ACE 2015 Attendance Rises For Fifth Year Vending Exhibit Sells Out

MYRTLE BEACH, SC -- The 2015 Atlantic Coast Exposition drew almost 1,000 industry members to the Embassy Suites at Kingston Plantation here. The 61st presentation of the convention and trade show, which began in the early years of full-line vending as a joint project of the new trade associations formed in North and South Carolina, recorded its fifth consecutive year of increased attendance.

This year's show, with a festive Oktoberfest theme, attracted participants from 20 states and Canada for a lively round of educational programs, networking opportunities and an exhibit of the latest equipment, products and services for vending and office refreshment operations. With a 10% increase in exhibit sales compared with last year, the trade show has completed its expansion into the planners' Phase 2, 3 and 4 space allotment stages.

PROST!Atlantic Coast Exposition convention committee cuts ribbon to open exhibit at 61st presentation of three-state show in Myrtle Beach, SC; general convention chairman Scott Denhard does the honors with the official shears. Accordionist at right, with Tyrolean cap and Lederhosen, embodies show's Oktoberfest theme. This year's ACE sold all of its available exhibit space -- including rooms designated for Phases 2, 3 and 4 of the show's projected expansion -- well in advance of opening day.

ACE is cosponsored by the North Carolina Vending Association, South Carolina Vending Association and Virginia Automatic Merchandising Association. NCVA and VAMA, which held scheduled board of directors meetings on the day before the formal opening of the show, also recognized outstanding industry achievement at the annual awards breakfast.

Recognized as North Carolina Vendor of the Year is Allen Hester, Canteen Vending Services (Hickory), a longtime active member of NCVA who has attended every ACE since 1983. NCVA Supplier of the Year is Rob Shoemake, G&J Marketing and Sales.

Top operator honors in Virginia went to Karen Harlow, Canteen Vending Services (Verona); named Supplier of the Year is Lou Pace of Quality Brokerage (Blackwood, NJ).

The ACE Barbara W. Short memorial Lifetime Achievement Award this year was presented to Zed Bradley, Piedmont Vending Services (Conover, NC). Bradley is the 2008 recipient of NCVA's Vendor of the Year Award, and has been active in vending for half a century. Bestowing the award was general convention chairman Scott Denhard, Compass Group/Canteen (Charlotte, NC).

Denhard himself received a plaque in recognition of his exemplary leadership in planning the 2015 show. The presentation was made by last year's general chairman Carl Moser, Cardinal Canteen Food Service (Chesapeake, VA). Also recognized for their contributions to the success of the 2015 show were Diamond Sponsors Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated, Pepsi Bottling Ventures, PepsiCo Foodservice and Vistar.

Keynoting the annual awards breakfast was Chad Henderson, head brewer of NoDa Brewing (Charlotte, NC), who delivered a "TED-style talk from a craft brewer." Henderson, who became fascinated by beer while studying for a career in healthcare, devoted most of his spare time to experimenting with and then promoting microbrewing in the Charlotte area. These activities brought him into contact with like-minded people and led to his involvement with NoDa (the name reflects the craft brewery's North Davidson Street location).

In an entertaining account of his growing enthusiasm for brewing craft beers, Henderson observed that children have dreams; but, as they grow older, those dreams are replaced by goals. This is necessary, but entails the danger that the dreams will be forgotten. The ideal is to align the dream with the goal, he advised.

This year's ACE also featured a diverse round of educational sessions, which began with two separate-registration seminars. One, led by Denise Ryan, FireStar Speaking (Raleigh), was an in-depth half-day seminar devoted to customer service training. She emphasized that "If you aren't taking care of your customers, your competitors soon will be," and described ways to develop an intelligent orientation toward customer service in a refreshment service's staff. This program brought Ryan, a popular repeat presenter, back to Myrtle Beach for a comprehensive workshop on motivation and leadership.

The second was a panel discussion of micromarkets moderated by Scott Halloran, Trolley House Refreshments (Richmond, VA). Halloran explained that the event was designed as an operator-to-operator forum, and thanked Brad Bachtelle of Bachtelle & Associates (Tustin, CA) for providing his latest statistics on the growth of the micromarket segment. Panelists were Randy Peak, Canteen (Winston-Salem, NC); James Bourne and Ben White, Trolley House; and Erich Markee, AB Vending (Middleton, MA).

