CE Pro June 2023 - 70

Channel
TIPS | EDUCATION & EVENTS | DISTRIBUTION
Azione Springs
into 2023 with
Education, Growth
Initiatives
Azione Unlimited unveiled Azione
Academy & Drive to 1000 plans, honed in
on smart business practices, welcomed
new vendors, and mixed in some fun at
its March meeting. By Arlen Schweiger
THE AZIONE UNLIMITED
" Didactic Dovecote in the
Desert " proved to be an
oasis of information, education,
networking and teambuilding
for the nearly 300
dealer and vendor attendees
to the group's annual
spring conference. With
Dictionary.com describing
'didactic' as instructive or
morally teaching and 'dovecote'
meaning shelter, the
Azione meeting lived up to
its billing to give members
advice on how to approach
the upcoming economic
uncertainties to not only
stay afloat but thrive.
The event, held in early
March at the Embassy
Suites by Hilton Scottsdale
(Ariz.) Resort, featured an
array of inspirational and
aspirational content, from
the keynotes and integrator
member Think Tank
sessions to the vendor
meetings, workshops, local
70 | CE Pro June 2023
charity event, a scavenger
hunt and more.
Since Azione's merging
with Nationwide Marketing
Group in October 2021,
both sides have been busy
with announcements about
new services, vendors, programs
and people. Executive
director Richard Glikes had
plenty to share with spring
conference attendees,
which as a group finished
2022 up 2% year-over-year.
" We say, they come for
the programs, they stay for
the meetings, " Glikes says.
" They're realizing they're
not getting the full benefit
of the membership. "
Azione Academy,
Drive to 1000
Glikes and the Azione
executives are pushing the
members to utilize more
of the group's resources
and education in addition
to emphasizing vendor
Between his time at LG heading the appliance division and
his family sales history, one thing keynoter John Riddle
stressed at Howard's was capitalizing on close relationships
with vendors and their resources, a message befitting the
Azione audience in Scottsdale, Ariz.
support. One resource he
touted to the attendees
is the launch of Azione
Academy, which builds upon
the CEDIA Academy online
education platform that Nationwide
and the association
had partnered on as an
exclusive for Nationwide's
HTSN (freshly rebranded as
Oasys Residential Technology
Group) members and
Azione also to utilize.
The Azione Academy
side of the self-directed
online platform is being
developed and offered in
tiers (free, gold, silver, and
bronze), featuring video
modules and tests - created
by the vendors with
help from Azione and
Nationwide - for integrators
to learn and train on
their solutions while being
incentivized by points and
rewards.
Another major initiative
Glikes announced is the
Drive to 1,000, the membership
push for the near
future for Nationwide's
Azione and Oasys groups to
go from 280 to 300 custom
integrators, go from zero to
100 commercial integrators,
and increase Oasys's numbers
from 252 to 600.
" I've been pushing for
this, and we finally got
everybody on alignment
that this was a real market
that could attract interest, "
notes Glikes, adding that
Chris Whitley will head the
new commercial silo.
Azione is also planning
two leadership symposiums
in 2023 - one in June for
technicians to get hands-on
training at Leon Speakers'
facility in Michigan, and another
in July for salespeople
skills being held in Chicago.
Following the opening
kickoff, the day one keynote
was presented by John
Riddle, CEO of big appliance
cepro.com
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CE Pro June 2023

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