{"id":64990,"date":"2025-05-15T14:10:22","date_gmt":"2025-05-15T21:10:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/?p=64990"},"modified":"2025-05-15T14:10:24","modified_gmt":"2025-05-15T21:10:24","slug":"ecs-inspired-agenda-sets-tone-for-bpca-spring-best-practices-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/the-week-in-imaging-twii\/editors-blog\/2025\/05\/ecs-inspired-agenda-sets-tone-for-bpca-spring-best-practices-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"ECS-Inspired Agenda Sets Tone for BPCA Spring Best Practices Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"
From left, keynote speaker Mike Sarraille, BPCA Executive Director Pontrelli, Meg Ryan of Emerald Document Imaging and Jennifer Healy of Ricoh<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

When the Business Products Council Association (BPCA) board began vetting topics for its spring best practices conference, it didn\u2019t need to look far for inspiration. Noting the success of the Executive Connection Summit (ECS), held annually in Arizona, several BPCA directors and Dominic Pontrelli\u2014the BPCA executive director\u2014felt the peer group gathering would benefit from a similar program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The elements of the agenda that worked for ECS architect Mike Stramaglio back in January resonated again last week in Philadelphia, when more than 20 dealers and 140 overall attendees gathered at the Live! Casino & Hotel for the three-day conference. Given the proximity to Philadelphia International Airport (about a 10-minute drive) the meeting was as convenient as it was impactful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pontrelli noted that three of the four general sessions were straight out of the ECS agenda. From the keynote speaker to a panel presentation on AI and another on strategically aligning with the customer, the Philly show provided a brisk pace that kept guests engaged and enthralled. Brent Simone, the top executive of Stratix Systems\u2014this year\u2019s host\u2014huddled with the BPCA board to develop the program, which included 19 seminars.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPhiladelphia was spectacular; it was a rock show,\u201d Pontrelli said. \u201cThe Live! Hotel & Casino is a phenomenal venue. The best practices component is the core of sharing, but the education of all the industry folks really has made this an industry event.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The panel on AI, led by (from left) moderator Key Kain, Kate Kingston, West McDonald, Randy Dazo and Gary Lavin<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Keynote speaker Mike Sarraille, a retired Navy SEAL, entrepreneur and CEO of the Talent War Group, delivered a compelling tale wrapped around a theme of leadership in uncertain times. The AI panel presentation was quarterbacked by GreatAmerica\u2019s Key Kain, with a stout expert lineup that included tech aficionado West McDonald, Gary Lavin (CEO Juice), Randy Dazo (Keypoint Intelligence) and sales training guru Kate Kingston.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pontrelli himself moderated the topic of strategically aligning with the customer, which included an internal panel with the heads of sales from BPCA. Opportunities to go wider and deeper with clients is a talking point that has generated a good deal of interest throughout the dealer community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs a channel, we have a lot of opportunities,\u201d Pontrelli observed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BPCA\u2019s sponsor lineup included Ricoh, Konica Minolta, Brother, GreatAmerica, ACDI, Static Control, ConnectWise, Intermedia, NEXERA and AgentDealer. However, they had to work for their lunch, so to speak, as they were engaged in different breakouts (covering sales, service and marketing), including sessions specifically for owner execs. The sponsors provided valuable input on the challenges dealers are seeing and offered ways to address them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou get more of a true strategic alignment because we\u2019re talking about how we overcome these challenges and how we can use our partners to support us in that endeavor,\u201d Pontrelli added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the meetings were sprinkled with talk about how tariffs are impacting current and future pricing, the volatility and uncertainty lining the guidance from Washington has many observers, Pontrelli included, taking a wait-and-see approach. \u201cToday\u2019s a different conversation than it was last week,\u201d he noted. \u201cThe best part about the topic is that it was a wide-open conversation. The manufacturers are as uncertain as anyone else; no one has a crystal ball.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The BPCA spring conference in Philadelphia attracted 140 attendees<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Simone felt the program was timely in regards to its content. \u201cWe have a COVID echo coming; five years ago, business was down,\u201d he said. \u201cNow, how do we drive net-new and gain market share? The topic of leveraging technology automation to be more productive in today\u2019s world is important. Labor rates have been going up, so how do we counteract that?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For BPCA members, the end of the meeting stood as just the beginning. Pontrelli pointed out there are a number of action items that require following up, and the conversations will continue via the online member portals for sales and service. Between the exchanges and dealers challenging each other to leverage new-found information going forward, it\u2019s about ensuring BPCA\u2019s members get full value.