Mini BLAST 2019
Jersey Mini BLAST a Success
The National Association of Blind Merchants is excited to announce that it is partnering with Vistar to bring quality training to the Randolph-Sheppard community. NABM President Nicky Gacos and the Board of Directors have entered into this partnership to bring you the first ever Mini BLAST to be held September 25-27, 2019 at Harrah’s Hotel in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
The training will be held in conjunction with Vistar’s large northeast show. There will be over 150 exhibitors at that show. Plus, equipment suppliers technology companies, and others will be there exclusively to show their products and services to BLAST attendees. The partnership is a Win-Win for both NABM and Vistar. By adding a training component, more blind entrepreneurs will be able to attend and will be exposed to the many product lines available through Vistar. With people becoming more health conscious in their eating habits, our blind entrepreneurs will be able to look for new healthier products to offer for sale as well as learn about the latest trends.
We will begin our training at approximately 1:00 PM on Wednesday, September 25 with a preconference Randolph-Sheppard 101 seminar by Terry Smith followed by separate roundtable sessions for Elected Committee members and SLA staff. General sessions begin at 4:00 P.M. and the training will continue all day on Thursday. We have already confirmed some outstanding speakers. Exhibits open late Thursday and are open all day Friday.
Unfortunately, Atlantic City is not the easiest place to fly to. Spirit Airlines flies in there. Philadelphia is the closest major airport which is about an hour away. Super Shuttle is available and may be the most economical solution. Depending upon the time of day, Uber is as low as $99.00. There is also a train that runs between the 2 cities. We will hopefully be sending out more information about travel options in the coming weeks.
Mark your calendars and make plans to be with us for what promises to be a fantastic conference.