Global Fastener News

The North Coast Fastener Association is marking its 10th “Distributor Social,” which grew out of desire to draw more distributors to its meetings in the Cleveland area.

The Distributor Social will be 5pm to 8pm Thursday, May 17, 2018, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Independence, OH.

Rep Marty Nolan of R.L. English, who has served four terms as NCFA president, said the board was looking for a new alternative to another small trade show.  

The North American fastener industry, with its 16 organizations, already has eight trade shows ranging from the largest – International Fastener Expo in Las Vegas – to several regional association table top events.

Some poorly attended events draw ire from suppliers who pay as exhibitors.

“The Distributor Social was kind of my idea as we struggled to come up with a concept to get more distributors to attend our meetings,” Nolan recalled. “I said something like ‘the only way we are going to be able to pull busy people away from their hectic schedules is to give them free beer and food.’

“George Hunt was NCFA president and we just started brainstorming that idea – how it would work and how we’d pay for it. That is when we came up with the basic format that is still in place today.”

Distributors are invited. Suppliers don’t have the expense of table tops or shipping items to Cleveland.

“Not sure how many people were at the first one,” Nolan told GlobalFastenerNews.com. “But we generally average about 250 people and have had that attendance consistently for the last several years.”

The NCFA Distributor Social is open to members and non-members too, Nolan pointed out.

Up to five people from a distributorship may attend for free.  

Suppliers have the opportunity to socialize with distributors and put out literature and “giveaways” at designated tables.

The Social is preceded by a Basic Print Reading Seminar by the Mid-West Fastener Association.

Founded in 1982, the NCFA currently lists 56 member companies. The current North Coast president is Larry Kelly of Buckeye Fastener. NCFA also has a September 6 golf outing and December 6 holiday bash scheduled.

For NCFA information contact administrator Lisa Graham. Tel: 440 975-9503 Email: lgraham@ncfaonline.com Web: NCFAonline.com