Author: Derek Miller, Vice President, International, International Housewares Association
The Housewares Export Council’s (HECNA’s) mission statement, “a special interest group of IHA members, dedicated to helping its membership market and sell their products internationally by sharing information, providing networking opportunities and offering programs to assist, support and educate” rings true to those who actively support this group.
For more than 16 years, HECNA has united the international portion of the housewares industry through networking events. Annual meetings have been held in a variety of locations including Chicago, Miami, Toronto, Mexico City, Guadalajara, San Juan (Puerto Rico), Panama City (Panama) and San Jose (Costa Rica).
The 2010 HECNA Global Forum returns to Miami, the gateway to Latin America, September 19-21. This meeting combines a healthy mix of general sessions featuring speakers and topics that are applicable to everyone interested in global sales. General session topics include International Negotiation and International Legal Issues. Retail presenters include buyers from C&C Brazil, a key Brazilian home center, and EK Service Group, a European buying cooperative with more than 2,200 member companies.
The meeting is further enhanced with break-out sessions covering topics for both new-to-export and seasoned veterans, including Export 101, Packaging & Localization, Negotiation in China & Japan, Pricing Strategies and Non-verbal Communication. Country break-outs offered include sessions on the UK, Mexico, India and the Middle East.
Classroom educational opportunities are not the only benefit from attending – networking with housewares industry peers remains the #1 reason people return to the Global Forum year after year. There is simply no place else within the housewares industry where you can ask and find answers to your critical international questions.
In my 14 years of being involved with the HECNA Annual Meetings and Global Forums, as both an attendee and an IHA staff organizer, I have never heard a person attend say they were sorry they made the investment in either time or money – everyone benefits – period. Join other IHA members in Miami in September to see for yourself just how meaningful three days can be! For additional information, visit the HECNA website or contact Lori at +1-847-692-0116.
BTW – We’re also working on our next international industry event – an IHA Retail Trade Mission to India in December. If you want to learn about opportunities in the rapidly emerging Indian market and want to meet one-on-one with both retail buyers and distributors, please consider joining IHA on this mission. More information is available at http://www.housewares.org/iha/global/exportTM.aspx.
