By Danny Keating, Director of the Louisiana/Mississippi HVAC Insider

In case you missed it, the 2019 HARDI Annual Conference was held in New Orleans at the Hilton Riverside Hotel from Saturday, December 7th to Tuesday, December 10th. The PULSE theme of the conference emphasized “Study the present, Influence the future.”

The PULSE theme of the convention was referring to the rich music culture of New Orleans as well as the rhythm of the HVACR industry. In the words of HARDI, “When creating a successful song, there are many pieces involved: a melody, a chorus, verses, and so on. And just like composing a musical masterpiece, wholesale distribution requires a lot of integrated entities that must work together to achieve harmony. That’s why this year the Pulse Conference was created to strengthen the rhythm of the HVACR wholesale industry as a unit. By examining all contributors involved in our industry, we were able to discover significant areas of opportunity to better unite all levels of the supply chain and in turn, ensure a newfound synchronicity.”

In picking New Orleans and the Hilton Riverside for this year’s conference site, HARDI noted “It’s all about location in New Orleans and the Hilton New Orleans Riverside places you at the center of it all. Nestled against the banks of the Mississippi, guests can watch the ships come sailing in or dive into the city life just steps away. Grab a beignet, listen to live jazz, ride a streetcar, or hop into a parade, you never know what you’ll experience in the vibrant culture and excitement of New Orleans just outside our front door.”

I applaud HARDI for an action packed and well organized four days. I also applaud the Hilton Riverside Hotel for being the consummate professionals in the hospitality industry. In my opinion the entire staff of the Hilton Riverside ‘gets it’. They were so polite, friendly and helpful, I walked away feeling like I’ve got to come back and visit ‘my friends’ again.

I would also like to applaud the City of New Orleans for being such a wonderful place to hold a convention. Too often, locals like myself don’t appreciate how wonderful our city is for the visiting tourists. The HARDI conference attendees praised the wonderful restaurants and the friendly people. They spoke of how interesting and different New Orleans is from any other city. They spoke of the many interesting things there are to do and to see. It was nice to see the city viewed in such a positive manner.

I personally was ‘blown away’ by the size of the Monday afternoon Booth Program (Trade Show). There were almost 300 booths with displays. The sheer number of exhibitors speaks to the amount of influence that HARDI has in our industry.

Well Done, HARDI.

Note: The Louisiana Heat Pump Association 2020 State Conference will be held March 5-7 in New Orleans. Mark your calendars.