National Ribbon Distributor Meeting 2017
San Antonio​​​, Texas  

Every year, I get the privilege of going to the Overhead Door National Ribbon Distributor Meeting. This year, our meeting was hosted in the beautiful Hill Country of San Antonio, Texas. From the general sessions to awards ceremonies, I believe this year’s meeting will be one that’s talked about for years to come. 

The Opening Night at Henry’s Hollow

The first night we welcomed more than 600 people to the Hyatt Regency Hill Country Resort and Spa with a reception that featured great Tex-Mex food and music from an excellent country band.  It was a relaxed atmosphere, making it a perfect night for good friends to catch up with one another.​

​​Photo was taken at Henry's Hollow during the opening night at the Hyatt Regency Resort and Spa in San Antonio, Texas.

The Product and Marketing Expo

Last year we added something new to our national meetings, the Expo. Not only one of my favorites but also for many of our Overhead Door™ Distributors. This year we had some much anticipated new products displayed which always ramps up the excitement in the room. The Expo gives everyone the opportunity to walk around and actually see, touch, and feel our products. Many spend hours in the expo asking questions, providing feedback and learning from our product managers, product engineers, vendors and brand marketing team. 

​​​Photo of distributors and our product and marketing teams at the product and marketing expo. 

While the star of the show is our product, we also have our brand marketing team at the expo to show all our latest marketing initiatives. Our brand team displayed new product literature, product sample kits, and DoorView App. Our DoorView  iOS App was launched for iPads earlier this year and we're gearing up to launch an Android version soon. Our DoorView App​ allows homeowners to take a picture of their home and then digitally “try” a garage door on it. 

Educational Sessions

Another great part to the meeting was the educational sessions. These sessions aimed to inform our distributors of the changes and trends in the market and educate them on the latest tools and strategies to help grow their business. This years sessions focused on: Building a Framework for Residential Retrofit; The US Construction Forecast; Protecting your Brand; and Maximizing Profitability through Asset Management. ​

Dine-Around San Antonio

If you’ve ever been to San Antonio you probably have experienced the River Walk. The River Walk is a network of canals in downtown San Antonio that’s lined with great shops and restaurants. On Thursday night, groups took shuttles into the city to dine at restaurants and enjoy the beautiful downtown scenery. 

​Photo of the River Walk in Downtown San Antonio. 

Photo of group of customers at the dine-around in San Antonio. Distributors included are ODC of Pierre, ODC of Portland, and ODC of Northern Kentucky. 

Celebration

In the morning we celebrated our distributors who earned their eagle award – in the evening we continued the celebration with our customer appreciation event with music from Downtown Fever Band, an amazingly talented band derived from the legendary Emerald City Band.  We also had games and great food as we celebrated our Overhead Door Family. 

​​Dennis Stone, the CEO of Overhead Door Corporation addresses our Red Ribbon Distributors at the 2017 National Ribbon Distributor Meeting in San Antonio. 

​​​Overhead Door Company of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Congratulated for being a distributor for 51 years. 

A Family Atmosphere 

I love the atmosphere at the Overhead Door National Distributor Meetings. What makes our Overhead Door™ Brand channel unique is that it’s a closed network of privately owned garage door companies. But what makes it great is it feels like more of a “family reunion” instead of a meeting. Our distributors all share a passion for a brand that’s been around since the very beginning. Many of them are a part of multi-generational family-owned businesses with their families growing up together in the industry for years. With the “we’re on the same team” mentality that’s typical with families, these meetings become a time where they share insight on how to be more successful garage door businesses.  

Being with customers at the Overhead Door National Distributor Meeting is always a treat.   It makes me realize that being successful requires the right balance of working hard and building meaningful relationships.

                             

​​By: Written by Jake Picken