IMCO’s 2023 Annual Convention and Trade Show celebrated industry partnerships and looked toward a bright year ahead.
Courtesy of IMCO
With a theme of “We in 23”, IMCO’s 2023 Annual Convention and Trade Show highlighted the importance of unity and partnership. We are focusing on the spirit of how we work together as individual companies within our collective group. The way we each achieve success may be measured differently, but as we work together collaboratively, our success is multiplied exponentially. Our Convention is efficiently designed for Members and Vendors to connect, network, and develop a working roadmap that benefits everyone involved. Together, “We” are powerful – and that was echoed during this year’s Convention.
Attendance at IMCO’s 2023 Annual Convention and Trade Show was the highest in four years. There was a 10% increase in both Vendor and Member companies that attended from 2022.
IMCO added seven new Members and eight new Vendors to the IMCO Team since last year’s convention.
Highlights
In response to positive feedback from both Members and Vendors, we continued our Sales Playbook session, featuring IMCO’s Sales Emphasis Line (SEL) Program Vendors. In this session, Vendors presented to IMCO Member reps in a TED talk style format, highlighting their value proposition and why IMCO Members should lead with their products. IMCO has worked hard to enhance the value of the SEL Program, and this session demonstrated our commitment to the program and Vendors.
The EPIC (Equipment Performance Incentive Contest) continues to impress! We had another record year! Members grew reported sales of over $1 million with participating Vendor partners last year! Six new distributors signed up to participate as well.
One of our most impactful programs each year is our Member Incentive program or MIP. Roughly 92% of our Members earned dollars on this program! More than $1.1 million incentive dollars were handed out to MIP participants on the tradeshow floor.
Celebrating Members and Vendors
Dukal won our 2022 Vendor of the Year. Members valued their ‘strategic partnership’ and support and flexibility in the field alongside the substantial growth seen throughout this year.
We would also like to note that for the first time ever, a Member nominated another Member for their hard work and help during industry challenges and shortages.
2023 Steve Dennison IMCO Convention Scholarship winners:
- Larry Wenthe – Shared Service System
- David Heisey – Manheim Medical Supply Inc
- Shelby Winton – After Action Medical And Dental Supply, LLC
IMCO’s Equipment Performance Incentive Contest (EPIC) is a year-long equipment selling contest in which Members sell 10 key Vendor lines of products and earn points based on sales orders and Vendor interactions throughout the year. The 2022 EPIC Winners are:
- 10th Tim Doughtery – Shared Service Systems
- 9th David Ellis – Atlantic Medical Solutions
- 8th Tyler Reichenbach – Medical Resources
- 7th Kevin Giles – Shared Service Systems
- 6th Brian Hodgson – Omni Medical Supply
- 5th Larry Wenthe – Shared Service Systems
- 4th David Gordon – Unimed (USA) aka DMJ Enterprises
- 3rd Victor Amat – American Medical Supplies & Equipment
- 2nd Angi Muse – Booth Medical
- 1st Derek Shirley – Tagg Industries
Our $1,500 Tuesday Night Bootleggers Ball gift card raffle winners:
- Denise Coulombe – Surgo Surgical Supply
- Ken Spence – Medgluv
Events and speakers
Our Sunday evening welcome reception was held outside in the beautiful Florida sunshine. We had games, including giant Jenga and cornhole, that are always a hit and allowed for great networking between new and established Members and Vendors.
Monday evening, we had a happy hour outside before giving Members and Vendors the opportunity to explore downtown Orlando on their own or with their fellow Members and Vendors for the evening.
Keynote speaker Colette Carlson spoke on “You Management: Strategies to Avoid Burnout, Boost Resilience, and Accelerate Success”. Colette addressed the elephant in the room – new challenges that have collapsed the boundaries between work and home, leaving people juggling opposing demands for time, energy, and attention. Her engaging content and laugh-out-loud humor helped our audience receive new insights on personal prioritization and management.
After Bill’s opening address, we had our highly acclaimed TED-styled Industry Insights presentation featuring Al Bates, Distribution Performance Project speaking on The Challenge of Being the Best; Mark Shonka, IMPAX Sales Performance speaking on The State of Sales and Relationship Management; and Mike Marks, Indian River Consulting speaking on the Tale of Two Perspectives: Managing Your Business.
