Is This Your Last Issue of Connections?

Is this going to be your last issue of Connections?  As you may recall, two years ago we ran an article titled "This Is the Last Issue of Connections" as an April Fools' joke because that Friday was April 1st.  Remarkably, we received more than 100 complaints via email or phone telling us how disappointed our readers were that the weekly publication was being discontinued, which necessitated response emails and phone calls assuring everyone that we were only kidding.

That being said, since today is March 30th, we assure you that this time our inquiry above is no joke.  Numerous reminders during the past three months advised that membership fees for 2018 are due by tomorrow, Saturday, March 31, so if we haven't received your renewal payment yet, your company's benefits will be terminated on Sunday, April 1st, which includes receiving the weekly issues of Connections.

If you have not paid your 2018 DPHA dues yet, it is not too late, but you should also be aware that there will now be a 3 or 4 day delay in getting your membership benefits re-established.  As you know, dues are only $715 per year and we believe this is an incredible value given the benefits that the Association offers its members.  If you are unsure as to whether or not you renewed your membership for this year and don't want to take a chance that your issues of Connections will be discontinued and your other member benefits terminated, contact Rebekah Covay now at rebekah@dpha.net or via phone at 630-854-3911 (if you get her voice mail, please leave a message).  We truly appreciate everyone's past support, and hope we count on your participation again in 2018.

April Fool's Day Frolics Through History

Sunday is April 1, a day that is near and dear to your editor. Did you ever wonder why so many people play pranks on others on April 1? Historians are unsure of the exact origins of this special day. Some believe it dates back to ancient Rome when festivals such as Hilaria was celebrated at the end of March. People would dress in disguises during the celebration.

A second theory is that April Fool's Day was tied to the first day of spring when Mother Nature fooled everyone with unpredictable and changing weather.Those in the mid-Atlantic can appreciate this explanation, especially this year.  Seventy degrees in February and snow on the first day of Spring.  Another theory is that this day of pranks dates back to 1582 when France officially changed from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar per mandate from the Council of Trent. Some of the citizens failed to get the message and became the brunt of jokes and pranks.

Most likely, we suspect April Fool's was started in England around 1700 when people began to play practical jokes on one another. It then spread throughout the British Isles. In the 18th century, Scotland had a two-day celebration. On the first day, people were sent on phony errands. The second day, known as Tailie Day, involved such sophomoric acts as pinning tails or "kick me" signs on the rear ends of unsuspecting victims.

The tradition of pranks has continued until today. Some of the great April Fool's day hoaxes include the following:

• In 1996, Taco Bell announced that it had purchased the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia and was going to rename it Taco Liberty Bell.

• In 1998, Burger King announced it had developed a left-handed whopper.

• Who can forget Sports Illustrated's immortal Sidd Finch who was reported to be able to throw a 168 mile per hour fastball?

• In 2007, Google announced a new product, Gmail Paper, which would print emails, stack them in a box and ship them to your door.

• In 1998, New Mexicans for Science and Reason published that the Alabama legislature voted to change the value of Pi to a purer biblical version of 3.0.

• In 1957, the BBC reported that Swiss farmers had harvested a record spaghetti crop and showed video of people picking pasta from trees.

What is your favorite April Fool's gag? Please share it with us on the DPHA Facebook Page or LinkedIn Group. And yes indeed, Connections will be back next week if you have renewed your 2018 DPHA annual dues. Happy April Fools!

DPHA is Now Accepting Applications for the Alberto Comini Memorial Scholarship

The DPHA Council of Fellows established its Memorial Scholarship in 2008 with two primary goals. The first was to honor the memory of an industry leader and the second was to provide grants to the children and grandchildren of any employee working at a DPHA dealer, manufacturer, representative agency or professional organization.

Now that high school graduations and the end of the college year are rapidly approaching, DPHA is accepting applications for the 2018 Alberto Comini Memorial Scholarship. Click here  to download the application.

