BrandSource last gathered at the Gaylord Opryland for the 2019 50th Anniversary Summit. On stage: AVB CEO Jim Ristow.
By Alan Wolf, YSN
AVB/BrandSource will resume its calendar of on-site national shows beginning this August with the 2021 Convention.
The event, slated for Aug. 21-24 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center in Nashville, marks the buying co-op’s return to in-person shows for the first time since the March 2020 Summit.
Registration will go live on Monday, May 17 at AVBevents.com.
The Convention will also represent BrandSource’s third visit to the Nashville venue following successive 2018 and 2019 Summits.
Despite holding successful virtual shows this past March and August, BrandSource’s members, vendors and staff are more than ready to reunite on site. “To say we are thrilled to have an in-person show would be the understatement of the year,” said Customer Experience GM Jennifer Baldwin, who produces BrandSource’s meetings and buy fairs along with her AVB Events team.
Related: Behind the Scenes at Summit 21
“We can’t wait to see everyone back in Nashville,” Baldwin said, “and to give our members the chance to attend more training and education sessions, check out more key insights from our industry experts, and have more time on the Expo floor than ever before.”
Indeed, the 2021 Convention promises to return with a bang, bringing more Expo hours, more specialized education and more time allotted to BrandSource’s specialty groups than any past shows. The latter include separate Town Halls for self-servicing members and furniture dealers, while additional hours will be set aside on Day 1 of the Convention (Saturday, Aug. 21) for members to meet with their AVB Marketing account representatives. (For those who do plan to confer with their reps, Baldwin suggests arriving the day before, in order to hit the ground running on opening day.)
The Expo follows on Monday, Aug. 23, for two days of hands-on product demos with the appliance and furniture industry’s newest introductions.
In addition, AVB’s new “Book with Confidence” policy will allow attendees to cancel their registration up to 30 days before the show and still have their deposits fully refunded.
So mark your calendars for four full days of learning, buying and reacquainting on Aug. 21-24 — and circle May 17, when registration goes live!
BrandSource, a unit of YSN publisher AVB Inc., is a nationwide buying group for independent appliance, mattress, furniture and CE dealers.
