SDA sets plans for Cleaners Showcase in
Ft. Worth
The Southwest
Drycleaners Association is
hoping to help cleaners “Ride Into the Future” with
its Cleaners Showcase 2006 convention and trade show.
The event will be held from March 31 to
April 2 at the Fort Worth Convention Center in Texas.
SDA will get down to business early with
a board of directors breakfast at 7:30 a.m. on Friday, followed
by a board meeting from 8:30 a.m. until noon. Both events are
for the SDA board and invited guests only.
After lunch, visiting cleaners may attend
a General Membership & Awards meeting from 1 to 2:30 p.m.
featuring guest speaker IFI President Gary Dawson.
Cleaners can also take advantage of a
festive “Showcase Sneak Preview” from 6:30 to 8:30
p.m. on the showroom floor.
The exhibit hall will officially open
Saturday morning at 9 a.m. and close at 5:30 p.m. It will also
be open from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday.
This year’s educational programming
will feature a seminar on the “Award of Excellence
Program” by IFI CEO Bill Fisher. He will speak from 8 to
8:30 a.m. on Sunday morning.
Afterward, SDA has enlisted an expert
panel to discuss “Surviving Catastrophe” from 8:30
to 9:30 a.m. Much of the focus will be on the difficulties
cleaners faced last year during Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.
Lastly, SDA will offer a seminar called
“Confessions of a Mystery Shopper” at 11:45 a.m. on
the same day.
As usual, there will be plenty of time
set aside for networking and social engagements. SDA has
scheduled a meet & greet for all attendees from 6:30 to 7
p.m. on Saturday evening and they will host a four-hour Cowtown
USA celebration afterward with dinner, dancing and
entertainment.
There will also be optional activities
for those who seek to unwind a little. The annual golf
tournament will be held on Thursday at noon. The cost is $70
per golfer.
At 2:45 p.m. on Friday, the association
will give a “Cowtown USA” tour for the cost of $37
per person.
Complete convention registration packages
— which include admittance to all seminars, a spouse
hospitality, the General Membership & Awards meeting, the
Showcase Sneak Preview, a “Cowboy” breakfast and
the Cowtown USA Celebration — cost $79 per person if paid
prior to March 15.
After that date, the cost for the
complete registration package goes up to $94 per person.
A “basic” registration
package is also available, which includes the membership
meeting, a cowboy breakfast, all seminars and unlimited access
to the exhibit hall. The cost is only $5 for member drycleaning
plant owners and employees and $7 for non-members before March
15.
Everybody who signs up after March 15
must pay $10 each for the same package; all non-exhibiting
allied trade members must pay $100.
SDA’s headquarters hotel will be
the historic Radisson Plaza Hotel located at 815 Main St. in
downtown Fort Worth.
For reservations, call (817) 870-2100 or
(800) 333-3333. Identify yourself with SDA to receive a
discounted rate of $109 per night for single/double occupancy.
Add an additional $10 for triple occupancy and $20 for quad
occupancy. The deadline for discounted reservations is March 6.
For more information on the convention,
or to register, call SDA at (210) 826-4684.
 |
