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Ingram Micro Holds Spring Expo; Shapiro Keynotes

Scottsdale, Ariz. — Ingram Micro’s consumer electronics division (IMCE) hosted its annual Spring Vendor Expo, drawing more than 500 manufacturers and retailers, here.

It featured a keynote address by Gary Shapiro, president and CEO of the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).

The event, held at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess, here, from April 30 to May 2, is the 16th annual event and is designed to discuss strategy, build relationships and identify business opportunities. 

There were breakout sessions sponsored by Samsung, Panasonic, Ergotron/OmniMount, and Microsoft that gave resellers and associates in-depth product training as well as 2013 strategic overviews. One-on-One meetings also gave these and other sponsors like Sony, Logitech, Chamberlain, KEF, CoolerMaster, SwissGear, MadCatz, Amazon and Conair/Cuisinart discussion opportunities with several key CE national retailers, e-tailers and regional B-to-B integrators.

More than 125 manufacturers exhibited, offered product training and demonstrations, and launched new products to an audience of more than 150 resellers and nearly 100 IM associates, making this the largest Vendor Expo to date, the distributor said.

A major highlight of the event was the welcome dinner, which featured an introductory speech by Tom Bamrick, IMCE’s VP/general manager, discussing his experience with Ingram Micro and IMCE’s strategic vision within the CE industry.

His presentation led into a keynote address by Shapiro, who spoke about challenges and opportunities within the CE industry and some recent trends, shared personal stories, and referenced excerpts from his book, “Ninja Innovation: The Ten Killer Strategies of the World’s Most Successful Businesses.”

Wrapping up this expo, IMCE hosted its annual charity golf tournament at Troon North Golf Club, Monument Course, in Scottsdale. One hundred forty-four golfers teed off at a shotgun start in a best ball game. Activity holes throughout the course gave players the opportunity to win a Lexus Hybrid, get heckled by Amplivox, tee off with a professional golfer, and make charitable donations to IMCE’s local charity Rescue a Golden of AZ. Additional sponsors included Bell Lexus, Dixon Golf, AmpliVox, Eco Distributors, Republic Waste Management and 4 Green Golf.

For the first time, IMCE took considerable steps to reduce the negative impact this event had on the environment. Through sourcing giveaways made from renewable or recycled resources, utilizing local manufacturers, reducing on-site event waste, and purchasing carbon offsets for all event logistics, the Expo and the golf tournament were both certified carbon neutral by Carbonfund.org.

Tom Bamrick stated, “With a rapidly changing and challenging environment it has never been more important to look for ways to leverage great partnerships.”

He continued, “The new features and activities we incorporated into this year’s Spring Expo shows our commitment to support and provide our partners with the tools needed to meet those challenges.”

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