The 2010 Holiday Bright Lights Convention was a HUGE success!  Thanks to all of our Members that were able to attend.  For all of our Members that weren’t able to make it this year…we missed you…hopefully you can make it next year!  We had a great turn-out for the training class that was held on Thursday…and then the majority of our members arrived Thursday evening.

Thursday evening was our Welcome Reception.  It was nice to see some very familiar faces, as well as meeting our new Members.  The reception was a great way to get to know each other,  network, ask questions, and of course, have some great food and a beverage or two!

DAY 1

Friday morning was the kick-off to the Convention.  This year we had several different workshops that included the following:

Cy Wakeman: Award Winning Speaker and Trainer.  Cy’s presentation was very informative, uplifting, and dynamic.  Her “Real World” strategies and examples  brought some very valuable perspectives to the Convention.

New Product Presentation:  Scott and Rich did a fantastic job covering all of our new products for 2010!  They talked about the R&D that went into each and every product that was produced.  Holiday Bright Lights kept their reputation and high standards going with ALL of the new 2010 products!  If you haven’t seen the new LED Glacier LightLink, you are in for a treat.  This will DEFINITELY be one of the top seller’s for 2010!

In the afternoon, we had 3 different break-out sessions:

Lighting Bootcamp: Chad Heese discussed several topics and provided a fresh look at the Holiday Lighting Industry.

Selling Holiday Bright Lights from A to Z:  Scott and Rich discussed the who, the how, the when, and why’s of the Holiday Lighting Industry.  Everything from the High-End products exclusively offered by HBL, to the number of tools and utilization of technology that sets HBL Members apart from “Just a guy that has a bucket of lights in the back of the truck”.  As Rich said, ”When someone asks if I put up Holiday Lights…I tell them no!  I am a professional Holiday Lighting Decorator!”

Holiday Bright Lights On-Line Ordering Process:  Mike Marlow discussed several changes to our Member Center and Website.  One of the key improvements is our new On-Line Ordering Process.  As a Member, you will now order your products via the web-site.  By ordering on-line, it will help in so many ways that will improve efficiencies, timeliness, and order accuracy.  Once you place your order on-line a couple of things will happen.  1.  The order will be sent to the accounting office so that it can be processed immediately.  2.  A pick ticket will be printed in the warehouse at the same time…by these two things occurring at the same time, it will dramatically improve the time-line from which your order was received, recorded, and shipped!

Friday evening at the dinner was a blast!  Live entertainment, BBQ, various lawn games, blackjack table, and oh yeah, an open bar.  Aside from all of the fun and games…this was a great way for our Members to get to know each other and discuss some “best practices”.  We also had an awards presentation for 5 of our Members. 2009 Award Winners are:

Ambassador Award: Hamilton County Lawn Care

HBL Spirit Award: Outside Guys & Siffring Landscape and Garden Center

Most LightLinks Sold: Giannini Landscaping

Most 2009 Sales:  Green Drop

Outstanding New Member:  OLP Pittsburgh

CONGRATS TO ALL OF OUR 2009 AWARD WINNERS!!!

Day 2

Day 2 kicked off with our esteemed Leadership Panel.  All of our participants brought a wealth of knowledge, fresh ideas, and provided some excellent advice on how to take Holiday Lighting to the NEXT LEVEL!  This was an open, Q&A type forum that led to great some conversation.

After the Leadership Panel, there was a Mini-Expo from different vendors to help support and serve all of our Members business needs.  This year’s Expo Vendor’s were…Digiorgio’s Sportswear, Design 8 Studios, CAS Inc, Outdoor Lighting Perspectives, and Quinn Insurance.   After the Mini-Expo was Jeff Beals. Jeff is an award winning Author, College Professor, and Motivational Speaker.  Jeff’s theme was based on the ever popular “Tons of room at the Top” story.  Jeff drew parallels to being a business owner as very similar to being the head coach of a college or professional sports team.  GOOD STUFF!

Is Social Media a fad? Or is it the biggest shift since the Industrial Revolution?  Tony Gomez discussed things you need to know about Social Media Networks:  What they are, why you want to use them, and how to use them effectively.  If you aren’t currently utilizing the BIG 3… FACEBOOK, TWITTER, & LINKED-IN, you need to!    To see an awesome video pertaining to Social Media Networking, click here

Mike Marlow unveiled the new Members Holiday Decor Estimator.  Some of the features and benefits of the estimator are:

Take the headache out of doing estimating, Create an accurate  proposal in MINUTES,  The ability to change your product mark up or labor rate, The ability to access saved proposals, and provide your customers with a clean, professional proposal branded with your Logo.  We closed the Saturday session with many great questions and comments.  All-in-All…this was our best convention yet!  We are looking forward to an even BIGGER AND BRIGHTER CONVENTION FOR 2011!!!

THANK YOU AGAIN TO ALL OF OUR WONDERFUL MEMBERS…..WE WOULDN’T BE IN BUSINESS WITHOUT YOU!

FROM THE ENTIRE HOLIDAY BRIGHT LIGHTS STAFF….Rich, Scott, Mike, Tony, Chad, Bill, Chalon, Liz, & Stacey