Mark Your Calendars

Many signs help to indicate that spring is on its way. Birds sing from the treetops, which are beginning to rouse from their winter dormancy. Daffodils and tulips start sending up their green stalks, and the days get longer, warmed by additional sunlight. In North America’s records and information management (RIM) industry, spring also signals the start of convention season.

The National Association for Information Destruction (NAID) 2012 Annual Conference & Expo kicks things off this spring. The conference is scheduled for March 30 to April 1 at the Disneyland Hotel in Anaheim, Calif. It is followed by PRISM International’s 2012 Annual Conference, which is scheduled for May 15-17 at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas.

Putting the "You" in Success
The NAID 2012 Annual Conference & Expo emphasizes sales techniques and features a sales workshop as the opening keynote session Saturday, March 31, from 8 to 11:30 a.m. According to NAID, guest speaker Jeffrey Gitomer “has gone to great lengths to familiarize himself with the secure destruction industry and the challenges attendees face on a daily basis.” In this session, sponsored by Cintas Document Management, Gitomer instructs attendees on his general philosophy and shows them how to apply it to the information destruction industry.

Gitomer is the author of The New York Times best sellers The Sales Bible, The Little Red Book of Selling, The Little Black Book of Connections and The Little Gold Book of YES! Attitude. Attendees should find the presentation valuable, if his place in the National Speaker Association’s Speaker Hall of Fame is any indication. According to Gitomer’s website, www.gitomer.com, “The designation, CPAE (Counsel of Peers Award for Excellence), honors professional speakers who have reached the top echelon of performance excellence. Each candidate must demonstrate mastery in seven categories: originality of material, uniqueness of style, experience, delivery, image, professionalism and communication.”

NAID holds its annual business meeting luncheon, sponsored by Shred-it, from 12:30 to 2 p.m. NAID members have the opportunity to hear those candidates contending to serve on the association’s 2012-13 board of directors. Candidates are vying for three director spots as well as for president-elect and secretary. NAID Associate members also select their new vendor liaison.

Other sessions planned for Saturday include “The Psychology of Selling to Doctors’ Offices,” from 2 to 2:50 p.m., “Objections Overruled: The Launch of the NAID Marketing Program for Legal Offices” and “Knowing and Controlling Your Costs – The Difference Between Sales and Profits,” both from 3 to 3:50 p.m., and “NAID Certification Passed the Tipping Point: The Release of the New NAID Certification Video,” which begins at 4 p.m. In this session, NAID CEO Bob Johnson explains how NAID certification goes beyond a security validation. A new video on NAID’s certification program also makes it debut during the session. Programming Saturday afternoon includes a two-part Emerging E-Data Destruction series, which includes “Destruction Methodologies for Magnetic Storage Devices and Challenges Posed by Next-Generation Products” and “Experimentally Verifying Solid State Device Sanitization Techniques.”

The evening brings levity to the proceedings, as NAID President Ray Barry of Total Training Services, Spartanburg, S.C., hosts “NAID Tonight,” from 5 to 6 p.m. in the Disneyland Auditorium. According to the conference brochure, “At the event, attendees will witness the live taping of the first-ever industry specific talk show, complete with the couch, the desk, celebrities, hilarity and shenanigans with which we are accustom.”

Following “NAID Tonight,” attendees are invited to the Success Expo, sponsored by Jake, Connor and Crew, where they can network with other industry professionals as well as with equipment and service suppliers to the industry. The Success Expo is open from 11:30 a.m. until 8 p.m. March 31 and from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. April 1, A sack lunch is served from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the Success Expo hall.

Sunday’s programming begins at 8 a.m. with the keynote session “Tom Adams Presents ‘You are the Logo.’” This session, sponsored by U.S. Document Security/CitiStorage LLC, features Tom Adams of Flourish Press, San Diego. He “will show you how to capitalize on what is often your most under-developed and under-appreciated marketing and positioning asset...yourself,” NAID’s conference brochure explains.

