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Affiliated Distributor 2021 eCommerce Summit Recap

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The Affiliated Distributor 2021 eCommerce Summit, under the leadership of Caroline Ernst, faced down the rising Delta COVID-19 variant and continued as an in-person event this year at the Gaylord National Resort & Conference Center in National Harbor, Maryland. As the date of the event approached, and the COVID-19 cases continued to rise, the conference was in touch with its members on options for how the conference should proceed. Ultimately, the membership decided to push forward with having the conference in person, using masks and social distancing to reduce the risk of COVID-19.

The conference planners brilliantly hatched an idea to allow attendees to instantly communicate their comfort level with things like handshakes by using colored lanyards. A red lanyard meant no physical touch and keep 6 feet of distance. A yellow lanyard meant don’t initiate handshakes, but fist or arm bumps are fine, and a green lanyard meant handshakes and hugs are welcome. It was an intelligent way of communicating between members and allowed everyone to remain in their comfort zone during these unusual times.

For those of you who don’t know Affiliated Distributors, AD is a member-owned organization that brings growth-oriented independent distributors and best-in-class supplier partners together with the purpose to outperform the market and to stay ahead of the competition. AD leverages economies of scale, financial systems, and a people-first approach to help the independent distributor members outperform their competition.

C2 is so excited about the Affiliated Distributor community because the AD eCommerce solution and the AD PIM are C2 partners! AD eCommerce is powered by Optimizely B2B Commerce Cloud (legacy Insite Software), and the AD PIM is powered by EnterWorks (a Winshuttle/Precisely Company). Both are stellar software solutions with best-in-class B2B functionality. So if you are a distributor of construction or industrial supplies, you may want to check out becoming a member of Affiliated Distributors. The nine significant industries that AD serves are Bearings & Power Transmission, Decorative Brands, Electrical, Gypsum Supply, Heating Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC), Industrial Maintenance, Repair, Operating and Production (MROP), Plumbing, PVF, and Safety.

We are glad that Affiliated Distributors made the tough call to have the conference in person and enjoyed some very much-needed human-to-human conversations and interactions.

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