Students, students, students

Three cosmetology school programs in 2 days�the future of our industry�some of my favorite programming.

More unconventional education

Spent the day visiting distributor stores educating store managers and staffs in how to suggest, recommend and sell Andis tools�very different type of class�no hair cutting�lots of Q&A�hypothetical questions from real customer experiences�possibly one of the most important classes I get involved with�teach a clipper cutter how to clipper cut�they might purchase one clipper per year�teach a store clerk how to sell Andis clippers�they can sell one clipper per person per store per day all year long�moves the needle farther faster�not a bad use of a day.

Tired

Had an unexpected road trip�was supposed to fly from Atlanta to Florida for Monday classes�bad weather through the connecting flight city�rented a car and drove instead�farther than I thought it would be�very tired�still have to cut hair in front of a room full of stylists�I�ll sleep well tonight.

Competition

Once again I am in Atlanta, GA to represent Andis� sponsorship of the Bronner Bros. barbering competition�This time the event featured the new Ceramic Advanced clipper and our CeramicEdge blades�16 competitors�we had a run on the featured clipper after the event finished�sold �em all out of the booth�a great form of advertising and promotion for our tools and our support of our customers.

A different audience

I have been conducting training programs for the assembally line teams in the factory�a great way to share with them what happens to the tools they build after they leave the loading dock out back�helps them to have a sense of where they fit in the larger process of the entire company�they ask different questions from what we hear from haircutters at shows�all part of the big picture.

Please sit still

Today�s big project was a photo shoot for American Salon magazine�a step-by-step technical for an upcoming issue�.thanks to digital technology we can shoot these right in-house in my office�a great way to quickly and easily showcase a new tool�cannot beat FREE editorial exposure, but, as we all know�nothing is FREE.

Wood and Steel

The Aerial event in Minneapolis was a lot of fun. We debuted a tag team, dual manufacturer event in cooperation with Woody's grooming. Barry and I had a ball sharing and feeding off of each others humor and experience. The classes were well attended and the booth was a sell-out. Off to the Dells in march for the next Aerial distributor event.

ISSE

The first of the big shows of the year. We had a classroom off of the floor for the first time at this event. Very strong attendance. Wall to wall people. Lola rocked the event. Strong sales across the board and a great debut event for 2 new Andis educators. Tim Stansell was very well received and brings a wealth of information to our customers. Bradley Rehkop was very strong in his technical information and is eager to step up to bigger and better Andis things as the opportunities arise. We will be finding opportunities for both of them.