Sessions from 9:30 to 10:20 a.m. include “Maximize Your Collection Efficiencies” and “Smart Marketing – Death of the Yellow Pages.” From 10:30 to 11:20 a.m. sessions include “How to Execute a Price Increase and Still Hang on to Your Customers” and “HIPAA Now that HITECH is Law: A Business Associates’ Primer on the New World of HIPAA.” The conference concludes with the session “Local Hero: How to Be ‘THE’ Company People Think of when They Think about Data Destruction in Your Market,” from 3 to 3:50 p.m.

More information on the 2012 NAID Annual Conference & Expo is available from NAID at www.BIt.ly/NAID2012.
 

NAID has selected the Disneyland Hotel, Anaheim, Calif., for its 2012 conference, while PRISM has selected Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas.

Gathering at the Palace
The 2012 PRISM International Conference will be a bittersweet event, as it marks the last conference organized by the current staff of PRISM International.

June 30, 2012, has been identified as the day operations will be transferred from the organization’s current headquarters in Garner, N.C., to the new association management company, which will be determined in early 2012, according to PRISM Internationals’ 2011 annual report.

The conference, to be held May 15 to 17 at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas, is likely to be an emotional event for many in attendance in light of this transition.

The PRISM International staff has planned a comprehensive schedule of workshops for the 2012 event. Melissa Burton, director of events and vendor relations for PRISM International, says, “The planning for the PRISM Annual Conference in Las Vegas promises that this will not be an event to miss.

“Although this will mark my last year with PRISM International, the last 13 have certainly made it all worth it,” she adds. “I have had the pleasure to work with so many incredibly talented and friendly people and have learned some invaluable lessons that I will carry with me. The parting will be bittersweet, but I am truly looking forward to seeing everyone in Las Vegas.”

Among the sessions planned for Tuesday, May 15, is “Strategic Business Partnership Programs,” beginning at 10:30 a.m. Speaker Robin Leonard of Leonard Bros. Data Management, Ferndale, Mich., talks about how strategic business partner relationships can be used to offer complementary services.

Also planned for May 15 is “Marketing 1001: Advanced Marketing Strategies for RIM Services Providers,” beginning at 4 p.m. Tom Adams provides RIM marketers advanced training to negotiate their paths through the clutter of marketing options available today. Also scheduled for 4 p.m. is “It Will Never Happen to Me...Then it Does!” Summer Street of Polygon, North Andover, Mass., provides technical information on document restoration and disaster recovery.

Tuesday’s programming concludes with an opening reception in the exhibit hall from 6 to 8 p.m., giving attendees the opportunity to network with one another and with equipment and service providers to the RIM industry.

Programming Wednesday, May 16, includes “Data Privacy in a Global Era,” from 11:15 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Lisa Soto of Hunton & Williams LLP, a leading privacy lawyer, discusses the evolution of data privacy and security. The day also includes two sessions on government sales: “Government Sales Basics – What Part of $3.9 Trillion Should Be Yours,” beginning at 1:45 p.m., and “Advanced Government Sales – Reliable Sales Strategies from all Angles,” beginning at 4 p.m.

Wednesday’s programming concludes with an exhibit hall reception from 5:30 to 7 p.m. and dinner from 7 to 9 p.m.

May 17 begins with “General Session: Final Thoughts on the Industry,” at 9 a.m. Jim Booth, PRISM International’s exiting executive director, shares his thoughts on the past and future of the RIM industry.

Booth says, “My last 12 years serving as executive director of PRISM International have been some of the most rewarding experiences of my life. PRISM International’s unique culture of sharing among members has made serving the organization a pleasure. I’m looking forward to having an opportunity to say goodbye to so many friends.”

In addition to Roundtable Sessions that begin at 10:30 a.m., Thursday includes an apron lunch in the exhibit hall and the closing session, “Is Social Media Worth it for my RIM Service Business,” with Drew Dekker of Netgain SEO, Barrie, Ontario, at 2:30 p.m.

More information on the 2012 PRISM International Conference is available at www.prismintl.org.

The author is editor of SDB magazine and can be reached at dtoto@gie.net.