ISA 25 is wrapping up today and the packed agenda over the three days was wrapped up by great presentations by NAW’s Brian Wild and ITR economics.
As expected, the hot topic was TARIFFFFS… and the impacts of current, potential, and future tariffs. It was great have National Association of Wholesaler leader Brian Wild -Chief Government Officer (2) Brian Wild | LinkedIn take a deep dive into tariffs with ISA CEO – Brendan Breen which was fascinating and very informative.
The timing of having NAW Brian Wild talk in-depth on the impact on April 2nd the day many new tariffs are possibly taking effect made this session lively and full of audience questions. It was one of the best-timed and best-presented sessions that I have been at in the past 5 years plus, in a schedule packed with industry events.
Later this week we will be highlighting many of the sessions and hot topics that were covered at ISA25. Some sessions that stood out and were packed with attendees were:
The New AI Landscape: AI’s Rapid Rise in the Channel
This panel moderated by Mike Hockett from Modern Distribution Management that included- Kevin Brown from LeadSmart Technologies, Chris Bauserman from Conexiom, and Paul Noble from Verusen AI that was standing room only . As the saying goes the ISA team saw “that they were going to need a bigger boat” and quickly accommodated all the attendees in a session that was excellent, and packed with actionable AI strategies and tactics.
Industrial End User Panel Discussion – It Starts with the Customer
Joyce Lansdale (Moderator), VP Enterprise Business Development, Vallen; ISA Board Chair moderated a great end-user panel that was inpactful. It is unusual for an association to bring their end customers to a channel event, and it was awesome to see end customers share what they need from their channel partners.
The panelists shared alot of great tips and strategies. When you looked around there were pens out furiously writing all over the room.
-James Brown, President & CEO, Augustine Die & Mold, Inc. and Augustine Plastics, Inc.
-Ann Carroll, Financial Manager, Snap On Inc.
-Kenny Williams, Co-Founder and CEO, Phenx Products
-Jamie Goettler, Chief Revenue Officer, BTX Precision
ISA State-of-the-Channel Update: Distributor & Manufacturer Scorecards and Trends & ISA State-of-the-Channel Update: End User Trends
These two sessions that I hosted were fun and I appreciate all the great feedback and questions. Where the market is headed, why customers buy, what are key customer purchase factors for 2025, and much more was covered over the two hours. I have a lot of PowerPoint slides to email to attendees, so if I miss getting them to you, or you want copies please feel free to email me.
Later this week we will publish more details on ISA25 for our readers. A big thank you to the ISA team for putting on a great event for the channel.
As always, we appreciate the feedback and comments. So, feel free to reach out at jgunderson@channelmkt.com
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