon Goodman – Ratermann Manufacturing, Pete Morenus – LP Cylinder Services, and Jim Neimeister – Weld Brothers were the official winning team, the top winner of the round would have to be Mike Tiller from IOMA who shot his 1st career hole-in-one witnessed by his group Josh Haun, Elissa Butler, and Nicolas Arvelo.
Reception and Dinner Hosted by Economy Welding Supply
Another tradition for the Seven Springs regional is the reception at The Mountain Club hosted by Economy Welding Supply. Don and Steve Rosenthal of Economy Welding Supply are longtime members of the club dating back over 30 years. A great place for members to have one last opportunity for networking before the meeting officially concludes.
Big shout out to Abydee and the Butler Gas team for hosting another hugely successful regional meeting packed with high quality content and experiences.
