The convention began on Sunday night with the member welcome dinner at the Lonesome Dove. This event sets the heartbeat for the entire show. It was a unique atmosphere with great sponsors, great members and great food. The photos in the Big Chair and the Armadillo Races were a huge hit,” Ryan Dunn, co-COO and Alliance Flooring’s vice president sales.

At the convention's opening session, Dunn, presented members with the seven common characteristics of leadership. Dunn encouraged members to focus on these characteristics of leadership to help them be better leaders. He also asked them to share with each other, talk with other members and ask each other questions to get the most out of their time at convention. 

Jeff Henderson, marketing consultant formerly with Chick-fil-a, also spoke during the opening session. “The single greatest way to grow your business is to grow your own personal leadership. If you want to grow, ask questions about growth. If you want to stagnate, complain.”

Jon Logue, Alliance Flooring’s co-CEO, gave his State of the Industry presentation. He announced that the group, as a whole, was up double digits year over year. He also stated that many members had their best Februarys ever, even in the midst of record winter weather. 

Logue ended the session announcing new introductions to the group. “We are very bullish about the future. We saw an uptick in 2013 and feel that 2014 will be another growth year. We strive to provide our members the most effective tools to be positioned as the floor covering leaders in their towns such as this new merchandising with product selection to fill the needs of their customers.” 

Suppliers were invited to participate in Rush Hour, a fast-paced buying event on Monday night where members get a head start on special buys from suppliers. “Rush Hour was fantastic. It’s something we really look forward to. We appreciate each of our suppliers and the hard work they put in bringing great products and deals to our members. It’s one of my favorite nights,” Logue. 

The topic of online marketing and social media was discussed at the General Session on Tuesday.

"Today, it’s become a lot more complicated to market and advertise your business. How do we figure it out? It’s all being done on a smart phone. We’ve done a lot of research on this and put together a team dedicated to doing that for you.” said Dunn. 

The web and social media team presented some facts and ways the group could capitalize on their rich stories they live everyday at their businesses like their sense of family, beautiful work and investments in their communities. 

Dunn also announced the updates and redesign taking place to the group’s website program, Alliance Web Pro. "With Alliance Media Pro, our members can utilize professionally designed, coordinated advertising, and run advertising campaigns with ease and for far less money than if they did it on their own. It offers a new jingle for radio, TV and internet usage, coordinating POP kits, direct mail, print ads, TV and radio spots and scripts, website graphics and social media."

Alliance's new Define Your Reach pilot program will provide an all-inclusive, in-house solution for member’s needs in social media, website maintenance and advertising.

The 17th annual Awards Banquet concluded the convention. Several awards were given to members and suppliers for various accomplishments, including Retailer of the Year for both CarpetsPlus ColorTile and Carpetland USA. 

Retailer of the Year finalists were chosen from a group of candidates who demonstrate growth and leadership in 10 specific areas including; increased market share, employee training, member networking, merchandising, brand advertising, community involvement and core supplier support. This year’s  CarpetsPlus ColorTile Retailer of the Year award went to Todd Ramsey and Jeremy Wirges of 3 Kings CarpetsPlus ColorTile in Fort Wayne, Ind. 

Also presented was the Retailer of the Year for the Carpetland USA ColorTile division. The Carpetland USA Retailer of the Year award went to Kevin Rose of Carpetland USA in Rockford, Ill. Rose started out as a retail salesman in a Carpetland store then became store manager. Purchasing two stores of his own in 2000 from his father-in-law, he began paving the way to this well-deserved award.