Cortec® Family Goes ‘Back to the Future’ at World Sales Meeting 2024!
December 9, 2024
One of the best parts of the Cortec® World Sales Meeting (WSM) is connecting and reuniting with Cortec® Family members from around the globe. This year’s “family reunion,” took place November 6th-8th in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and boasted nearly 150 attendees from at least 20 countries and every continent except Antarctica! Many of us have worked together for years, several are second-generation distributors, and still others have only been with Cortec® a few weeks or months. Whatever the case, we all came away with fresh ideas to put to work by focusing on the theme of “Back to the Future” in our fight against corrosion!
The excitement started building Wednesday afternoon, November 6th, as international Cortec® distributors began to filter into the Saint Paul Hotel for the European Sales Meeting and International Reception. Thursday morning brought everyone back bright and early for a gourmet breakfast and the main event in the Saint Paul Hotel ballroom. Coinciding with this year’s theme of “Back to the Future,” President & CEO Boris Miksic looked back at Cortec® milestones; while Cliff Cracauer (EVP Sales & Marketing), Jessi Meyer (VP Technical Sales – Product Management – Marketing) and Caleb Pheneger (COO) focused on the tools and inspiration within our reach to charge ahead. Sandwiched between these presentations was the all-important opportunity to hear Cortec® Family members introduce themselves and share highlights from their time at Cortec®. The morning session was also splashed with humorous video clips from Cortec’s spoof on Back to the Future, in which Cortec® Sales and Lab employees traveled back in time to find Cortec’s secret for saving the world from corrosion. Last, but not least, Sales and Customer Service wrapped up the morning with awards recognizing special distributor achievements over the past year.
On Thursday afternoon and Friday morning, it was time to specialize with a variety of breakout sessions. In one room, distributors learned from experts on Aboveground Storage Tank (AST) and CorroLogic® solutions. In another, attendees got a crash course on ESD technology from our friends at DESCO. Other sessions focused on MCI®, water treatment, Bionetix®, sales tips, and coatings. Multiple case history sessions offered inspiring examples of Cortec® technologies in action as distributors from around the globe shared their experiences. Another highlight was the hydrotesting roundtable, where Menti.com technology fostered an interactive environment of knowledge-sharing among dozens of distributors, foreshadowing exciting possibilities for future collaboration online.
Friday afternoon, it was time to head 15 minutes north to Cortec® World Headquarters for tours, hands-on demos, and a trade-fair setting. Latin American distributors also used this time to gather for a regional update, while others continued chatting at the trade show, testing their knowledge of Cortec® trivia, and letting their fun side out at the Back to the Future themed photo booth.
After each day’s work was done, the Cortec® Family headed out for special dinner events. The Thursday outing took the team to the other side of the Mississippi River for an evening at the Minneapolis Art Institute, exploring the maze of galleries before enjoying fine dining with one another. On Friday evening, Boris and Ines Miksic hosted the Cortec® Family for one more dinner together at North Oaks Golf Club, capped off with prize drawings and impromptu renditions of old-time songs.
While it was sad to say goodbye to friends new and old, the time came to part ways and get back to work, energized by fresh ideas and stronger connections to propel each other forward. Now it’s our turn to go “back to the future” to see how much we can accomplish individually and as a team by the next time we meet! Innovation never stops. . . . Join the fight against corrosion!
Key words: Cortec, Cortec World Sales Meeting, Cortec Friends and Family, corrosion protection, corrosion control, Boris Miksic, MCI, VpCI, CorroLogic, corrosion inhibitors
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