2012 Annual Meeting

If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.
     — James Whitcomb Riley (poet)

One is never alone with a rubber duck.
     — Douglas Adams (author)

What exactly is the function of a rubber duck?
     — J.K. Rowling (Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix)

Was that you or the duck?
     — Groucho Marx
 
“Get your ducks in a row” is an English idiom people use to admonish that you need to organize yourself, your business or your life—that you need to pull everything together in order to optimize the success of the project, event, company or activity you are undertaking.

Appropriately, this year’s meeting is being held at The Peabody Memphis Hotel, where twice each day the Duckmaster aligns the famous Peabody Marching Ducks to trek in an orderly fashion to and from the Grand Lobby fountain and their Penthouse suite. Similarly, our programming is designed to help you get your ducks in a row—to understand the impact global events have on your business so you can know what to expect and make better decisions; to help you achieve personal excellence; to assist you in developing specific strategies and priorities; to show you how to protect your precious assets; and to remind you that you don’t know what you don’t know. We know you will find value in these programs.
 

Program
 

Global Realities and YOUR Bottom Line
Thought Leader: Tom Faranda, Faranda & Associates Inc.
This is the most stimulating and thought provoking global business program in the world. It is an amazing experience that shows you, by country and with a specific timeline, what is going to happen around the world in the next TEN years and how these events will affect YOU and YOUR bottom line. Tom Faranda will provide specific global forecasts and key global trends that will impact your growth and profit. His information comes from senior corporate executives and entrepreneurs based around the world and legitimate inside information provided by government officials and others who are part of his extensive global network. Tom was correct about the rise and fall of Japan, changes in the EU and in the value of the EURO, the rise of Asia and especially the rise of China and India. His forecasts are accurate and timely. This program is fast-paced and filled with examples, stories and global humor. It is an unforgettable look at tomorrow. As a result of this program, you will be able to: maximize the global growth and profit of your organization; create your own global strategy for growth and profitability; and understand the future of America and other countries for the next ten years.

Global Entrepreneur Tom Faranda was named one of the most exciting speakers in America by "Meetings & Conventions Magazine" due to his high content, “bottom-line” programs packed with examples, stories and global humor. He is the former President of The Hospital Corporation of Chicago, the former National Accounts Sales Manager for The Masonite Corporation and a former candidate for the United States Senate.

Footprints: Key Steps to Improve Your Life, Career and Relationships
Thought Leader: Tom Faranda, Faranda & Associates Inc.
People do not achieve personal excellence by accident or luck. They achieve it through directed effort, continuous improvement and a sincere desire to excel. They achieve it by forcing themselves to grow and develop new skills. They achieve it by surrounding themselves with both “nutritious” people and situations that foster this holistic excellence. In this inspirational and humorous program, Tom will help you learn how to improve your life, career and relationships. He will help you redefine your efforts to live life more fully and to fulfill career dreams more successfully. He will help you understand the holistic—mind, body and spirit—excellence that makes “achieving personal excellence” a lifetime pursuit of joy. This program will make a major impact on you...for life.

Access: How “Ability to Connect” Drives Positive Change
Thought Leader: Geary Hamm, Manager of Global Trade Services Planning and Engineering, FedEx
Access is the force that makes all forms of interaction and exchange possible between people, businesses and nations. Access, put simply, is the ability to connect. Understanding Access is critical to understanding life and business today—and FedEx is committed to widening the discussion by sharing the insights of its executives and others who are focused on this important topic. Access is powered by anything that makes it easier for people and businesses to connect with each other—whether it’s a smartphone or a computer or the ability to ship a package overnight to anywhere in the world. When Access expands, it empowers people with the ability and confidence to improve their current conditions and future prospects. Access creates new opportunities, accelerates and simplifies global connections and changes what’s possible.

Access gained its force from the collective efforts of many people and businesses, but FedEx has been the driving force behind many milestones and advances in Access. Express delivery was a historic breakthrough in Access, collapsing the time and distance between places and connecting people everywhere. FedEx is a tireless advocate for Access and the opportunities that come with it, because it knows from its own research that Access drives positive change. The connection is profound: Nations thrive or stagnate based on Access. Learn about the undeniable link between Access and human well-being and what it means for you and your company.

Asset Protection: Become Invincible to Lawsuits and Save Thousands in Taxes
Thought Leader: Larry Oxenham, American Society for Asset Protection
It is estimated that a lawsuit is filed every 30 seconds in the U.S., and Americans pay more in taxes each year than they do for food, clothing and housing combined. You can achieve financial peace of mind by learning how to properly structure your assets for lawsuit protection and prevention, reduce liability insurance costs, minimize taxes and create a successful estate and busines succession plan. You will learn lawsuit protection, tax reduction, and estate planning strategies most advisors are unaware of.

