Snake Oil Salesman or Snake Charmer. The traveling salesman has always had slightly negative, slightly shady reputation. If you’ve ever seen The Music Man, particularly the opening scene on train, you’ll know what I mean. I would like to think business has changed from the days of the “snake oil salesman” to what we now refer to as a “manufacturer’s rep.
I wanted to share with you all some news. Reid Sherwood, the Eastern Regional Manager, was offered a wonderful opportunity and is leaving Classic Exhibits on November 4, 2016. He’ll shift gears to the supplier side of the industry.
All in all, it was a great year because of the Classic Distributor Network. I won’t go into detail since Kevin will cover it in the 2014 State of the Company letter, but here is what I will say about my year.
One benefit of blogging is having the luxury to promote something special to me and to our industry — The Randy Smith Memorial Golf Classic (https://www.rsmgc.org/).
For most folks in our industry, “The Randy” is as recognizable as Cher, Madonna, or Bono. The Randy is an annual charitable golf tournament held in the Atlanta area. For those unfamiliar with Randy Smith, he was tragically taken from us several years ago. The first Classic was to raise money to help the Smith family with the financial burden they experienced. Since then, the mission has expand.
If there was an exhibit and event thermometer measuring the hot and cold temperature of the industry, it would go from subzero to boiling hot several times a year.
Now before you think this is just my opinion, let me qualify it.
A few weeks ago, Rich Johnson (one of the founders of the RSMGC) asked me if I would serve on the board of The Randy Smith. Obviously I accepted. I have been a loyal fan and supporter for 11 years. The Randy is a non-political group of industry folks who provide emotional and financial support to other industry people who have fallen on difficult times.