Are manufacturers from Mars and distributors from Venus The Bearing Specialists Association (BSA) will be answering that question at its 2009 Annual Convention, May 2-5, 2009, at the Hyatt Grand Cypress Hotel, Orlando, FL.

Using an interactive, rapid-response survey that will instantly reveal onscreen distributor and manufacturer responses to a number of multiple choice questions, the program is expected to demonstrate how differently distributors and manufacturers think.

Convention planners call this the "honest, gut-check conversation between distributors and manufacturers that industry has needed, but never before achieved." BSA planners add that "When you learn what your industry peers are thinking, you will be ready to meet their needs as well as yours and those of the end-user."

Attendees will answer each multiple- choice question from their perspective as a distributor or manufacturer using a wireless keypad. The audience response system will separate the answers of distributors and manufacturers. Attendees will immediately see the aggregate responses of distributors and manufacturers on-screen. BSA believes participants will share genuinely honest responses because they are anonymous; all participants will see the same responses from other distributor and manufacturer attendees as categories.

BSA's Long Range Convention Planning and Distributor-Manufacturer Relations committees have repeatedly considered the differences in the way distributors and manufacturers think. This program is the result of those conversations. Two special sessions at the 2009 Convention will address this topic:

• On Sunday, May 3, attendees will respond to the multiple choice questions, answering each question from their perspective as a distributor or manufacturer using the wireless keypad. Attendees will immediately see the aggregate responses of distributors and manufacturers onscreen.

• On Monday, May 4, a panel of industry leaders will analyze the results of these responses. Peter Negri of Jamaica Bearings will serve as the moderator for the panel.

Also for the first time ever, BSA will offer its own Industry Update, presented by association president Steve Durston, executive vice-president of Jamaica Bearings.

As it has in the past, the association will also welcome Bruce Warmbold, president of the Schaeffler Group, representing the American Bearing Manufacturers Association (ABMA), to present an industry on the global bearing marketplace.

The convention will also welcome Tom DeLuca, who uses the power of suggestion, and humour to showcase the imaginations and personalities within the association audience. Part entertainment, part theatre, this program demonstrates the inherent creativity of the participants when they're relaxed, comfortable, and given permission to be themselves.

Perhaps one of the most valuable aspects of the 2009 Annual Convention business program, BSA's manufacturer- hosted Conference Tables Session, will offer participants a unique opportunity to pre-schedule and plan for face-to- face meetings between distributors and manufacturers to address bearing industry concerns and resolve business problems. "Convention attendees find these short, 30-minute meetings to be increasingly productive," say the BSA planners.

Prospective convention attendees are encouraged to link to the association's convention website, www.bsaconventions.org,which includes a complete schedule of events, details on the Convention Business Program, a complete schedule of spouse programs, descriptions of sporting and sightseeing opportunities, and additional information and tips about social and networking opportunities.

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