Highlights: HARDI 2023 Annual Conference Ascend

HARDI welcomed more than 1,940 attendees to Phoenix, including 519 wholesaler attendees from 180 companies, 40 Solution Center providers, 34 unique member sponsors, and a sold-out Booth Program featuring 250 vendors to its 2023 Annual Conference, Ascend in Phoenix, AZ. This year’s conference surpassed all before it with the highest number of attendees to date and is a testament to the HVACR industry’s enthusiasm for networking and consuming educational content.

The event featured six keynote speakers whose presentations inspired and informed the nearly 2,000 attendees with topics focusing on innovation, workforce management, and current geopolitical factors impacting not only the industry but global affairs. HARDI welcomed Meagan Johnson, known as a Generational Humorist, who kicked off the conference with her opening keynote presentation, Zap the Gap: Generational Differences Reexamined, which explains the differing generational values that impact marketplaces and the workforce. Geopolitical strategist, Peter Zeihan, wowed attendees with his expert understanding of demography, economics, politics, and technology to help them prepare for an uncertain future. The conference concluded with Olympian and NY Times bestselling author Vince Poscente’s inspiring presentation about activating one’s purpose and accelerating growth, which challenged the audience to do what the competition is not willing to do.

The conference featured 26 breakout sessions, many of which showcased valuable insights on business development and benchmarking data by HARDI’s Market Intelligence team. The conference’s four Regional Forecast sessions examined region-specific economic and regulatory factors that will impact the industry in the coming months.

HARDI used the event as a platform to make important announcements regarding changes to its Board of Directors. This year, it was announced that Rhonda Wight, Refrigeration Sales Corp, after ending her second term as HARDI Chair would welcome Loran Liu, Standard Supply and Distributing Company, as the newest HARDI Chair. Along with Rhonda Wight, it was announced Brian Blaushild of Famous Enterprises served his last term on the board. Both outgoing board members provided invaluable insights and expertise for members throughout their time and while their presence will be missed, they’ll remain active members of the HVACR community. HARDI’s newest Board Members are Todd Shadden, Century HVAC Distributing, Inc. and Layne Miller, Geary Pacific Supply.

With a growing number of HARDI’s LATAM members, it is even more important that there are more opportunities for them to network and connect with each other as well as the greater HARDI membership and staff. The Annual Conference is just one of those opportunities and it is a pleasure to have them on-site and in-person.

Finally, HARDI recognized 16 graduates from its Emerging Leaders program, a program with the objective to assist in the development of the next generation of HARDI executives with access to learning and networking platforms.

Next year’s Annual Conference will be held in Atlanta, GA at the Marriott Marquis, December 7 -10.

For questions or further information, please contact Allison Greene at agreene@hardinet.org.