Education and Speakers

Learn more about the speakers from the 2019 NHLA Convention below.

Read More About Archie Manning

When people think of Archie Manning, they think football. But Archie’s appeal transcends his athletic achievements.
His example of persistence, perseverance, and leadership has endeared him to fans across the country. As a 14-year veteran quarterback, Manning played in two Pro Bowls and was named NFC Offensive Player of the Year in 1978 with the New Orleans Saints. Manning co-authored Manning: A Father, His Sons and a Football Legacy, with his son Peyton.
Archie was selected Father of the Year by the National Father’s Day Council. He serves in public relations and consulting capacities for several local, regional and national companies. His community activities include Louisiana Special Olympics, the New Orleans Area Boy Scout Council, the Salvation Army, United Way Speakers Bureau, Allstate Sugar Bowl Committee, and the New Orleans Sports Foundation, and he is Chairman of the Board of the National Football Foundation.
Archie and Olivia reside in New Orleans and have three sons, Cooper, Peyton, and Eli. They are the proud grandparents of three boys and five girls.

David Caldwell and Judd Johnson of the Hardwood Market Report will report on the hardwood marketplace and the factors currently influencing business and potential business change. Caldwell and Johnson are considered experts in the hardwood markets using their vast resources of historical data and industry experience.

Read More About David Caldwell & Judd Johnson

David Caldwell joined the staff of the Hardwood Market Report as Assistant Editor in March of 2005. David brought with him 21 years experience in the hardwood lumber and veneer industries. Upon graduation from the University of Memphis, David began his hardwood lumber career by attending and graduating from the National Hardwood Lumber Association’s Inspection School in April of 1984. After gaining experience as a lumber inspector, he worked in hardwood lumber sales before delving into the sawmill business. Before joining Hardwood Market Report, David worked for a major flooring and sawmill company, managing sales and production of the sawmill division and oversight of 50 million board feet of hardwood lumber.
Judd Johnson is Editor of Hardwood Market Report. He joined the company in 1994 after spending the first 18 years of his career working in primary and secondary manufacturing sectors of the hardwood industry. He is a proud alum of NHLA’s Inspection Training School (60^thclass).
In his time with Hardwood Market Report, he has contributed to many initiatives that help hardwood companies improve their business. Publications developed during his tenure include The Year at a Glance, an annual magazine that pulled together rich information from all industry sectors into a single collection of work; HMR Executive®, a monthly publication concentrating on issues that influence business activity for hardwoods; and HMR Import Newsletter™, the latest HMR publication that details trends in markets and pricing for major temperate and tropical hardwood lumber species imported into the U.S.
Mr. Johnson is regularly featured as a speaker at conferences and conventions for state, regional, national, and international trade events that serve the hardwood lumber industry and secondary wood products manufacturing sectors.

Technology, from LinkedIn to texting, can help or hurt sales. Discover how to integrate these technologies as well as some tried-and-true approaches into a more customer-focused selling approach that will appeal to buyers, both young and old. Bring your questions and your pen and paper, because this session is going to cover a lot of new ground.

Participants will be able to:

Develop new strategies geared toward a more customer-focused sales process
Understand how LinkedIn and other social media tools can develop leads and nurture new and lost relationships
Identify the important data from Google Analytics and email delivery data
Generate new approaches for re-engaging lost clients or deepening relationships with existing clients without a lot of extra work
Learn tips for knowing more about potential buyers before contacting them

Read More About Bob Graham

Bob Graham, co-founder and CEO of Serious Soft Skills LLC, has delivered training, workshops, and coaching on a variety of topics including sales, marketing, leadership, teamwork, and soft skills. As a former professor at Johns Hopkins University, business speaker, trainer, and coach, he has helped thousands of people, including members of the New England Lumbermen’s Association, develop their soft skills to improve sales, productivity, and innovation. Learn More about Bob at www.serioussoftskills.com

Chief Inspector Dana Spessert will teach you how NHLA helps member sawmills discover lost profits by utilizing the new NHLA Yield Analysis and Quality Control Programs. These programs examine a sawmill’s strengths and weaknesses in log selection and sawing and then examines how they impact your mill’s yield and overall revenue.

Read More About Dana Spessert

Dana began working for NHLA as Chief Inspector in September 2010 and has more than 30 years of industry experience. As Chief Inspector, Dana is responsible for maintaining the integrity of the NHLA grading rules by supervising the association’s National Inspectors. He also serves as the Dean of the NHLA Inspector Training School.
Dana was born into the lumber industry – his father graduated from the NHLA Inspector Training School in 1962. A native of West Virginia, Dana began his career working at his family-owned sawmill and later graduated from the NHLA Inspector Training School in the spring of 1986. Dana worked independently as a Lumber Inspector for several companies in the areas surrounding Elkins, West Virginia. He also spent five years working as the production supervisor at Colonial Millworks, Ltd. Dana then spent the next nine years working as the Quality Control Manager for Coastal Lumber Company. Dana is a graduate of the Dale Carnegie Leadership Training Course.

People who can harness these three breakthrough skills can see a 50% increase in productivity and revenue. These skills can help anyone, no matter what role they have in the organization, become a better leader. Uncover strategies for becoming the kind of person that organizations value because you are a catalyst for dramatic improvements. Learn how these breakthrough skills can help deal with different generations, challenging employees and colleagues, impossible deadlines, losing a key employee, and common employee issues and complaints.

Attendees will be able to:

Integrate storytelling into your work to engage and inspire employees and team members
Leverage experience management to make better, quicker decisions
Use attunement to forge better interactions with employees and clients

Read More About Bob Graham

Bob Graham, co-founder and CEO of Serious Soft Skills LLC, has delivered training, workshops, and coaching on a variety of topics including sales, marketing, leadership, teamwork, and soft skills. As a former professor at Johns Hopkins University, business speaker, trainer, and coach, he has helped thousands of people, including members of the New England Lumbermen’s Association, develop their soft skills to improve sales, productivity, and innovation. Learn More about Bob at www.serioussoftskills.com

AHEC Executive Director Michael Snow will provide a detailed update on US hardwood exports to the world, with a particular emphasis on the trade war with China, increasing trade tensions with Canada, Mexico, and the EU, and how the resulting uncertainty is impacting hardwood exports. This will be followed by a panel discussion with the AHEC Directors from Europe, Latin America, Middle East/India, Japan and China/Southeast Asia concerning trends in their respective regions. Additional topics will include AHEC efforts to expand US hardwood exports by targeting non-traditional regions and applications made possible by new technologies, as well as push demand for major species impacted by the current trade environment—particularly red oak—into new markets.

Read More About Mike Snow

Michael S. Snow has been the Executive Director of the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) since 1999, where he oversees the Council’s promotional programs around the globe and manages AHEC’s overseas offices in Europe, Mexico, Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, and China. Previously, he served as AHEC’s Program Manager for Europe, China, and Japan.
Mr. Snow holds a Master’s Degree in International Economics from the George Washington University and a BA in Developmental Economics from the University of Wisconsin. Before joining AHEC, Michael served as a Consultant on international education outreach programs for the National Geographic Society and the Smithsonian Associates and spent several years in Seville, Spain teaching economics courses in English and Spanish for the University of Wisconsin.

*Time of Withdrawal*	*Refund Amount*
Prior to start of class	Full tuition
Prior to end of 2nd week of class	$1,875
Prior to end of 4th week of class	$625
After 4th week of class	No refund

Education and Speakers

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