More than 150 AFFLINK members attended the 2014 National Planning Meetings in sunny West Palm Beach, Florida, earlier this month. Leah Runge, company training and marketing manager reports that the general consensus from those attending was that the meeting "was one of the most positive, fun, and educational meetings to date."

Hosted at the PGA National Resort and Spa, attendees had a chance to participate in the launch of the 2014 theme: "Play to Win."

Runge says that AFFLINK delivered a clear message to attendees that the company "is going to continue to focus on the programs that will help our members compete against new emerging competitors, strengthen our current membership by strategically adding new distribution with companies that value our model, and effectively communicate our value to all our stakeholders-members, suppliers, and the end-users."

Delivering on that promise began at the meetings, where the format this year focused on outside speakers, Advisory Board and Steering Committee members, and industry experts.

Included in the agenda were the following events:

- A keynote presentation by the Boston Consulting Group, highlighting changes they see going on in distribution;
 
- An update from the Advisory Board and Steering Committee chairpersons on what they are seeing within the membership;

- Supplier experts such as Sealed Air, IPG, and Spartan Chemical covering the latest research and trends;

- Jeff Williamson, vice president of operations at PFG, sharing warehouse and operations best practices; and
 
- A special Supplier Panel where members had the opportunity to ask leaders from AFFLINK's key vendors about their perspective on the marketplace.

The member-led breakout sessions also featured Dave Frank, president of American Institute of Cleaning Sciences moderating a roundtable on "Recruiting Top Talent."

Additionally, Patrick Ungashick, chief executive officer of White Horse Advisors, discussed aligning your employees with your strategy, and many other topics that members lifted up as relevant to competing in today's economy.

Finally, the highlight to the week was when the members took the "Tour of AFFLINK," watching a brief video that showcased the behind-the-scenes workings of the company's headquarters and staff.