IBWA Goes For Jackpot In Las Vegas
The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) will hold its annual Convention and Trade Show in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino Oct. 3-6. With the theme “Everyone’s a Winner,” IBWA will offer educational programming to help bottled water operators maintain certification, and recognize the top people in the business with the Aqua Awards, the Plant Manager of the Year Award, Route Salesperson of the Year Award, Bottled Water Hall of Fame Award and the new Directors’ Award. In addition, the trade show floor will feature state-of-the-art bottled-water specific processing, packaging and services.
Bob Janet will be a featured speaker at the
convention, speaking the morning of Wednesday, Oct. 4. Janet draws on 30
years of experience as an owner/operator of multiple businesses for his
motivational speaking and will present an interactive presentation on ways
attendees can close sales faster for higher profits, become the
buyer’s choice for bottled water and other services; attract
high-volume; high-dollar customers; reduce the chances of hearing the word
“no” when asking for the sale or increasing prices, and reduce
marketing costs.
Educational sessions
In addition, the IBWA Convention will feature
opportunities to earn as many as 24.5 Continuing Education Units (CEUs).
IBWA certified sessions provide the CEUs that are necessary for Certified
Plant Operator accreditation and will provide innovative ideas and
technologies specifically targeted to the bottled water industry. Topics
will cover recycling, bottling, filtration, communications, marketing and
safety, and some of the sessions include:
Emergency preparedness: Are you ready? (1 CEU) —
Companies are often caught off-guard by disasters and catastrophic events.
This session will identify the components of bottled water emergency
preparedness and the unique differences and considerations for developing
an effective response plan.
All politics is local: A groundwater prospective (1.5
CEUs) — This session will teach how to identify beneficial alliances
and initiatives supporting the future growth of companies in the bottled
water industry. It also will provide instruction on how to influence
positive change in the bottled water industry at its grassroots level.
Bottled water business roundtable: Making home and
office delivery profitable in the constantly changing landscape (1.5 CEUs)
— A roundtable discussion focusing on the newest best practices for
the rapidly changing home-and-office delivery market, including new
products, services and profits. Attendees will learn how to explore the
necessary methods, processes and procedures in the bottled water industry
without compromising revenue.
Handling consumer product complaints (1 CEU) —
An interactive session on how to develop a consumer response policy for
handling consumer product complaints. Procedures for handling consumer
complaints, flowchart development processes, and data management and
control will be discussed.
A bottled water technical and regulatory primer (2.5
CEUs) — A comprehensive review of bottled water industry basics.
Perfect for those new to the bottled water industry and for those wanting a
quick refresher course, this session is designed for Certified Plant
Operators, owners, sales and marketing personnel.
WHO calcium and magnesium advice (2 CEUs) — The
World Health Organization (WHO) has been advised to recommend that calcium
and magnesium be reconstituted in drinking waters that have been treated.
This session will discuss water softening and reverse osmosis water
treatment and the differences between naturally soft and softened water
supplies.
The best in the biz
The awards presented at the IBWA show are highly
anticipated by the industry, according to IBWA President Joseph Doss:
“While the IBWA Trade Show and Convention bring together the best and
brightest from the bottled water industry, nobody will shine brighter than
the winners of these awards. They will be recognized for their hard work,
achievement, and how they’ve been able to advance the interests of
the bottled water industry as a whole.”
The 2006 IBWA Aqua Award recognizes outstanding
contributions by IBWA bottler and supplier companies in the field of
advertising, marketing and public relations. Award categories include
television, radio and point-of-purchase advertising, public relations
campaigns, Web sites and vehicle advertisements.
The Route Salesperson of the Year Award recognizes the
person who has exemplified customer service in the delivery of bottled
water. Only non-management route salespeople who work for IBWA member
companies are eligible and all nominees will receive a certificate for
being his or her company’s route salesperson of the year.
The Plant Manager of the Year Award is for those plant
managers who impact the achievement of business goals and company
objectives. All nominees must be employed by a company that has achieved
recognition in IBWA’s “Excellence in Manufacturing”
program. For more information or to register for the IBWA 2006 Annual
Convention and Trade Show, visit www.bottledwater.org.