Sunday Highlights:
- Successful Selling in Today’s Market, Discussion and Panel Facilitated by: Angie Euston, Adam Deets, Jay Butler with Panelists:
- Bert Pineres, American Medical Supplies & Equip.
- June Power, Surgo Surgical Supply
- Julie Dillard, Medical Wholesale
- Larry Wenthe, Shared Service Systems
- Rob Arnold, Grove Medical
- Owner/Manager Roundtable with Bill McLaughlin and Mike Marks, Indian River Consulting
Monday highlights:
- Breaking Down the Profit Barriers – Al Bates, Distribution Performance Project
- Creating a Powerful Competitive Strategy – Mark Shonka, IMPAX Sales Performance
- Digital Strategies for Success (+AI) – Kevin Manley | IMCO
- The Sales Playbook Featuring our Sales Emphasis Line (SEL) Vendors
- HIDA Government and Regulatory Update – Linda Rouse O’Neill, HIDA
Tuesday highlights:
- Collaboration Connection – At the start of Tuesday, we kicked off the morning by having market based, roundtable discussions over breakfast. The tables were full of Members from all markets and geographies ready to discuss what they are seeing in their markets. The conversations were very good for all in attendance. It was a productive start to the day before the trade show began!
- The Tuesday Trade Show floor was busy from start to finish! There were 98 booths with Vendor representatives ready to provide demonstrations of their products and services. Both Members and Vendors commented on the incredible conversations and opportunities they left with. A quote from a Vendor partner “there is no substitute to having a tradeshow booth to show your Members the key benefits of our products and how it can help their customers provide more efficient and better care.”
- Much like the IMCO Convention, the ’20s was a celebration of progress and the pioneering, independent spirit. This year we asked our Vendors to theme their trade show booth in recognition of this remarkable decade and they delivered! We had a Great Gatsby-esque setup by IHC, Sempermed created a true 1920s police and criminal-filled street, new Vendor Medgluv settled into the more rural feel of prohibition with their moonshine stand, and new Vendor IPTOR gave out cigars for the occasion.
Tuesday evening, we celebrated the end of our 2023 National Convention with a Bootlegger’s Ball. Staying in theme, we took it back to the glamorous & prosperous 1920s with a jazz band, ‘juice’, and a disguised entrance to our secret soiree. We had flyboys, flappers, gangsters, golfers, and dolls all in attendance. It was especially great seeing some of our new Members and Vendors embrace the festivities.
Best Booth went to Vanguard Safety and their 1920s murder mystery CLUE theme, which featured a true 1920s living room, personalized Clue cards to mark the victim, suspect, and glove used, and edited vintage portraits of the IMCO crew.
Awards for Best Costume awarded Tuesday night went to:
- 1st Canada Medical
- 2nd Sempermed
- 3rd Pocket Nurse
Sidebar:
Attendee Responses to the IMCO Convention
Ken Spence, Medgluv (New Vendor): “There was a great family-like atmosphere and togetherness of the staff and members. Attending over 30 years of trade shows and conventions, IMCO rated above all of those that I have attended.”
Diane Farris, IPTOR (New Vendor): “For our first time attending the IMCO National Convention, we were extremely satisfied and cannot wait to see the results of the leads we received. Not only the members but also the vendors and the IMCO team were very supportive of IPTOR!”
Victor Amat, American Medical Supplies & Equipment: “My team had glowing reviews on the Convention. They really liked the format and content of the breakout sessions. Another job well done!”
Douglas Gavin, CryoConcepts: “Solid opportunity to meet and connect with new distribution business partners to grow mutual business.”
Jack Moran, MTMC: “I thought it was the best IMCO meeting I have ever been to! Also, I have had overwhelmingly positive feedback from the MTMC supplier partners that attended.”
Dave Cantwell of Midmark: “It was incredible to witness the strong relationships between longtime members and vendor partners at the recent IMCO convention. We experienced tremendous positive engagement and productive business conversations all day in our booth. It’s always inspiring to see this network’s enthusiasm which reinforces the value of our partnerships and fuels our mutual success.”