HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!

Remember our Veterans...thank you to all of our AHTD members who have served their countries!

AHTD Fall Meeting 2012: October 17th - 20th

Many of you have let us know how excited you are to start planning for October's Meeting. The hotel website is up and ready for AHTD members to book sleeping rooms. We want to make certain we have enough rooms for all of our members. Please book soon so that you can receive the special AHTD pricing. Here are details:

Click Here: https://resweb.passkey.com/go/ahtdfallmeeting

Frontenac Global Reservations Centre: 1-800-441-1414

AHTD Group Booking Code: AHTD1012_001

Look for meeting registration in JULY!

Merci beaucoup! 

Need a passport? Need to renew an existing passport? Click here.

A Chat with Alain Cool of Electro-Mag

I'm pleased to follow the hotel reservation update for this year's Fall Meeting in Québec. I suggest you to make your hotel reservations quickly.

I started working at Electromag at the age of 25. When asked the famous interview question "where do you see yourself in five years?" I arrogantly answered to the boss, "I'm going to own this place in five years!!" Truth be told, it took six and with the blessing of my wife MJ (short for Marie-Josée), the financial backing of the previous owner and the good fortune of finding a trusted partner, Gilles Laberge, we started our venture in 2002.

Originally founded in 1975 by a fellow called Pierre Dussault, Electro-Mag has always held a very privileged place in the Québec market place as a reputable value added distributor. We were one of the first Canadian distributors of several respectable products, namely Sick, Turck, Photoswitch and Hyde-Park. Today, we proudly represent many AHTD vendor lines including SMC, Carlo Gavazzi, Baumer, Weidmuller, Enerdoor, Grace, Servotronics and of course we still represent Sick and Turck. Through the ten years that Gilles and I have owned the company we have grown Electro-Mag fivefold and expanded our operations from one location in Montreal to three in Québec and one branch in Southern Ontario. Our latest acquisition was of an electronics distributor called Raybel in Sherbrooke which has opened several new markets and lines for us.

When I'm not at work, you can be sure I am even busier with my family. I've been married to my high school sweetheart for 20 years. We have two wonderful boys who are 15 and 17. My first and oldest passion is snowmobiling. In good years, I have travelled over 6000 miles on my sled. Summers are filled with either boating while our oldest wakeboards and wake surfs or coaching Motocross for our youngest son who races.

We have been members of the AHTD for about 6 years and I have had the privilege of being part of the Board of Directors for the past year and a half. The contacts and experiences I acquire at each and every meeting are priceless and have been invaluable in shaping my company to what it is today and will be in the future. It is a privilege to be amongst such an elite group of individuals from our industry on a regular basis.

My best AHTD experience was really a "Eureka moment" which happened very late (and many a beer later) in Vail. We were 5 or 6 newish and young members from the AHTD who decided it would be wise to create a committee which would aid the younger/newer members integrate into the group. Thus the Emerging Leaders group (EL) was born. Who says no good ideas happen at 2 AM??!! Speaking of late nights and too many drinks, I'm really looking forward to seeing you all in Québec in the fall...who knows what bright ideas will be born up here? I am always available to aide in the planning of your trip in any way I possibly can.

A bientôt!

Invitation to Participate in AHTD's 2012 Profit Survey - Extended Deadline! 

The extended submission deadline is FRIDAY, JUNE 1st. There is no cost to participate!

In turbulent times, financial benchmarking information is more important than ever before. The best source of financial benchmarks for our industry is the PROFIT Survey, provided by industry expert Dr. Al Bates at the Profit Planning Group.

This report will help you answer questions such as "Are the most successful firms in a down market placing more emphasis on gross margin management or expense control?"

Click here for more information about this survey.

We're taking orders for the report. Information will be ready in July.

Order your copy today!

Pricing: Members only pay $200 and Non-Members cost is $300.

To order, click here.

Note: Members must be logged in to receive member pricing.

Technotrends Newsletter from Daniel Burrus, former AHTD Keynote Speaker

The Technotrends Newsletter is published monthly by leading technology forecaster and business strategist Daniel Burrus. Now in its 27th year of publication, The Technotrends Newsletter is a "must read" for everyone who believes in planning for the future and coming out a winner.

Each issue of the newsletter includes a feature column written by Daniel Burrus that offers readers innovative strategies for the creative application of new and emerging technologies. In addition, concise, easy-to-read news articles describe the latest breakthroughs in technology from around the world in a variety of fields including Medicine, Telecommunications, Nanotechnology, Bioengineering, Alternative Energy, Genetics, and Security.

Click here to read Daniel's latest newsletter (April 2012).