Application Requirements: 

• Applicant must be a citizen of a North American country.
• Applicant must be the child or grandchild of anyone who works at a DPHA member firm.
• Applicant must be a high school graduate currently enrolled in a college, university or accredited trade school.
• Applications must be accompanied by a high school transcript, and if in college or trade school, a college or trade school transcript as well.
• Applicant must submit a double-spaced typed essay on "Why I Should Be Considered for the DPHA Scholarship." This essay should not exceed 1,200 words.
• Applications must also include the applicant's photo, which will be used for promotional purposes only after the winners have been decided.
• To be considered for the award during a given year, applications must be received at the DPHA office by the close of business July 31, 2018.

Selection Criteria:

• Applicant must fulfill all application requirements and complete the DPHA Scholarship Application Form.
• Essays will be judged on content, writing skills and adherence to accepted grammatical standards.
• Applicants must be well-rounded students, involved in extracurricular and civic activities and sports.
• The DPHA Council of Fellows reserves the right to interview Scholarship finalists prior to selecting a recipient.

If you have any other questions about the application process, feel free to contact Jim Babbitt at 224-999-0434 or via email at jbabbitt@dpha.net.

Your Monthly Reminder About DPHA's Faces-of-Our-Future Recognition Program

As we have told you in the past few months and in keeping with last year's tradition of the 17-in-17 program, DPHA introduced earlier this year's Faces-of-Our-Future Program to recognize up-and-coming influencers in the decorative plumbing and hardware industry. This program will focus on profiling dealers, manufacturers and independent sales agents with 10 or less years of industry experience. Each month from April through October 2018, two or three members will be inducted into the Faces-of-Our-Future club, and their stories will be featured in DPHA's weekly newsletter, Connections. To submit your nominations, click here to download the nomination form, complete it and send it to Jim Babbitt at jbabbitt@dpha.net or fax to 866-623-6180.

 

Why should you nominate someone for this honor?  Because the number one reason people leave an employer or this industry is a lack of recognition.  They don't believe their work or effort is recognized or appreciated.  Here's a quick, easy and no-cost opportunity to say thank you to top-notch up-and-comers and provide them with an opportunity to have their accomplishments and efforts recognized by the industry's leading trade organization. It takes only a few minutes to complete a nomination form, but isn't that time well spent for recognizing someone who is making an impact on your business and/or our industry?

DPHA Launches Our New Web Site

Thanks to the ever vigilant leadership of Kate Brady (General Plumbing Supply) and the Website Review Committee, DPHA has at long last launched its new web site.  Some of the immediately noticeable benefits of the new web site include: 

• The new web site is much easier to navigate, with everything accessible through the home page.

• The new web site may now be accessed, and logged into in the Member Portal if you are a member, on any computer, tablet and smart phone!

• Companies may now submit their membership applications, or renew their annual membership dues, on-line via the web site.

• A new search menu of members is not only much simpler to use, but also offers many more filters to help narrow down your search right off the bat.

• Easy access to association documents for our members, including our education manuals.

• The ability for our members to register on-line for the Recognition Testing Program, as well as access to the testing links.

• With the addition of new banners and transition slides at the top of the home page, you can now easily notice important things, as well as upcoming Association events.

There is so much more that we could tell you about the new web site, but we want your insights so go to www.dpha.net and look around for yourself. If you have thoughts you would like to share with us, have questions or you are a current member but have forgotten your login information, feel free to contact Rebekah Covay at rebekah@dpha.net, or simply click on the "Contact Us" menu tab and send us a quick note that way.  Your feedback is appreciated and will help us continue to make this new web site even more effective for our members as well as the general public.  For now though, enjoy! 

If You Like Waiting Until the Last Minute, This Message is for You - 2018 Membership Dues are Due by March 31

If you like waiting until the last minute and have not paid your 2018 DPHA dues yet, then you should be aware that the last minute is now here! Dues are only $715 but are due by March 31. This is an incredible value given the benefits that the Association offers its members. Second notices were mailed several weeks ago and Rebekah Covay is currently going through her second round of email notices and phone calls. If we haven't heard back from you, please be kind to Rebekah when she attempts to contact you one last time. If you are unsure as to whether or not your membership has been renewed for this year, don't hesitate to contact Rebekah at rebekah@dpha.net or via phone at 630-854-3911 (if you get her voice mail, please leave a message). We truly appreciate everyone's past support, and hope we count on your continued participation in 2018.

