Behind the Scenes of the IEC National Convention

The Home Depot: Sponsors Help Make This Event Possible

When you put together an event the size of the Annual Convention, there are a lot of costs involved; food and beverage; room rental; speaker fees; audio/visual; etc… If conventions were NOT supported by vendors and sponsors, the cost for an attendee to register would be outrageous. Associations like ours rely on the support of industry suppliers to help offset the costs of these large events and in turn, we enable them front row seats to network with, and demonstrate new products to, their customers.   

IEC National is pleased to announce that The Home Depot is generously supporting the 53^rd Annual Convention and Electric Expo by becoming the Premier Sponsor. Moving forward you will see a lot of their involvement in various convention activities.

In addition, other industry partners are stepping up to the plate. We ask that IEC members, staff and convention attendees, thank our wonderful sponsors for all that they do for the association. Without them, it would be very difficult to pull-off an event the size of ours.

Thank you!

Fresh Air, Exercise and Education

One of the benefits of our Phoenix location is the weather.  With temperatures in the 75-85 degree range during the day and 50-60 degrees in the evening, Phoenix is a wonderful place to enjoy the great outdoors, fresh air, and scenery of the Southwest.

Here’s the latest:  At IEC’s most recent Legislative Fly-In, the IEC Foundation announced that it was considering a pedometer contest for all convention attendees. Upon arrival attendees would receive their very own pedometer and suggested walking destinations. Then every day, attendees check-in at the Foundation booth to register their distance walked. Daily and weekly prizes will be given. While this contest isn't definite yet, with all of the walking that takes place at these events – this sounds like a win-win situation!

Here are a few of my suggested walking destinations:

The Art at the Phoenix Convention Center – When Phoenix added a new wing to their convention center they set aside a portion of the funding for art. The convention center features some awe-inspiring works in ceramic, mosaic terrazzo flooring and murals, bronze sculpturing and – most importantly – lighting. Download a brochure of the convention center art to see for yourself.

Alice Cooperstown – Want to take a walk on the wild side? Visit the rock and roll sports bar named after local rock legend Alice Cooper. Rumor has it that you may leave with your very own “eye make-up” a la Alice.

The Heard Museum – Although not walking distance from the convention center, this museum features one of the most comprehensive collections of Native arts and culture. You will add some mileage to your pedometer as you tour their collection.

Experts say that exercise helps increase memory retention. So perhaps the more you walk, the better you'll remember all of the helpful information you've picked up in the education sessions.

Now go get your boots walkin’!

IEC Convention Planning is Underway!

 
In case you haven’t been following along, annually, IEC National holds a Convention and Electric Expo. The Convention rotates around the country moving from one of our six regions to the next based on ease of transportation to location, concentration of members and most importantly – convention center costs. After much negotiation and many contract reviews, this year’s convention is to be held in sunny Phoenix, Arizona which is in IEC’s Mountain/Southwest Region.

A lot goes into planning an event of this size so we at IEC thought it would be interesting to create a blog so that our members and chapter partners could follow along with the process and our progress. This is where you will get a “behind the scenes” look at what goes into putting together this event as well as keep you up to date with any breaking information about speakers, activities and special events.

Although Convention planning typically begins 14-15 months out, we have chosen now to begin to share our journey towards this year’s event. We thought the early stages would be pretty dull, but now that we have some exciting stuff to report, we will begin!

Stay tuned…