Today finds the NARMS staff in Chicago for the 7th Annual IFBA Top to Top Conference, sharing time with the members of our independent food broker division and their customers. It was only just a month ago that we were in Tampa for the 15th Annual NARMS Spring Conference. While March and April represent a busy time for us, the conference season never really ends. We are already hard at work making preparations for summer Divisional and Board of Directors meetings and for the 16th Annual NARMS Spring Conference and Exposition to be held in Monterey, California on April 9-12, 2011.

We are excited to take the conference to the West Coast to the marvelous Portola Plaza Hotel on Monterey Bay. By visiting www.narms.com, you will see that we have already set up a conference center that will increasingly host information on the conference registration, agenda, hotel and travel arrangements, sponsorship opportunities and exhibitor opportunities. With that said, there are two things that we would like you to do. The first is marking your calendar for April 9-12, 2011. The second is to check back to the conference center often and to stay tuned to all of our communication tools for updates and announcements.

The NARMS Spring Conference is becoming much more than a one time, one-off event. Each year, our agenda has turned into a valuable resource library that has a life of its own. This agenda is a rallying point and feeds all of our programs, events and services throughout the calendar year. We highly encourage you to revisit the 2010 conference center and agenda. Many of the sessions and workshops include attached sound files, presentation materials and feature stories for your continued reference.

The 2010 conference season has been a truly special time as we are seeing renewed energy and enthusiasm for improved business conditions. It is our pledge to stay in close contact and continue to provide maximum value to our members as we march toward Monterey in 2011.