EVENT RECAP

NAWLA EXCHANGE provided a virtual alternative to the NAWLA Traders Market.

Exploring uncharted territory at NAWLA Exchange

While most of those who participated in the recent North American Wholesale Lumber Association Exchange agreed that there is no replacement for a live event, they also felt this new virtual event provided, in the words of one attendee, “a much-needed way to stay connected with industry professionals and stay informed on relevant topics.”

Dustin Wood of Weston Forest

WITH MOST LIVE events still hold, The Merchant Magazine has been unable to present its highly popular photo montages of trade show attendees and exhibitors—until now. NAWLA Exchange gave sponsors the opportunity to host virtual “booths,” where they could meet with partners and prospects digital-face to digital-face. Among the exhibitors: [1] Blue Book’s Kathi Orlowski, Trent Johnson. [2] Interfor’s Svetlana Kayumova, Eric Kjode, Donna Whitaker, Derek Bennett. [3] Flexpak’s Ryan Hackbarth. [4] BP Wood’s Judy Johnston. [5] Zip-O-Log’s Nick Lake. [6] DMSi’s Jordan Lynch. 1 expressed similar sentiments: “NAWLA Exchange was a great chance to make contact with friends and colleagues during the chaotic days of 2020. More than a diversion, it was a chance to grow during a time when growth has been put on the backburner.”

NAWLA Exchange, a three-day virtual event hosted Oct. 27-29 in lieu of this year’s NAWLA Traders Market

2 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, included keynote presentations, education sessions across three different content tracks, a virtual exhibit hall, and creative new ways to network and hold peer discussions in a virtual format.

The event kicked off with a keynote presentation from Molly Fletcher, one of the world’s only female sports agents and best-selling author and

professional speaker. Titled “Unleash Your Potential,” her session focused on achieving peak performance using a proven five-step process. Her key points included believing in what you do, how you do it and why you do it; adding value and gaining trust; building relationships (vs. performing transactions); being disciplined in determining how to spend our time and energy and adhering to those priorities; and consistently executing every day.

Fletcher’s presentation was followed by the first breakout sessions in Management, Sales and Marketing, and Wood Basics content tracks. Unlike other NAWLA events, the series of concurrent sessions were intended to provide relevant education for professionals across many diff erent roles and experience levels at forest product industry fi rms. This resulted in participation by professionals from member fi rms who have not typically participated in Traders Market or Leadership Summit.

This aspect of the event was appreciated by those firms, as evidenced by feedback from Thomas Glauber of Sherwood Lumber: “Sherwood Lumber made NAWLA Exchange available to all of our staff . I am grateful to be included and enjoyed participating.”

In addition to welcoming many newcomers to NAWLA events, NAWLA Exchange also attracted many attendees who had not previously experienced a virtual event. Roughly 50% indicated this was their fi rst virtual event experience. In spite of their lack of familiarity with this format, in the post-event survey, most indicated the ease of participating in sessions, fi nding answers to questions about the event and navigating the virtual platform speaks. The majority of attendees also indicated that they would be interested in attending future virtual NALWA events.

“I came into the NAWLA Exchange with very few expectations as virtual meetings were foreign to me,” said 2020 Chair Tom Le Vere of Weekes Forest Products. “I was pleasantly surprised to fi nd the venue works extremely well for training presentations, panel discussions and vendor meetings. It’s just like standing in their booth on the trade show fl oor only without the distractions and noise. There is defi nitely a place for using virtual events within NAWLA in the future!”

Recognizing that networking remains a critical component of events, even when the group couldn’t convene in person, NAWLA ensured that a variety of virtual networking opportunities were available to its NAWLA Exchange participants. Networking opportunities included birds-of-a-feather group discussions on topics such as transportation and crisis management, speed networking, Bourbon demonstration, virtual exhibit hall meetings and Q&A sessions with breakout speakers, and private messages and meeting opportunities.

“NAWLA has done a great job of fi nding ways to provide its members value in a very difficult year,” said Carl Lamb of Snavely Forest Products. “They have maintained relevance throughout the year which is extremely diffi cult in a year that we cannot network like normal.”

NAWLA Exchange concluded with a panel of CEOs who discussed the impact of 2020 happenings on the industry and their company operations and, most importantly, what they’ve learned, how they have reacted and what they are planning for 2021.

Featuring Don Kayne, CEO, Canfor Corp. and Canfor Pulp; Craig Johnston, president and CEO, Forest City Trading Group; Grady Mulbery, president and CEO, Roseburg; Jim Enright, CEO, Pacifi c Woodtech; and Matthew J. Missad, CEO, UFP Industries, this session proved to be one of the most popular elements of the event. They shared experiences with incorporating new communication platforms, minimizing the impact of supply chain disruptions and new regulations, monitoring company and industry performance, and keeping their employees safe through the pandemic, along with other valuable insights.

NAWLA Traders Market is scheduled to return in 2021 on Nov. 10-12 in Louisville, Ky.

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VIRTUAL EXHIBITORS: [7] Robbins Lumber’s Tonia Tibbetts. [8] Pennsylvania Lumbermens Mutual’s Susan Cho. [9] Pacifi c Lumber Inspection Bureau’s Skeet Rominger. [10] Binderholz Timber’s Thomas Mende. [11] Boise Cascade’s Judy Haney, Connie Phillips, Brian Carrington, Tyler Mardesan. [12] Western Red Cedar Lumber Association’s Jay Poppe, Paul Mackie. [13] Pacifi c Woodtech’s Matt Caissie, JD Dombek.