Chattanooga, TN — 8/10/20 Alliance Flooring’s first ever virtual buying and networking event is now complete. The two-week online event, called Connect2020, held July 27 – August 7, brought members and suppliers together virtually for networking, training and buying.
Piet Dossche, COREtec
The event featured daily supplier special buys and product training. In addition, members were able to watch an impressive lineup of educational seminars and industry speakers discussing topics relevant to today’s changing market. Most of the content was provided through short, impactful video segments, presented in an “On Demand” format, that the dealers could view when they wanted, during down-time in the store, or after business hours were over.
The industry leaders who spoke were COREtec’s Piet Dossche, Metroflor’s Russ Rogg, Shaw’s Scott Sandlin and Mohawk’s Jeff Meadows. Each gave their take on the current economic climate, their company’s situation and where they think markets are going.
Alliance Flooring’s EVP of Marketing, Kevin Logue, said, “We launched Connect2020 on a web-based platform as a virtual alternative to our in-person Summit Meeting which had previously been scheduled for August 2020. We reached out to several of our core suppliers with the idea of participating in this virtual buying and networking event, and they were very supportive of the concept.”
“In addition, the member response to Connect2020 has been outstanding. In fact, orders began coming in almost as soon as we started posting video content. They also really appreciate the opportunity to connect with one another that this type of virtual event provides.”
Logue continued, “Our group is all about relationships and our members miss seeing each other between conventions and summits. Connect2020 provides the venue for them to interact through topic-driven Zoom calls and also gives them the opportunity to hear from our key suppliers through pre-produced video content, webinars and video messages from industry leaders.”
“All of our core suppliers stepped up to support Connect2020 with special inventory buys and product knowledge training videos for our new 2020 merchandising systems,” said Logue.
David Ellis, Alliance Flooring’s Marketing Director added, “Although, not the same as being in-person, Connect2020 provided a way for our members to feel “plugged in” to the group, take advantage of some great buys, and acquire some education and training on new products. Our members saw a lot of value in being able to stay connected during this unique and challenging business environment.”
Member Don Cantor, Lake Interiors, Chelan, WA, had a positive reaction to the event. He said, “This event has been outstanding. I just wish I had more warehouse space!”
Jennifer Stafford, Right Carpets & Interiors, Alamosa, CO, was pleased by what she got out of the event. She said, “We’ve been getting lots of DIY’ers in our store and we had almost run out of inventory. This event allowed us to restock at just the right time. We also appreciate the training aspect of this event we could offer our team.”
