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Hidden Treasurers: Speakers Meghan O’Brien,
Bradley Kasal Spike IGIA Convention to New Heights
If the Iowa Grocery Industry Association was to place a label on its 2009 Convention before closing the book on it, the association would probably choose one word: Exceptional.
Fortunately, the IGIA is not responsible for putting the final stamp of approval on things – that is left up to its members. In this situation, though, IGIA members would tend to agree with the association’s staff in thinking that this year’s convention was an outstanding event.
“Overall, an extremely informative and high-quality line-up,” said one convention attendee. “Great balance of industry and entertainment, and important current topics such as the economy. Very well done.”
It is the goal of the IGIA every summer to provide an educational and valuable convention to its members that could stand to rank as one of the best state conventions in the nation. But all the planning in the world does not guarantee an organization success. It is not known until the event actually gets underway and storylines begin to unfold that a true assessment can start to be made.
In 2009, it was about the time Meghan O’Brien, program specialist for Iowa State University Extension, talked about where our economy is going that the IGIA knew it had something special in its convention. The association already figured speakers like Michael Sansolo, Kevin Coupe and Leslie Sarasin were going to be well-received. However, it was O’Brien – one of the three local speakers brought in to help supplement the national presentations – who first won over the crowd.
“I really enjoyed the speakers, especially Meghan O’Brien – could have listened to her for a few more hours,” a separate convention attendee said.
That is the type of lasting impression the IGIA aims to create for its members at every event they attend – not just the convention. And it just so happened that the association was able to create more than one with O’Brien just being the tip of the iceberg.
Even with her rave reviews, O’Brien was only the second highest rated speaker at the 2009 IGIA Convention. She was barely surpassed by Sgt. Major Bradley Kasal, the closing speaker of the three-day event. Kasal, a native of Iowa, grabbed everyone’s attention with his inspiring military story while serving in Iraq that resulted in him earning the Navy Cross for heroism.
Kasal, much like O’Brien, became another hidden treasure that the IGIA was able to uncover for its members.
“(I) really liked Brad Kasal. Great job over the years (of) finding speakers like him,” another convention goer said.
Add to the mix Wells’ Dairy CEO Mike Wells, who scored slightly below O’Brien, and his presentation on how to implement a series of initiatives that resulted in accelerated, top-line growth and improved profitability for his company during harsh economic times, and you have one extremely talented group of speakers that is, conversely, supplemented by national industry experts, who all ranked well in their own right.
With such a well-balanced set of speakers, the IGIA has again achieved its goal of providing an educational and valuable convention. And there is no better stamp of approval to validate this achievement than that given by a member
“I will be putting (the convention) on my agenda for next (year) as a must attend,” one said.
The IGIA would like everyone else to do the same.
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