Bankers Advertising Company, Iowa City, “welcomed” more than 40 sales partners last month for its 2020 National Sales Meeting, which was held, well, at desks or perhaps dining room tables across the country. Attendees could have been in any room of their homes, actually, as our meeting was held virtually this year. The meeting was themed after our motto for the year: Stay Apart—Stand Together.
Sales partners and office staff gathered in breakout rooms each morning the week of Sept. 21-25 for social time.
“With people living in different states or with other responsibilities that have prohibited some of our sales partners from traveling to our sales meetings, this was the perfect opportunity for so many of us to ‘meet,’” said Erica Kelley-Gogel, CAS, vice president of sales for Bankers Advertising Company.
On Monday, attendees enjoyed a virtual tradeshow. Supplier partners sent in a five-to-six-minute videos presenting their lines, which were compiled into an almost-two-hour tradeshow. The week also featured more in-depth, “live” educational presentations from selected suppliers, peer-to-peer sessions for sharing knowledge and sales tips, and celebrations of sales partners who were 2019’s Top Award and Career Achievement Award recipients. They received their awards in the mail ahead of the meeting, and generously shared photos of them posing with them, to the delight of all in attendance.
All sales partners received care packages in the mail ahead of the meeting, filled with products branded with the meeting theme, as well as the usual custom-designed meeting notebooks they typically receive in person each year. Every effort was made to stand together while staying apart—to make sure sales partners felt welcomed and plugged in, despite the challenging circumstances of the year.
“It really was nice to see so many people over the course of the week, including many people we do not get to see very often” Kelley-Gogel said. “That was certainly one big advantage to having our meeting virtually.”
For more information about Bankers Advertising Company, visit www.bankersadvertising.com.
