CRI West: Carpet and Rug Institute's Annual West Coast Meeting

One of the best meetings the Carpet and Rug Institute puts on annually is about as far away from our home campus in Dalton, GA as possible. CRI West is our annual get-together with our member companies that reside on the left coast, and it’s a great opportunity to meet face to face with them and provide them details of how their trade association is working on their behalf.

No question about it: Dalton, GA is known as the “the Carpet Capital of the World,” and rightly so. Almost 70 percent of all the carpet made in this country is made within 65 miles of Dalton. I get asked quite often from my Yankee friends why that is so and while I won’t bore you with details of why and how the industry evolved to make Dalton its epicenter, there is a great piece on the CRI website that details the history of the industry.

One of the best things about having so many carpet companies headquartered here in Dalton is the logistical benefit when it comes to meetings. Whereas Dalton might be the carpet capital of the world, CRI has to be the meeting capital of the world. Rarely does a day pass by when one of our many committees isn’t gathering within our doors to meet, discuss, and try to shape the future of our industry.

Sometimes it’s really easy to take for granted that everyone is in the loop on what CRI is working on and doing since so many of the people involved hop in their cars and take a five-minute drive to our front door once a week to discuss matters in person. One of the things that I have learned over the years in the communications business is that communications people are the absolute worst communicators in the world when it comes to internal communications.

However, all of us here at CRI are more than aware that there is life out there outside our comfy little domain here in Whitfield County - hence CRI West.

CRI West event was the brainchild of our president, Werner Braun, who felt that every member should have the opportunity to meet face-to-face with their trade association at least once a year. And since it was a lot easier and cost-effective to take the message to the masses, we’ve been meeting in Irvine, California for the last five years to inform and listen to their concerns.

This year’s meeting was held at the end of April and the attendance continues to grow as we’ve invited folks like Chris Davis, who heads up the World Floor Covering Association located in Anaheim, as well as some of the media publications that call California home.

Werner and Frank Hurd, our vice-president and chief financial officer, lead the west coast charge and, man, I’m telling you, those two guys can pack some information into a three-hour meeting. It’s like watching my wife pack her suitcase for vacation and I walk away scratching my head asking “How in the world did ya’ll cover that much information in that little time?”

Literally, these attendees get to see everything that CRI has done since we last met with them and everything that we are proposing to do before we get back to them the next year. From what our budget looks like to our marketing strategies on the issues of importance to updates on all of our signature programs, Frank and Werner leave no stone unturned.

It’s important for our members to see that not only is their money being spent wisely (especially in these trying economic times) but also how effectively it is being put to use. We explain the decisions that our three main committees (marketing, technical and government affairs) are making and we get valuable input and insight from them to formulate better plans.

The strategies and tactics put together to accomplish them are vital when we’re talking about issues that come between consumers buying carpet or looking elsewhere for the floor covering of their dreams.

Most important, though, is that CRI understands we are the NATIONAL trade association for the carpet industry and when we make decisions, we base it on the old saying that a “rising tide lifts all boats." Even when that boat sits on a far away coast.

~ James


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