DPHA Revises the Bath Furniture Manual

The DPHA Education Committee, under the astute leadership of Fred Felder (Simon's Supply) and Traci D'Antoni (D'Antoni Sales Group) has updated the DPHA Bath Furniture manual. This updated installment in the DPHA Education Program:

• Explains the different types of bathroom furniture items on the market.
• Explains the benefits of selling bath furniture.
• Highlights the reasons for specifying bath furniture through a showroom versus relying on a cabinet maker.
• Explains differences in bathroom furniture styles, composition and construction.
• Offers a style guide.
• Explains the differences between high-end bath furniture and lower priced alternatives.
• Provides guidance to help sales professionals determine client needs,
  preferences and budgets.
• Explains industry nomenclature. 
• Provides sales strategies and suggestions to become a client's trusted advisor.

What's New in the 2017/2018 Edition?

There is an expanded section on bathroom furniture styles and a detailed overview and explanation of the benefits of specifying bath furniture through a DPH showroom as compared to other possible suppliers.

The revised manual is visually stunning thanks to the support of more than a dozen DPHA manufacturer members that submitted beauty shots, schematics and other images that saved thousands of words and helped to explain and visualize concepts and applications.

The DPHA Education Committee will also use the new manual to draft a new Recognition Program test for bathroom furniture. This program is the only one available in the decorative plumbing and hardware industry that recognizes showroom professionals for the product knowledge, technical expertise and sales skills.  

  

The new DPHA Bath Furniture manual is only available to DPHA members, and costs nothing - just log into the members portal of www.dpha.net, and click on the Education Program menu.

2018 DPHA Dues are Due by March 31

If you have not paid your 2018 DPHA dues, what are you waiting for? Dues are only $715 per year and are due by March 31. This is an incredible value given the benefits that the association offers its members. Second notices were mailed recently and Rebekah Covay is currently going through her second round of email notices and phone calls. If we don't hear back from you soon, please be kind to Rebekah when she attempts to contact you one last time. If you are unsure as to whether or not your membership has been renewed for this year, don't hesitate to contact Rebekah at rebekah@dpha.net or via phone at 630-854-3911 (if you get her voice mail, please leave a message). We truly appreciate everyone's past support, and hope we count on your continued participation in 2018.

If You are Going to the Architectural Digest Design Show Next Week, Make Sure Your Tour Includes DPHA Members

If you are going to the Architectural Digest Design Show next week, March 22-25, 2018 at Piers 92 and 94 in New York City, please make sure that your tour includes the following DPHA members:

• Brizo - #241
• Franke Kitchen Systems - #191
• House of ROHL - #439
• Pentair Everpure - #274
• Perrin & Rowe - #439
• Riobel - #439
• ROHL - #439
• Shaws - #439
• THG Paris - #145
• Victoria + Albert - #439

Thank You So Much, 2018 Corporate Sponsors!

There are some that talk the talk; then there are others who walk the walk. The following DPHA members have expressed their commitment to the Association and the industry by becoming a 2018 DPHA corporate sponsor.  Their support enables DPHA to develop new benefits that make our members and industry better. Our heartfelt thanks go to:

Platinum Sponsor:

• The House of Rohl

Gold Sponsors:

• Elkay
• Franke
• LACAVA

Silver Sponsors: 

• BainUltra
• Barber Wilsons/Sterlingham
• Keuco
• Lenova
• MTI Baths

Bronze Sponsors:

• Alno Inc.
• AMBA Products
• Americh
• Baci by Remcraft
• Blanco America
• California Faucets
• Fairmont Designs
• GRAFF
• Hamilton Sinkler
• Hansgrohe
• Hastings Tile & Bath
• Hydro Systems
• Mountain Plumbing Products
• MrSteam
• Perrin & Rowe
• Riobel
• ROHL
• Shaws Since 1897
• Top Knobs
• Victoria + Albert

DPHA Corporate Sponsors receive a number of promotional benefits, including their name and logo (with active link) appearing in each issue of Connections. They also receive the recognition and gratitude of an industry that understands and appreciates their commitment to advancing the profession. If you are interested in becoming a DPHA sponsor, please contact Jim Babbitt at 224-999-0434 or via email at jbabbitt@dpha.net.