Lawsuit Protection:

• Sources of lawsuits die industry professionals are exposed to and how to prevent them
• How die industry professionals can protect 100% of their professional and personal assets from lawsuits
• How to avoid the most common asset protection mistakes made by die industry professionals and their advisors
• How die industry professionals can minimize vicarious liability for the acts of other professionals and staff

Tax Reduction and Estate Planning:Five strategies to use to reduce income taxes by up to 40% each year

• How you can eliminate the capital gains tax on the sale of a business, real estate, stocks or other assets
• What you should be doing now to prepare for successful business succession
• Techniques to use to avoid probate and eliminate all estate taxes to pass assets to heirs tax free
• How to effectively use corporations, trusts, wills, and family limited partnerships

Pricing Strategies for the New Economy
Thought Leader: To Be Announced
A sound pricing strategy is the strongest catalyst to the sustainability of organizations in today’s economy. However, most companies resort to price cutting as their only pricing tactic. The ability to manage effective pricing profoundly impacts a company’s revenue and profitability. In this seminar you will learn how to develop a pricing strategy that will increase sales and capture the maximum profitability from your customers. You will learn:

• Industry best practices for pricing
• How to charge for e-commerce, web-to-print, mailing, and other value added services
• Assessing your current pricing position
• Over 15 tactics for pricing products and services
• Avoiding the most common pricing errors that companies make
• Pricing strategies that win more orders and at higher profits
• Pricing strategies for various situations
• Making commissions part of your pricing strategy
• How to make intelligent pricing decisions based on statistical data
• The impact of cost on a pricing strategy
• Increasing sales by up selling
• Optimizing pricing by segmenting your customers and your market

 
Knowledge Marketplace - A Sharing Forum
Group Activity
We all recognize that “knowledge is power,” but let’s face it—you don't know what you don’t know. This program is designed to facilitate the sharing of ideas among and between all attendees. Just bring one good idea about anything you’ve found or bought or do that you love and think others would too—and you’ll leave this session with at least 30 more. It might be about enhancing productivity, a new product that makes things easier, a particular technology that saves energy, an app that saves you time, a book that changed your life, etc. It doesn’t have to be industry related; anything that you find interesting, fascinating or helpful is fair game. Maybe you’ll hear about ShipGear, Doodle, Fiverr, CrossLoop, animoto, FreeConferenceCall.com, AnyMeeting, Prezi, YouSendIt, moreganize, Pinterest, FreeMind ... or maybe not. But you get the idea!

SPARK!
Thought Leaders: Mauro Tomelleri, Serviform SRL; Joe Adkison, Adko, Inc.; Darrel Griffin, Stafford Cutting Dies, Inc.
This learning format was such a huge success at last year's meeting, we're providing you with another chance to learn about wildly diverse topics and make an emotional connection with peers who are speaking. This will be a series of 3-5 presentations that are only 5 minutes in length each. SPARK! presenters share their personal and professional passions, using 20 PowerPoint slides that auto-advance every 15 seconds. The speakers are asked to talk on any topic they wish—the result is an energetic, thought-provoking, exciting and engaging presentation that you won’t want to miss.

Who Will Receive the IADD PEAK Award?
Saturday night’s dinner will feature the presentation of the IADD PEAK Award, which recognizes someone who has made a unique, meaningful or emerging contribution to our industry during the past few years, clearly demonstrating Passion, Excellence, Achievement and Knowledge (PEAK). While the recipient is kept secret until the time of the presentation, we know you will want to join us in applauding this year’s innovator and popular leader. Who will it be?

Schedule
 

Hotel

The IADD headquarters hotel is The Peabody Memphis, a magnificent Forbes Four-Star, AAA Four-Diamond historic hotel in the heart of “Blues City.” Its convenient downtown location is just blocks from Memphis attractions like Beale Street, the Memphis Rock N Soul Museum, Gibson Guitar Factory, Fed-Ex Forum, National Civil Rights Museum, Sun Studio, and the Orpheum Theatre. The Peabody itself is also one of Memphis’ most popular attractions. The Peabody Ducks march to and from the Grand Lobby daily at 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. in a time-honored tradition dating back to 1933. Legendary, charming, elegant and grand are adjectives that perfectly describe this luxury Memphis hotel. All IADD programs and events listed in the Meeting Schedule above will take place at The Peabody.

Other Information

All registrants will be emailed a link to download program materials and meeting information, including sites to see, things to do, dining recommendations, airport and ground transportation info and general travel tips to help you enjoy your stay.