Viva Las Vegas
First NLHA Convention under my belt and I survived. I’ll start by going over some brief initial observations….there are some REALLY good looking people in the hardwood industry! You heard it here first folks, whether you believe it or not, let me just say YOWZA! However, it is a male majority market so…hmmm well you can make your own assumptions but I am the author here so we’ll just go with it. Secondly, everyone greeted me with a big warm smile, especially after they knew I was from Cole Hardwood. After the introduction, it was usually followed up with “Where is Milt?!” No surprise there. It became clear what kind of insurmountable impact Milt has had on the hardwood industry and it’s people. Everyone seemed to believe that he MUST have been in charge of bringing me in on the sales team. Shhhh…don’t tell Dave.
Anyway, I met a lot of great people. The weather was so phenomenal that it made networking at the pool super successful. I took a very impressive tour of Peterman Lumber and let me tell you their hospitality was top-notch. Mr. Garcia taught me about melamine and it’s uses. Terry showed me how to take a fabulous photo or how to be in ALL of them. My sales team had their designated schedule for ‘Jen’s bodyguard’ detail and I returned home un-scathed (not that I was worried, I have a permit to carry and still remember how to execute an arm-bar) The guys told me that I fit right in which I will take as a compliment because I felt like I was surrounded by a very genuine group with a plethora of knowledge I will have obtained myself someday. Not like the “you may hear a lot but won’t learn nothing” saying we have here in the office:) I have some favorites that I probably shouldn’t single out because…well what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, right? WRONG. I don’t know about your office but it all followed me right back here to my desk! It’s ok I am very proud to be included in this industry and I can’t wait to share many more conventions with all of you for many, many years to come.