Halloran introduced Sandra Larson, the National Automatic Merchandising Association's senior director and counsel of government affairs. She presented an update on NAMA's ongoing work in familiarizing government at all levels with micromarkets and in developing technical standards for the fast-growing service method. She summarized the California Automatic Vending Council's successful collaboration with the Los Angeles County Public Health Department in drafting public health guidelines for micromarket operations. | SEE STORY

A discussion of "Coffee, Tea and Beverage Services: Building your Ticket," was moderated by Jonathan Childress, Canteen Vending Services (Greensboro, NC). Panelists were Bob Myers, Cafection Enterprises (Quebec, QC); Glenn Cooper, Massimo Zanetti Beverage USA (Moonachie, NJ); and Jeff Stabbings and David Diogo, Teaja (Vancouver). The panelists offered an overview of the fast-growing hot beverage market, including an ever-widening array of coffee preparation options for offices and the dramatic growth of teas and tisanes for away-from-home consumption.

Mark Manney of Loss Prevention Results (Wake Forest, NC) addressed the "culture of control" as a vital element in improving profitability -- and staying in business. Manney described a program for making operating company personnel aware of the importance of integrity, the prevalence of management controls and surveillance, and the certainty of punishment if caught stealing. He also reviewed tools and techniques for minimizing theft from micromarkets, noting that one out of 11 Americans shoplifts.

The final educational session dealt with the intersection of warehouse automation, vending management software, inventory control and marketing. Titled "SKU -- It's a Whole New World," it was moderated by Randy Smith of LightSpeed Automation (Alpharetta, GA); panelists were Brent Cromer, Cromer Foods (Anderson, SC); John Hickey, Tech2Success (Boston); Brian Fisher, Cantaloupe Systems (San Francisco); John Davies, Vendsys (Quincy, MA) and Hector Benavides, Vagabond Vending (Washington). Smith pointed out that the vending business has evolved from its traditional service method of visiting a location and replacing products sold by the machine since the previous visit, with little attention to which products they were, to a line-item or stock-keeping unit approach based on sales analysis, planogramming, forecasting (sometimes augmented by telemetry) prepacking route orders by individual machine ("prekitting") and updating the planograms. These advances have decreased service costs and maximized sales.

Coverage of the business sessions will appear in future issues of VT and online.

Next year's ACE is set for Oct. 13 through 15. Visit atlanticcoastexpo.com.

WELL DONE:Zed Bradley (r.), Piedmont Vending, accepts ACE Barbara W. Short memorial Lifetime Achievement Award presented by Scott Denhard, Compass Group/Canteen, at Atlantic Coast Expo. In right photo, Cardinal Canteen Foodservices' Carl Moser (r.), last year's ACE general chairman, presents plaque to Denhard, the 2015 chairman, in recognition of his efforts to ensure success of this year's exposition.

NCVA HONORS:The North Carolina Vending Association recognized Allen Hester, Canteen Vending Services (Hickory), as its Vendor of the Year and Rob Shoemake, G&J Marketing and Sales, as Supplier of the Year. Above left, Hester (c.) receives plaque from 2014 winner Rick Parker (l.), Northwest Food Service (N. Wilkesboro); at right, Shoemake accepts award from last year's honoree, Karen Foster of Vistar. ACE chairman Scott Denhard, Canteen (Charlotte, NC), offers congratulations (in both pictures).

VAMA KUDOS:The Virginia Automatic Merchandising Association honored industry achievement and service by presenting its Vendor of the Year Award to Karen Harlow, Canteen Vending Services (Verona), and Supplier of the Year accolade to Lou Pace, Quality Brokerage. At left, Harlow accepts plaque from top 2014 VAMA vendor Shane Spikes, Deli-Matic (Salem); at right, Pace (right) receives plaque and congratulations from Wayne Salmon, Vendors Supply, who carried off the palm last year.