Don't Forget to "Spring Ahead" Saturday Night!

Don't forget before you go to bed this Saturday night, March 10th (or Sunday morning, March 11th, for those of you who are so inclined to stay up late) to set your clocks ahead one hour since most of the United States begins Daylight Saving Time at 2:00 a.m. on Sunday morning.  Those places in the U.S. that do NOT observe Daylight Saving Time are Hawaii, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, and Arizona.

And just because we can't help ourselves, here are a few facts you may not have known about Daylight Saving Time:

• The idea of daylight saving was first conceived by Benjamin Franklin during his sojourn as an American delegate in Paris in 1784, in an essay, "An Economical Project." Some of Franklin's friends, inventors of a new kind of oil lamp, were so taken by the scheme that they continued corresponding with Franklin even after he returned to America.
   
• In September 1999, the West Bank was on Daylight Saving Time while Israel had just switched back to standard time. West Bank terrorists prepared time bombs and smuggled them to their counterparts in Israel, who misunderstood the time on the bombs. As the bombs were being planted, they exploded - one hour too early - killing three terrorists instead of the intended victims - two busloads of people.
   
• Amtrak - to keep to their published timetables, trains cannot leave a station before the scheduled time. So, when the clocks fall back one hour in October, all Amtrak trains in the U.S. that are running on time stop at 2:00 a.m. and wait one hour before resuming. Overnight passengers are often surprised to find their train at a dead stop and their travel time an hour longer than expected. At the spring Daylight Saving Time change, trains instantaneously become an hour behind schedule at 2:00 a.m., but they just keep going and do their best to make up the time.
   
• While twins born at 11:55 p.m. and 12:05 a.m. may have different birthdays, Daylight Saving Time can change birth order  - on paper, anyway. During the time change in the fall, one baby could be born at 1:55 a.m. and the sibling born ten minutes later, at 1:05 a.m. In the spring, there is a gap when no babies are born at all: from 2:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m.
   
• In the United States, Daylight Saving Time commences at 2:00 a.m. to minimize disruption. However, many states restrict bars from serving alcohol between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. At 2:00 a.m. in the fall, however, the time switches back one hour. So, can bars serve alcohol for that additional hour? Some states claim that bars actually stop serving liquor at 1:59 a.m., so they have already stopped serving when the time reverts to Standard Time. Other states solve the problem by saying that liquor can be served until "two hours after midnight." In practice, however, many establishments stay open an extra hour in the fall.

• In the U.S., 2:00 a.m. was originally chosen as the changeover time because it was practical and minimized disruption. Most people were at home and this was the time when the fewest trains were running. It is late enough to minimally affect bars and restaurants, and it prevents the day from switching to yesterday, which would be confusing. It is early enough that the entire continental U.S. switches by daybreak, and the changeover occurs before most early shift workers and early churchgoers are affected.

If You are Going to the Architectural Digest Design Show, Make Sure Your Tour Includes DPHA Members

If you are going to the Architectural Digest Design Show, March 22-25, 2018 at Piers 92 and 94 in New York City, please make sure that your tour includes the following DPHA members:

• Brizo - #241
• Franke Kitchen Systems - #191
• House of ROHL - #439
• Pentair Everpure - #274
• Perrin & Rowe - #439
• Riobel - #439
• ROHL - #439
• Shaws - #439
• THG Paris - #145
• Victoria + Albert - #439

DPHA's Faces-of-Our-Future Recognition Program

In keeping with last year's tradition of the 17-in-17 program, DPHA is proud to introduce 2018's Faces-of-Our-Future Program to recognize up-and-coming influencers in the decorative plumbing and hardware industry. This program will focus on profiling dealers, manufacturers and independent sales agents with 10 or less years of industry experience. Each month from April through October 2018, two or three members will be inducted into the Faces-of-Our-Future club, and their stories will be featured in DPHA's weekly newsletter, Connections. To submit your nominations, click here to download the nomination form, complete it and send it to Jim Babbitt at jbabbitt@dpha.net or fax to 866-623-6180.