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a phenomenal community. The energy level and enthusiasm were awesome,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When the Business Products Council Association (BPCA) board began vetting topics for its spring best practices conference, it didn\u2019t need to look far for inspiration. Noting the success of the Executive Connection Summit (ECS), held annually in Arizona, several BPCA directors and Dominic Pontrelli\u2014the BPCA executive director\u2014felt the peer group gathering would benefit from a similar program. The elements of the agenda that worked for ECS architect Mike Stramaglio back in January resonated again last week in Philadelphia, when more than 20 dealers and 140 overall attendees gathered at the Live! Casino & Hotel for the three-day conference. Given the proximity to Philadelphia International Airport (about a 10-minute drive) the meeting was as convenient as it was impactful. Pontrelli noted that three of the four general sessions were straight out of the ECS agenda. From the keynote speaker to a panel presentation on AI and another on strategically aligning with the customer, the Philly show provided a brisk pace that kept guests engaged and enthralled. Brent Simone, the top executive of Stratix Systems\u2014this year\u2019s host\u2014huddled with the BPCA board to develop the program, which included 19 seminars. \u201cPhiladelphia was spectacular; it was a rock show,\u201d Pontrelli said. \u201cThe Live! Hotel & Casino is a phenomenal venue. The best practices component is the core of sharing, but the education of all the industry folks really has made this an industry event.\u201d Keynote speaker Mike Sarraille, a retired Navy SEAL, entrepreneur and CEO of the Talent War Group, delivered a compelling tale wrapped around a theme of leadership in uncertain times. The AI panel presentation was quarterbacked by GreatAmerica\u2019s Key Kain, with a stout expert lineup that included tech aficionado West McDonald, Gary Lavin (CEO Juice), Randy Dazo (Keypoint Intelligence) and sales training guru Kate Kingston. Pontrelli himself moderated the topic of strategically aligning with the customer, which included an internal panel with the heads of sales from BPCA. Opportunities to go wider and deeper with clients is a talking point that has generated a good deal of interest throughout the dealer community. \u201cAs a channel, we have a lot of opportunities,\u201d Pontrelli observed. BPCA\u2019s sponsor lineup included Ricoh, Konica Minolta, Brother, GreatAmerica, ACDI, Static Control, ConnectWise, Intermedia, NEXERA and AgentDealer. However, they had to work for their lunch, so to speak, as they were engaged in different breakouts (covering sales, service and marketing), including sessions specifically for owner execs. The sponsors provided valuable input on the challenges dealers are seeing and offered ways to address them. \u201cYou get more of a true strategic alignment because we\u2019re talking about how we overcome these challenges and how we can use our partners to support us in that endeavor,\u201d Pontrelli added. While the meetings were sprinkled with talk about how tariffs are impacting current and future pricing, the volatility and uncertainty lining the guidance from Washington has many observers, Pontrelli included, taking a wait-and-see approach. \u201cToday\u2019s a different conversation than it was last week,\u201d he noted. \u201cThe best part about the topic is that it was a wide-open conversation. The manufacturers are as uncertain as anyone else; no one has a crystal ball.\u201d Simone felt the program was timely in regards to its content. \u201cWe have a COVID echo coming; five years ago, business was down,\u201d he said. \u201cNow, how do we drive net-new and gain market share? The topic of leveraging technology automation to be more productive in today\u2019s world is important. Labor rates have been going up, so how do we counteract that?\u201d For BPCA members, the end of the meeting stood as just the beginning. Pontrelli pointed out there are a number of action items that require following up, and the conversations will continue via the online member portals for sales and service. Between the exchanges and dealers challenging each other to leverage new-found information going forward, it\u2019s about ensuring BPCA\u2019s members get full value. \u201cIt\u2019s a phenomenal community. The energy level and enthusiasm were awesome,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":166,"featured_media":64991,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[3868,80,1650,82,1638],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64990"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/166"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=64990"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64990\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":64994,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/64990\/revisions\/64994"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/64991"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=64990"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=64990"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.enxmag.com\/twii\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=64990"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}