After a January conference and several successful meetings in 2009, the Future Lumber Leaders (FLL) - Nebraska Chapter had its annual conference in Kearney, Nebraska on Saturday, February 6, 2010. Thanks to a lot of advanced planning by Brad Hrouda, the president of the Nebraska Chapter, Patty Williams (aka "Vanna") and the moral support of Jeff Schmidt (president of Schuyler Lumber and Vanna's fiancé), the event was educational as well as entertaining. When they're not planning FLL events, Brad, Patty, and Jeff work together at Schuyler Lumber. The Nebraska meeting featured Jim Gardner, the CEO of Wild West, Inc., the parent company of Whiskey Creek Steakhouses. Jim rose from his first job as a dishwasher to manager to owner to CEO of a highly successful chain of restaurants. His simple message was that you need to take risks if you want to achieve and you will suffer some setbacks at times. There was also a presentation on engineered wood. Brad and Vanna really made it fun by inventing and leading the attendees in playing "Nebraska Lumber Trivia Jeopardy" and a "Take These Items and Build a House" team building exercise. What a great job by the folks from Schulyer Lumber!
On Saturday, February 20, the Future Lumber Leaders - Iowa Chapter met for the first time in Little Amana, Iowa. The featured speaker, Lynn Allendorf of the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial School at the University of Iowa, shared many ideas on how to build a good team. She did a wonderful job of relating her experiences as a marketing professional in the computer field to the lumber and building materials industry. Tom Neel of Lake Lumber, Kenton Klenk of Schrock Lumber, and Bill Daly of Federated Insurance also provided the group with lots of business insights.
"Round Three" occurred on Saturday, March 13 when the Future Lumber Leaders - Minnesota-Dakotas Chapter met for the first time in St. Cloud, Minnesota. The featured speaker was John Gagliardi of St. Johns University, who has had more wins as a head football coach than any other in history. He shared his unconventional methods — such as no tackling at practice. His main message was “we don't need to beat people up to win.” The group also heard from Dan Fesler, CEO of Lampert Yards, and Del Krusenstjerna, president of Shaw/Stewart Lumber Company. Bill Daly did an encore performance and Ron Enter of wRight Lumber, our past NLA chairman, emceed the event. Feedback from all three events was positive. Not only were people pleased with the speakers, they really enjoyed the roundtable discussions, which gave them the opportunity to meet people that they normally wouldn't mix with.
Now the "next generation" leaders will be able to spot each other at trade shows and other networking events; and, perhaps, even call [or email or text or ...] to discuss a challenging situation.
People left these events INSPIRED and are likely to INSPIRE others as a result!