 

Why should you nominate someone for this honor?  Because the number one reason people leave an employer or this industry is a lack of recognition.  They don't believe their work or effort is recognized or appreciated.  Here's a quick, easy and no-cost opportunity to say thank you to top-notch up-and-comers and provide them with an opportunity to have their accomplishments and efforts recognized by the industry's leading trade organization. It takes only a few minutes to complete a nomination form, but isn't that time well spent for recognizing someone who is making an impact on your business and/or our industry?

Not to Sound Like a Broken Record, but Again, Here is Why We Believe We Deserve Your Support in 2018

Now that we have entered March 2018, we wanted to remind you that all membership benefits will be cancelled at the end of the month if we haven't received your dues renewal.  If you have not paid your 2018 DPHA dues yet, what are you waiting for? Dues are only $715 per year. This is an incredible value given the benefits that the Association offers its members. We are confident that we will continue to deliver the return on your dues investment that DPHA members expect and deserve. Second notices were issued a week or so ago, and if we don't hear back from you soon, please be kind to Rebekah Covay when she attempts to contact you. Here are just some of the things you can look forward to from your DPHA membership in 2018:

• DPHA offers the industry's only showroom recognition program that rewards your sales professionals for their sales knowledge and product expertise.

• Take advantage of daily content on the DPHA Facebook page, Twitter and Instagram feeds and LinkedIn group postings that update our members on new products, new programs and new developments in the DPH industry.

• Keep your fingers on the pulse of your industry. Connections is a weekly communication laser-focused on industry and association news to help improve our DPHA member businesses.

• DPHA plans to update several existing education modules plus possibly expand educational programs to include videos.

• The best annual conference and product showcase in our industry that serves as the venue for introducing new products to the DPH industry.

• Enhanced communication that offers sales guidance to showroom sales professionals in order to better hone their skills while providing them with tools to knock the socks off their competition.

• An energized and dynamic organization that serves as the industry's home to network, exchange ideas and obtain competitive advantages.

• A new web site that is easy to navigate and serves as the go-to resource for staff training tools, industry news and networking.

• The industry's most prestigious awards program that recognizes best-in-class professionals and products.

• A staff and a creative team that understands the industry, is passionate about the Association and is committed to earning your trust and membership.

DPHA has tangible, productive, viable and valuable deliverables that help with daily operations, but we need your support and participation to assure that DPHA continues to develop products, services and deliverables that provide your business with competitive advantages. If you have any questions, give us a call or contact Rebekah Covay at rebekah@dpha.net. We look forward to working with you and helping to make your business even better in 2018.

To Our Association Cheerleaders - Did You Know That DPHA Recruiting Efforts are Worth More Than Just Our Thanks?

Did you know that there is a program that rewards you for bringing new members to DPHA? The DPHA Marketing Committee continues to make it worth your while to recruit new DPHA members. Have  any new member list your name or company on the "Referred to DPHA by" line on their membership application, and you will receive credit for that new member joining or rejoining our association.

The incentive program is simple and straight-forward. Modeled after frequent flyer programs, DPHA awards recruiter credits for every new member who joins or rejoins our association. There is no time limit or expiration on these recruiter credits, and they can be "cashed in" at any time for the following items:  

• 1 recruiter credit: $25 certificate
• 3 recruiter credits: Dinner on DPHA up to $100
• 5 recruiter credits: Dues for a year
• 10 recruiter credits: Free conference attendance

These recruiter credits have been tracked since January 1, 2014, so if you believe you may already have some credits to your name, contact Jim Babbitt at 224-999-0434 or via email at jbabbitt@dpha.net. He will be happy to check his list for you. And thanks for continuing to spread the good word about our association!