Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/496801
8 Oil Prophets PRESIDENT'S PERSPECTIVE In the classic baseball movie "Field of Dreams" starring Kevin Costner, the main character is told, "If you build it, they will come." Of course Kevin's character builds the baseball field and magically baseball players from long ago come out of the corn field to play a series of games on the field. Magic! How often in each of your businesses do you hear the voices speaking to you? "If you build it, they will come!" I wonder how many c-stores exist in Alabama, and for that matter across the country, because an entrepreneur with a vision had the guts to "build it" so "they" would come? Similarly, some seven years ago, P&CMA partnered with the Louisiana Oil Marketers & Convenience Store Association to form the Gulf Coast Food & Fuel Expo. The thought being that both marketers and vendors would benefit and prosper from multiple states joining together at one Expo. This idea wasn't new; AOA/ AACS had partnered with the Georgia Association of Convenience Stores and Georgia Oilmen's Association in previous Expos. But holding the Expo as a stand-alone event on the Mississippi Gulf Coast was certainly outside the box thinking. The leadership of the two associations were convinced that if they "built" this regional trade show "they" (jobbers, c-store operators and vendors) would embrace the concept and "come" to the show. Additionally, the hope was that eventually more states would be interested in joining and their members would come as well. Over the first six years the Expo showed a pattern of growth and established itself as the premier oil jobber/c-store trade show held annually in the Deep South. Each year the number of exhibitors and attendees continued to increase and the quality of the show continued to climb. Then came 2014. With the show held annually in Biloxi, MS, and with the number of members doing business in at least two of the three states (AL, LA, MS) it was obvious that bringing on Mississippi as a third partner in the Expo was the critical next step in the life of the Expo. In the spring of 2014 the three states began to discuss exactly what this partnership might look like. After just a few months of discussion, the Mississippi Petroleum Marketers & Convenience Stores Association joined as a partner in the Expo beginning with the 2015 event. So, like our friend in the movie we "built" the Expo but we still needed the members to "come" to make the event a success. And boy did you! The 2015 Gulf Coast Food & Fuel Expo broke attendance records in all categories. The 200 booths sold represented the highest number of booths sold since the Expo's inception, and more than 650 jobbers and c-store operators participated in two days of education, networking and the Expo itself. Post Expo surveys recorded the highest satisfaction rate ever from both exhibitors and attendees. In short, the 2015 Gulf Coast Food & Fuel Expo was a tremendous success. But we're not finished. We've already begun planning for the 2016 event which promises to be bigger and better. If you haven't recently been to a Gulf Coast Food & Fuel Expo, you don't know what you're missing. I hope you'll mark your calendar for next year's show which will be held March 9-10, 2016, in Biloxi, MS. We've built it. You come! J. Bart Fletcher, CAE P&CMA President We Built It - They Came J. Bart Fletcher, CAE P&CMA President