By Andy Slawetsky – Sharp Australia held their dealer meeting November 6 – 8 and I was lucky enough to be there to cover it. About 70 people came in from dealers all over Australia as well as Tasmania and New Guinea to see What’s Happenin’ with Sharp these days. The conference was held at a beautiful resort on the Sunshine Coast, one of the most picturesque areas of Australia, as you’ll see from my many photos from the event.
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I arrived several days early to recover from the jet lag and to take some time to explore a bit. When I arrived at my Air BnB room, the renter asked what brought me to Australia. I told him I was here for a Sharp conference and he said, “oh, you must know Tony.” The funny thing is, I DO know Tony! He’s one of the dealers I met at the Sharp US dealer meeting about a year ago and one of the “blokes” that brought me over to speak at their meeting! What are the odds??
After spending a day checking out the facilities, which included seeing Kangaroos, wild turkeys and other native species, it was finally time for the event to begin with a wonderful welcome dinner on the hotel’s private beach.
I met tons of new people and really enjoyed the camaraderie these dealers had between each other. Many seemed to be great friends and spent the night catching up, enjoying the entertainment (a fire dance as well as a guitar playing singer) and tossing back a few cocktails, first on the beach and then later in the bar.
I went to bed early, still affected by the jet lag but I was up pre dawn and ready for the next morning’s opening session. The day began with Sharp’s Daniel Gard, head of the business solutions group for the Australia market. Daniel gave us an overview on what we would be seeing throughout the course of the conference.
Sharp Australia’s dealer meeting had a similar format to American shows, albeit on a somewhat smaller scale as there are fewer dealers. Daniel recognized several key Sharp executives in his opening, including Mr. Honda and Mr. Kagawa.
Daniel then spent some time discussing Sharp’s partners and alliances, a bit of strategy and the YoY growth they have seen in Office Solutions (119.3%) and Visual Solutions (344.9%). Several Sharp dealers mentioned to me that Daniel just took this role this year and they’ve seen some outstanding changes to the program since his arrival in that spot.
Managing Director Hitoshi Kagawa went next, diving a bit deeper into the numbers; how Sharp Australia compares to other markets and what he’d like to see them achieve. During his presentation, Mr. Kagawa discussed his 3-year plan and its progress and Sharp’s numbers over the last few years, which are greatly improving since their acquisition by Foxconn.
Next, Deputy Manager Yoshitaka Honda addressed the audience spent some time talking about trends and the overall market, Sharp’s overall sales numbers and some recognition Sharp has earned from BLI and others. He then went on to discuss the product roadmap and where Sharp was going in the office, in displays and beyond.
Taking a page out of the American conferences, Sharp Australia invited sponsors to participate in their show and product fair for the first time and “merch” partner Shane Berry took the stage to show dealers some of the cool items they could brand with Sharp and their dealership’s logos.
After Morning Tea (and coffee…they do make a good cup there in AU) and some time in their product fair, Daniel again took the stage to introduce their VIP speaker, none other than me!
I assumed VIP meant something different over there and I got up and did my one hour What’s Happenin’ in the Industry presentation, which went a full two hours…right before lunch. The group seemed to enjoy it and didn’t kill me for going so long (and into lunch). I love doing this presentation to anyone who will listen to it and hopefully they enjoyed it as much as they said and as much as I enjoyed giving it.
There were more sessions in the afternoon and then everyone headed to their rooms to freshen up for the awards ceremony that evening. The dinner was held across the lake and after a short cocktail hour with some nice entertainment, we headed inside for the rest of the evening. Many dealers won awards for all sorts of things, similar to the ones dealers receive at dealer meetings in the US. It was a proud moment for those on stage and as everyone got along so well, it was an outstanding evening.
The conference wrapped up the next morning at lunch after a few more presentations and then a few of the dealers took me up the coast for a private tour of some pretty exclusive areas. We did a bit of hiking and although I was a somewhat disturbed that they kept asking if I had ever seen Deliverance before, it turned out to be a great afternoon that ended at a yacht club for a beer and then eventually back to the hotel for dinner with a large handful of dealers who were sticking around until the following morning.
The next day, several of us went for a VIP tour of the Australian Zoo, which was quite amazing. While people were walking around the zoo, we were driven around in Golf Carts, with walking paths often being closed off for us as we were driven through. Apparently everyone DOES know Tony in QLD, including the Irwins who Tony has supported for years and he used his pull to set up a marvelous day for those of us attending.
It was a fantastic show and a pleasure to meet all of these Australian Sharp dealers. They’re some of the friendliest people I’ve met in this business and I am glad I met them at the US dealer meeting and the rest at the Aussie meeting this month.
Similar to the US, it seems that Sharp Australia went through a rough spell just before the Foxconn acquisition and now, things are really taking off.
I appreciate the offer to come cover the event and to be a guest speaker. I look forward to their next show!
