ISPA Expo showcases importance of family
David Perry, Executive Editor -- Furniture Today, April 4, 2004
In the bedding industry, we are family.
Our colleagues in other industries can't match the strong sense of community that binds us tightly together and that gives us lifelong friends. I've never seen anything like it in my 20 years in the home furnishings industry, about half of which I've spent in the embrace of the bedding business.
That powerful family spirit is never stronger than at the trade shows held every other year by the International Sleep Products Assn. Expo 2004 just concluded a record-setting run in a city famous for fast runs: Indianapolis.
ISPA tied in with the Indy theme in several ways. "All roads lead to Indy" was one of the show tag lines. ISPA gave out toy Indy cars as show favors. And it is even giving out two tickets to the 88th annual Indianapolis 500 on May 30. During the Industry Breakfast, ISPA President Dick Doyle was shown behind the wheel of an Indy racecar in a graphic flashed on the large screens in the meeting room.
The latest product and marketing developments in the dynamic bedding industry were on the fast track in Indianapolis. I was impressed with an array of new products that I'll be writing about in the coming weeks.
The social scene was extensive. Several companies, including Leggett & Platt, Western Nonwovens, Hickory Springs, Latex Foam International, Burlington House, King Koil and DuPont, hosted parties. I managed to attend seven parties or receptions in three nights, including the huge ISPA Welcome Reception on the first day of the Expo. At each stop I was among friends.
The family theme hit home in a powerful but unexpected way for me at the Industry Breakfast. First we remembered the special life of Andrea Herman, a key ISPA executive who died of leukemia in 2002. She was named the winner of the Robert MacMorran Memorial Award. Her mother and sister walked up to the podium to accept the award, her mother clutching the plaque tightly, as if giving Andrea one final hug.
Then Joseph Carman IV, a fourth-generation bedding veteran, stood before the group to accept ISPA's highest honor, the Russell L. Abolt Exceptional Service Award. Carman, who suffered a family tragedy last year, spoke of the depth of compassion in the industry — an eloquent and moving observation.
The awards were followed by keynote speaker Frank Abagnale, a reformed con man whose story has been turned into the Hollywood hit, "Catch Me if You Can." He wrapped up his talk by closing the family circle. If you still have a mother and a father, he said, "you give them a hug and a kiss and you tell them that you love them."
Thanks, Frank, for bringing that family advice to our bedding family.
Opinion columns are available online atwww.furnituretoday.com .
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