Young Professionals Gathering Gives Glimpse Into AVB’s Next 50 Years

By Alan Wolf

If, as the late Whitney Houston sang in “Greatest Love of All,” we believe the children are our future, then BrandSource is in good hands, based on the group’s Young Professionals organization.

The under-40 wing was created in 2014 to serve as a breeding ground for future leaders in the CE, appliance, furniture and bedding industries. To date it has helped allay succession concerns and is set to steer the 50-year-old AVB through its second half-century, based on its mix of young, highly motivated dealers, sales representatives, buyers, sales managers and vendor partners, all looking to share new ideas and grow their businesses.

Members were able to get a glimpse of BrandSource’s bright future at a Young Professionals networking event held on Monday night at the Convention. Sponsored by GE Appliances, the social gathering drew over 100 members including dealers, vendors and staff, who broke the ice and formed bonds as they engaged in games of giant Jenga, chess and bucketball.

The festivities began with the latter, as eight teams battled it out for the title of Bucketball Champions. Imagine six large plastic garbage cans disguised as Texas-sized Red Solo cups, with ping pong balls replaced by actual volleyballs! The first team to sink a volleyball into each of the opposing six cups walked away with the title.

With a DJ spinning high-energy tunes, the entire room was cheering on their peers while dining on chicken wings and enjoying Young Professional beverages. As the evening continued, people who had previously been strangers could be found playing chess together like Hogwarts’ Harry, Hermione and Ron, or engaged in intense games of tabletop Jenga.

The highlight of the event was a perfect rendition of “Bust a Move” by AVB’s very own Matt Berry. A circle of people enveloped the impromptu rapper with loud cheers and dancing, which kept the Young Professionals energized into the night – and set the stage for the cooperation, support and success that will fuel AVB’s next 50 years. – Convention photographer Jared Birkholz contributed to this story.

YSN is published by BrandSource parent company AVB Inc.

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