WHFA Announces Palm Springs Conference Keynote Speakers

Furniture World Magazine

The Western Home Furnishings Association (WHFA) representing nearly 1,200 independent home furnishings retailers in more than 2,600 stores in 12 western states, announced the selection of prominent speakers Leslie Yerkes and Richard Fenton as the keynote presenters for their May 6-8, 2007 Palm Springs Conference. Opening the Conference, Looking Back…Looking Forward, on Sunday, May 6, 2007 at the Hyatt Grand Champions Resort will be Leslie Yerkes. She will lead an interactive and energizing session at conference, Future Café’, focusing on the future of the industry and individual businesses. Yerkes will deliver motivational insights to attendees on redirecting a business that has gone off-course and will provide techniques for finding creative solutions to problems. Yerkes is a corporate trainer, strategist and leadership coach who specializes in increasing productivity in the workplace. She previously worked as a lead trainer for Chrysler’s “Customer One” program, the largest retraining effort to ever take place in the U.S. Richard Fenton, of Fenton Waltz, designs and delivers speaking and training programs for America’s most prestigious retailers. He will present two sessions during conference including the closing session, “Inspire Change—Challenge Your People to be Their Best.” Fenton will take attendees through his journey across America, exploring key performance factors that influence a retailer’s success. In closing, Fenton will share strategies to immediately impact the sales and service levels within stores as well as how to inspire salespeople to achieve breakthrough performances. With over 25 years experience in sales, training, speaking and leadership, Fenton brings a unique style to his motivational methods of encouraging others to reach increased levels of performance. His previous experience includes positions with Walt Disney Productions and retail companies such as Macy’s and Saks Fifth Avenue. In addition to these two distinguished speakers, WHFA’s 2007 Conference will feature three days of workshops, concurrent sessions, networking luncheons, retailer-to-retailer roundtables and the highly anticipated Business Exchange/Tradeshow. A DVD of all educational events will be provided, courtesy of CDS Solutions Group. The Conference will conclude with the Annual Retailer of the Year Award gala, sponsored by Simmons Company. For more information, please contact Cindi Williams, WHFA Event Planner, at (800) 422-3778 or cwilliams@WHFA.org. Full conference details are available on the organization’s website, www.WHFA.org as well.