Author: Robin Barnes

John Rossman Managing Partner, Rossman Partners Former Amazon Executive John Rossman is most known for launching and scaling the Amazon Marketplace business, which now accounts for over 50 percent of all Amazon units sold and shipped. He also served as director of enterprise services at Amazon.com, where he managed worldwide services to enterprise clients, including Target, Sears and the NBA. Since leaving Amazon, he has advised clients across most industry verticals on digital strategy, operations and culture. He is now managing partner at Rossman Partners. John is the author of “The Amazon Way: 14 Leadership Principles Behind the World’s Most Disruptive…

What are the odds of a business reaching its 100th operational anniversary? According to Yale University Professor Richard Foster, they’re not high. He finds the current average lifespan of a company listed in the S&P 500 index of leading U.S. companies is just 15 years — and that rate is falling.1 Defying these statistics is the O.E. Meyer Company, a Sandusky, Ohio, industrial/medical gases, welding products and specialty medical products distributor, now celebrating its centennial. The company’s secrets to longevity include a commitment to and investment in its employees, strong working relationships with partners and the community, quality leadership and…

Have you downloaded the very useful GAWDA Event App yet? If not, you’ll want to do that before you arrive at the Annual Convention. The special events GAWDA app is designed to help members track events, communicate and share information while they attend the association’s national meetings. This year, the App will be used to scan your entry into the Contact Booth Program, notes John Ospina, GAWDA executive director. So make sure you have it on your phone when you attend that event.  Here is a video showing how to download the app. 11 Function Buttons The app currently features…

GAWDA members and guests meeting in Missouri for the Spring Management Conference experienced three days of great settings, super speakers and lots of St. Louis style. From the gorgeous, historic St. Louis Union Station hotel site, to a setting with a view near the Gateway Arch, to the fried ravioli, butter cake, custard and ribs on the menus, the SMC was “tastefully” done. It also provided many useful operational takeaways, by specific design. Scroll down for a photo recap of the main events and a “hat’s off” to a memorable SMC set in President Ned Lane’s company hometown. Ballpark Village…